Kavkaz

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a telephone call to Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili. The Azerbaijani leader congratulated Mikheil Saakashvili on his birthday and wished him robust health and successes in his activity. The Georgian President expressed gratitude to Azerbaijan`s leader Ilham Aliyev for attention and congratulations.

Today the leaders of the Georgian radical opposition will gather in front of the Radisson Hotel in Tbilisi and travel to Kutaisi to participate in the protest action. This decision was taken yesterday at a meeting of opposition leaders in the Prima Vera hotel, Georgia’s Way party reported.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili took part in an international conference in Copenhagen devoted to climate changes. The president focused on climatic changes in the South Caucasus “Changes in climate are evident in the South Caucasus. This is confirmed by frequent floods, landslides, forest fires and coastal erosion,” Saakashvili said.

The Georgian Defence Ministry has presented the National Security Concept and report about ongoing reforms in the defence field. During the three-day conference the Defence Ministry introduced its future action plans to state agencies representatives and NGO sector, local opposition parties, and representatives of diplomatic corps accredited to Georgia. NATO-Georgia …

Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg will arrive once again in Georgia this week to negotiate the release of two teenagers detained in Tskhinvali. According to the Tbilisi Office of the Council of Europe, Hammarberg will arrive in Tbilisi this week and visit Tskhinvali. He will try to …

The newly re-elected president of Abkhazia, an unrecognized breakaway region of Georgia, Sergei Bagapsh will pay a visit to Turkey soon, citing the need to reach out to members of the Abkhaz diaspora currently living in the country. At a press conference following his landslide victory in the Abkhaz presidential …

The United States do not recognize the legality and the results of the presidential vote in Abkhazia, held on December 12. This is according to U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

Everything will be done to allow the OSCE to resume activity in Georgia in 2010, Greek Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-In-Office Charalampos Christopoulos and his successor, Kazakh representative Bolat Nurgaliyev said at a meeting with Georgian Vice Parliamentary Speaker Gigi Tsereteli.

The European Union does not recognise the presidential election in the breakaway region of Abkhazia and continues to back Georgia’s territorial integrity, the Swedish EU presidency said yesterday. “The European Union does not recognise the constitutional and legal framework within which these elections have taken place,” the EU presidency said …

The Georgian parliament has postponed the adoption of the statement on Russia’s actions in the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Tuesday in connection with the fact that Dec.12 Abkhazia will held so-called presidential elections.