Kavkaz

TBILISI, Georgia — President Mikheil Saakashvili said he would not prevent Russian companies, including power trader Inter RAO and gas producer Itera, from investing in Georgia, rejecting criticism that their control of utilities was a threat to security. “We’re not going to hinder Russian companies from coming to Georgia,” Saakashvili …

TBILISI – The united Georgian opposition will begin indefinite peaceful protests from April 9 to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, an opposition leader said on Sunday. “The protest action, which is beginning on April 9, is a nation-wide protest aimed against the Saakashvili regime and intended to change …

TBILISI  – About 7,000 Georgians rallied in the capital Friday to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The demonstration was a warm-up for a day of protest on April 9 planned by opposition groups who blame Saakashvili for the disastrous war with Russia last August and for failing to …

BRUSSELS, – European Union ceasefire monitors may soon be the only observer mission in Georgia yet still have no access to breakaway regions and face continued hostility, the mission’s head warned on Thursday. The official, Hansjoerg Haber, said observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) were …

Armenian National Assembly Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan met Thursday with Georgian Ambassador Revaz Gachechiladze, who is completing his mission in the republic. The Armenian Speaker thanked Ambassador Gachechiladze for his contribution to the development of the Armenian-Georgian cooperation. The two discussed possibilities to strengthen interparliamentary ties and other issues of mutual …

BAKU, March 12 – Russia’s foreign minister told his Azerbaijani counterpart on Thursday that Russia wants to continue using the Gabala early-warning radar after the current lease expires in 2012. “Russia is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan in using the Gabala radar station, and will seek appropriate agreements with our …

Brussels – The European Union should be ready to keep some 250 observers in Georgia’s war-torn areas far beyond the autumn as Russia is blocking other international missions, the head of the EU observation team warned Thursday. At a meeting with EU ambassadors on Wednesday, Haber “recommended that the EU …

SEVEROMORSK (Northern Russia), March 10  – Russia’s Pyotr Veliky nuclear-powered missile cruiser returned to its main base in northern Russia on Tuesday after an almost six-month tour-of-duty of the world’s oceans, a Navy spokesman said. “All the tasks set for the mission have been accomplished. The crew is healthy and …

TBILISI, March 10 (Itar-Tass) – The Russian office of the Swiss Embassy in Georgia on Tuesday began to accept documents and issue entry visas to Georgian citizens, Russian diplomats told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. Georgian citizens can get “educational and humanitarian visas (for example, in case of the demise of relatives …

TBILISI, March 10  – Nine Georgian opposition parties have begun collecting signatures across the country to demand the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili. The radical opposition plans to collect signatures in 16 major towns and cities in Georgia and hold a mass rally in downtown Tbilisi on April 9.