Meaningful engagement with de facto states and consistent, patient support for constructive approaches as they emerge from the region are the way to go for the EU and other international actors in the coming months
A hundred years after the end of the World War I, the experience of Russian and Serbian war prisoners in the Alps remains almost unknown or forgotten. Thousands of them were employed as workforce by the Austro-Hungarian troops
The tensions between the European Union and Russia are changing the ways in which the EU defines and combats hate-speech. Attention is growing on the role of Russian TVs in Eastern Europe
Scientific research in Soviet times had to face limitations imposed by the regime. The official ideology, in particular, could not tolerate the tenets of quantum physics
The decision to build a monument to the memory of Anastas Mikoyan, Armenian leader in the former USSR, has sparked a controversy on the soviet legacy and on Russian-Armenian relations
Many Circassians are calling for a boycott of the Sochi Olympics, saying the Games will take place on the same grounds where their people was ethnically cleansed by Russian troops in the XIX century. Interview with Fatima Tlisova, journalist
The Sochi Project, a digital tale showcased at the recent Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival, is a powerful investigation into the next Winter Olympics, and on the human rights violations associated
Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008 marked a change in Russia's approach towards Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the months preceding the war in Georgia in August 2008. Five years later, a short journey through this change in Moscow's official rhetoric
A statement on Karabakh by the presidents of the mediator-countries hardly contained anything unexpected. But a 1 bln dollars arms deal between Russia and Azerbaijan was cause for concern in Yerevan
In 2012, José Barroso and Angela Merkel visited Moldova. These high-level visits raised hopes that Moldovan citizens will be granted visa-free travel in the EU by 2014. Still, a Russian proposal to include Moldova in its own customs union keeps public opinion divided in the country
Today, a new federal law on NGOs enters into force in Russia. All associations working on human rights will have to register as "foreign agents", and could stand accused of high treason. The Russian government, apparently frightened by the wave of protests against electoral fraud, introduced the new law to restrict the activities of organizations researching the election process, but the law will affect all NGOs, especially in the Caucasus
Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić declares himself allergic to Brussels, while the new government grows more and more enthusiastic of Moscow. Data, however, show that from an economics point of view Serbia is very closely linked to the European Union, while pro-Russian sentiments are based on populism
Over the years, almost all historical leaders of the Chechen separatist rebels have been killed. In the movement there are no more figures known to the general public, but attacks continue. For the Chechen leadership, however, it is important that enemies have a name. Today, the enemy's name is Gakayev
Two weeks ago, 16 items allegedly belonging to Prophet Muhammad arrived in Grozny. It is not the first time that alleged relics of the Prophet have arrived in the Chechen capital - it has become a frequent occurrence lately – yet such events never fail to find an audience
There are young people in Chechnya who live in prosperity and rapidly pursue their careers. If they sing the praises of Putin and Kadyrov, that is. For all the others, life can be very difficult
For the second time, the Chechen writer Kanta Imbragimov has been included in the list of official nominees for the Nobel Prize for Literature. Ibragimov has won prizes in Russia and the local government loves him. According to our correspondent Majnat Kurbanova, however, he has no talent. A tasty literary controversy
Two years ago, in February of 2010, Magomedsalam Magomedov became the President of Dagestan. His appointment was accompanied by the hope that this successful entrepreneur, young and educated, could bring actual change to the Caucasian Republic. A hope that was widely thwarted, leading to previously unseen street demonstrations and spelling out of the strong desire for social dialog that characterizes today’s Dagestan
In December's parliamentary elections, Putin's "United Russia" party obtained 99.48% of votes in Chechnya. Sceptics attributed this result – a record for the whole Russia – to a massive use of administrative resources. However, the wonders of Chechen arithmetic do not stop here: President Kadyrov anticipated that Putin would get 150% of Chechen votes at March's presidential elections
In his most recent televised address to the people, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said corruption in Chechnya was minimal. In reality, it is enough to spend a few days in the region to realise that corruption, like a spider web, envelops almost every sphere of life in Chechnya starting in primary school
At home they speak Hamshen, a variety of western Armenian. At school, they study eastern Armenian, as spoken in Yerevan. According to Sukhumi authorities, they will need to speak Abkhaz within a few years. Most of them, though, prefer to just speak Russian. An interview with Suren Kerselian, former president of the Armenian community in Abkhazia
In the age of the Russian Empire, people used to believe the tsar was good and the Boyars were the evil exploiters. In Stalin's times, many believed the leader was good and wise and that his corrupt underlings were responsible for cruelties he did not even know about. What about now? What legends circulate in Kadyrov's Chechnya?
Those interested in Georgia's politics have not been talking about anything else. Bidzina Ivanishvili, the richest man in Georgia (185th in the world), had been leading a private life until recently. But in early October he announced his entry into politics, challenging the government and opposition
Life in contemporary Chechnya cannot be subsumed under any one stereotype. The mix of Russian constitution, despotism, and sharia makes it virtually impossible to understand the rules of the game in this republic that is officially part of the Russian Federation. Stories from the “Kadyrov system” told by Majnat Kurbanova
A border dispute over a small village near the ski resorts where the winter Olympics of Sochi 2014 are set to take place has caused some skirmishes between Moscow and the de facto authorities of Sukhumi
Acting President Aleksandr Ankvab won the 26th of August elections in the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia. The reactions in Moscow, the statement of the new President on the future relations with Georgia
Chechnya recently openly celebrated Chechen Language Day, but Russian is still the country's official language and fewer and fewer Chechens are fluent in their own mother-tongue
Anvar Sharipov, a Russian citizen from Daghestan, has recently obtained refugee status in Italy. His story should have proceeded smoothly, but unfortunately it did not. On the contrary, the Sharipov affair shows up major shortcomings in safeguarding rights to asylum in Italy
Ngos in the Caucasus often fill the gap left by the state in areas related to children care, including basic education and assistance to the disabled. The Open Society Foundation supports local Ngos active in these fields in both the Northern and Southern Caucasus. Journalist Natasha Yefimov told their stories in a book, Kids Across the Caucasus. An interview with the author
Heavy sentences for the three Chechens accused of murdering Umar Israilov, former body guard of Ramzan Kadyrov, killed in Vienna in January 2009 after denouncing the Chechen leader to the Strasbourg Court
Nani was an elderly woman. Every day she sat alone in the yard under the shade of a walnut tree, spinning and singing songs about the cruelty of the Russian tsars. She believed that the salvation of the Chechen people was in corn, while its damnation in the tsars and their soldiers.The twentieth century, seen through the eyes of a Chechen woman
