On 15 February, EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński met with civil society representatives and local activists in Marneuli at the Kvemo Kartli regional hub, Civic Integration Fund, established within the EU-co-funded project "Civil Society STAR Initiative" implemented by KAS. The exchange in a region that is home to most of the Azerbaijani minority in Georgia touched upon engagement of ethnic minorities in decision making, access of ethnic minorities to information about state services and anti-Western propaganda in Kvemo Kartli region. Ambassador Herczyński lauded the work of the local civil society, stating that it "resonate[s] deeply with the values of the European Union".

Top officials float idea of Armenian EU membership application

Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan spoke about a potential application of Armenia for EU membership. Simonyan stated that Armenia already has "much better democracy indicators than many [...] members of the EU". And Mirzoyan confirmed on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomatic Forum in early March that applying for EU membership is considered because "the people of Armenia do have European aspirations". On the EU side, the European People's Party introduced a draft resolution in the European Parliament, in which the consideration of possibilities for granting Armenia the EU candidate status is proposed.

Armenia continues distancing from Russia
Prime Minister Pashinyan on 22 February described the Armenian membership in the Russian-led "Collective Security Treaty Organization" (CSTO) as "frozen". In the recent months, Yerevan has been boycotting high-level meetings as well as military exercises of the CSTO. The Armenian government further sent an official request to Russia, giving Moscow a deadline until 1 August to remove its troops from Zvartnots International Airport in Yerevan, where Russian border guards have been present since 1992.  

Armenia and India deepen cooperation

Amid a surge of economic and defence cooperation, the "India-Armenia Dialogue" was prominently featured at the opening event of the high-level conference "Raisina Dialogue" in New Delhi on 21-23 February. In addition, on 10 March India announced the establishment of an air corridor to Armenia aimed at strengthening logistics between both countries. 

New opposition party forms ahead of parliamentary elections in October

On 11 March, “Mtavari” TV Channel founder Nika Gvaramia together with former chairman of the “United National Movement”, Nika Melia, officially announced the unification of their efforts within a new party, “Ahali” (“New”). In an effort to counter high polarization and political apathy in the country, the founders have called for opposition parties and movements, public figures and citizens to unite around “Ahali”.

China establishes visa-free regime for Georgian citizens

The People’s Republic of China has granted Georgian citizens the possibility to travel visa-free to China for uninterrupted stays of up to 30 days. This was announced by Georgian Prime Minister Kobakhidze on 26 February and followed the agreement on a strategic partnership between the two countries in July 2023. Chinese citizens can travel visa-free to Georgia since September 2023.

Bank of Georgia to acquire Armenian Ameriabank

On 19 February, Bank of Georgia announced plans to acquire Ameriabank, one of the largest banks in Armenia, for 303.6 million USD. Ameriabank was previously partly owned by Armenian billionaire Ruben Vardanyan, who acted as "State Minister" of the Armenian de-facto authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh from November 2022 until February 2023. Vardanyan was arrested by Azerbaijani forces during the 2023 military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh and is currently imprisoned facing charges of "financing terrorism", among others.

Germany hosts high-level Azerbaijani-Armenian negotiations

Leading Azerbaijani and Armenian officials met twice in Germany in the past month to discuss a possible peace treaty. First, Prime Minister Pashinyan and President Aliyev met under the mediation of Chancellor Scholz during the Munich Security Conference on 17 February, followed by a meeting of the foreign ministers in Berlin on 28-29 February. Statements on the outcomes were restrained, with disagreements persisting on the question of border demarcation, among others. 

Disruption of cultural event raises questions about ethnic minority rights in Azerbaijan
Representatives of the Talysh community in Azerbaijan were pressured into cancelling a small-scale cultural event on the occasion of the UN International Mother Language Day on 21 February. The pretext for the disruptive measures was alleged criticism of Azerbaijani policies regarding national minorities as well as “unknown goals” pursued by the event. Complaints from representatives of different national minorities about the same minority policies surface regularly, and together with fears of creeping assimilation question the proclaimed multiethnic tolerance of the Azerbaijani state.

Independent Azerbaijani news outlet is raided, journalists arrested

On 6 March, the office of the last independent online media "Toplum TV" was searched by police and sealed afterwards. Social media pages of the outlet were taken down and staff members of "Toplum TV" were arrested, with five of them remaining detained facing charges of "smuggling". These measures followed criticism of the Azerbaijani government by the outlets’ editor-in-chief.