Chronicle
From 16 December 2008 to 13 January 2009
| 16 December 2008 |
Azerbaijani Parliament agrees on amendments to increase fines against NGOs if they refuse to submit information on their grants |
| 16 December 2008 | The patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church Ilia II says he had “positive agreements” with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev |
| 18 December 2008 | Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs says a Georgian policeman is injured after a fire in the village of Khurvaleti located at the administrative border of South Ossetia |
| 19 December 2008 | Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan says the public apology by Turkish intellectuals for the mass killings of Armenians in World War I could hurt efforts to improve diplomatic ties with Armenia |
| 19 December 2008 | The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) calls for sanctions on Armenia over the imprisonment of dozens of opposition members |
| 20 December 2008 |
Finnish Foreign Minister and outgoing OSCE chairman-in-office Alexander Stubb declare no consensus has been reached on the continuation of the OSCE presence in Georgia |
| 20 December 2008 | Gas supply to a district in north-west Azerbaijan is suspended after an explosion |
| 22 December 2008 | Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze visits Azerbaijan |
| 22 December 2008 | Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says hundreds of millions of dollars spent on anti - Georgian campaign |
| 23 December 2008 | Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev receives EU special representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby |
| 23 December 2008 | Georgian Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili visits Turkey |
| 24 December 2008 |
Azerbaijan’s constitutional court considers restrictive media amendments |
| 25 December 2008 | Nino Burdjanadze, former Parliament Speaker and leader of the opposition party Democratic Movement-United Georgia, calls for early presidential elections in Georgia |
| 26 December 2008 | Azerbaijani Parliament approves referendum on removing presidential term limits |
| 26 December 2008 | Georgian Parliament approves eight new ambassadors |
| 26 December 2008 | Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili says he would propose a draft constitutional amendment envisaging the cutting of presidential powers |
| 27 December 2008 | Azerbaijani state company SOCAR purchases 22 small companies, which are distributing gas in Georgia’s provinces |
| 28 December 2008 |
Bank of Georgia (BOG) receives a 39 million US dollars package from the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) |
| 29 December 2008 | US warship arrives in Poti |
| 30 December 2008 | The Azerbaijani National Council of Television and Radio Broadcasting decides to halt the transmission of the foreign radio stations BBC, Voice of America, Radio Liberty and Europa Plus on the national frequencies of Azerbaijan |
| 30 December 2008 | State funding is restored for six opposition parties in Georgia |
| 31 December 2008 | Bank of Georgia (BOG) receives 200 million US dollars from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) |
| 31 December 2008 | Georgian Prime Minister Grigol Mgaloblishvili leaves for Germany for medical examination |
| 2 January 2009 |
Greece, which takes over the OSCE chairmanship from Finland, declares diplomatic efforts will continue to reach a consensus on the extension of the OSCE mission in Georgia 16 analytical digest caucasus analytical digest 02/09 caucasus |
| 4 January 2009 | Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs says Georgian police post was attacked in the village of Ganmukhuri at the Abkhaz administrative border |
| 6 January 2009 | Azerbaijan Democratic Party condemns the closure of foreign radio stations in Azerbaijan |
| 6 January 2009 | Georgian public TV announces Georgia’s participation in the Eurovision song contest in Moscow in May |
| 8 January 2009 | An inter-agency anti-corruption council is set up in Georgia to upgrade the national anticorruption strategy and action plan |
| 9 January 2009 |
US and Georgian officials sign a bilateral charter on strategic partnership |
| 9 January 2009 | Transit of Russian gas to Armenia is halted after a gas pipeline is damaged in Southern Georgia |
| 10 January 2009 | Russian state-controlled electricity trader Inter RAO signs a memorandum of understanding with Georgia on the exploitation of the Enguri hydro power plant (HPP) |
| 12 January 2009 | Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava rules out early elections |
| 12 January 2009 | Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey visits Georgia to sign agreement with Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze on the protection of Georgia’s interests in Russia by Switzerland |
| 12 January 2009 |
Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves visits Azerbaijan |
| 13 January 2009 | Opposition parties in Georgia criticize the government for striking a deal with the Russian state-controlled energy trader Inter RAO over the Enguri hydro power plant (HPP) |
| 13 January 2009 | Georgia resumes the transit of Russian gas to Armenia |