In 2012, the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities issued the so-called Ljubljana Guidelines: recommendations for member states to foster integration in increasingly diverse societies. A few years later, in December 2019, the High Commissioner commissioned a study to strengthen these recommendations and assist member states in their implementation. Therefore on behalf of the OSCE […]
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Besides contributing to the Joint Consultation Paper entitled Towards A New European Neighbourhood Policy consultation process, the The Eastern Partnership Revisited aims at being a voice in the discussion about the future relations between the EU and the countries in its eastern neighbourhood. Today, six years after the introduction of the EaP, a re-evaluation of […]
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The United States Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor annual report on freedom of religion in Armenia in 2014. The report summarize the situation as follows: The constitution guarantees the freedom of religion and establishes the separation of church and state, but at the same time recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church […]
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Based on interviews with up to 70 representatives of 33 religious organizations in Georgia, this study identifies the challenges and needs of religious organizations, cases of violations of the freedom of religion and evaluates the state policy and practice in this regard. Furthermore, this research offers specific recommendations to the state institutions; the implementation of which […]
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This document is the second Progress Report on the implementation by Georgia of the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP). It provides a detailed analysis of the most relevant developments relating to the implementation of the so-called first phase VLAP benchmarks concerning the policy framework (legislation and planning). It also includes an assessment of possible migratory […]
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The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought to the fore claims of linguistic minorities which had been ignored far too long. In almost all of the former Soviet republics language became an impetus to national revival and an important instrument in consolidating the newly independent states. At times excessively accentuated and overly politicized, the language […]
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The Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located in the southwest corner of Georgia along the Turkish border, has been the scene of a peculiar religious transformation in the last two decades. Specifically, large segments of Adjara’s traditionally Muslim population have undergone a relatively quick rate of conversion to Christianity. Whereas the region’s population was predominantly Muslim […]
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Following an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) on 19 September to observe the 27 October 2013 presidential election. The OSCE/ODIHR EOM assessed compliance of the electoral process with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, […]
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The Introduction of the report gives brief summaries of the main concerns and reflections of the EU Special Adviser on Constitutional and Legal Reform and Human Rights in Georgia. The body of the report goes deeper into seven key areas in relation to human rights: judiciary, penitentiary, law enforcement, minority rights, political participation, freedom of […]
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This paper aims to discuss the institutional set-up around civil integration and minority protection issues in Georgia since the ‘Rose Revolution’, and the study reviews the state structures relevant for governance and legislative practices on civil integration and minority issues. It seeks to provide an overview of the institutional problems that beset civic integration by […]
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