On June 17, 2019, Rudolf Michalka, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, his advisor Pietro Guastamacchia, and Siegfried Woeber from the OSCE CPC Caucasus Desk visited Russian International Affairs Council to gain new insights on the South Caucasus prior to a conference in Geneva. They discussed security issues in the South Caucasus with Professor Vladimir Bobrovnikov from the HSE in St. Petersburg and Leonid Nersisyan from Regnum News Agency.
On June 17, 2019, Rudolf Michalka, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, his advisor Pietro Guastamacchia, and Siegfried Woeber from the OSCE CPC Caucasus Desk visited Russian International Affairs Council to gain new insights on the South Caucasus prior to a conference in Geneva. They discussed security issues in the South Caucasus with Professor Vladimir Bobrovnikov from the HSE in St. Petersburg and Leonid Nersisyan from Regnum News Agency.
The following issues were discussed during the meeting: the even balance of hard power between hostile nations in the region; the military and political integration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia with the Russian Federation; Georgia’s potential future in the EU or NATO; the bloody stalemate in Nagorno-Karabakh and ongoing challenges to peace; potential routes to escalation or reconciliation in Nagorno-Karabakh; the interests and influence of regional powers like Russia, Turkey, and Iran; and finally the many social issues at play under the surface like unemployment, migration, religion, corruption, and propaganda.
