Vladimir Rozanskij

Two months after the reopening of the border, both countries are still waiting for cross-border customers to return to their local markets in frontier areas. Mutual distrust and suspicion remain palpable, but both some traders and local authorities believe that the economy will soon take a turn for the better.

Protests erupt during the visit of Moscow’s Foreign Minister, whom many Armenians blame for failing to support them against Azerbaijan. Russia offers reassurances on the importance of "allied relations" between the two nations, also aimed at countering Armenia’s rapprochement with Europe. Yerevan, however, has no plans to withdraw from the CSTO.

Zurab Dzhaparidze, one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Change” opposing the Georgian Dream regime, has been arrested for refusing to pay a fine imposed on him for failing to appear before a parliamentary inquiry commission he considers “illegitimate” due to electoral fraud. “If people refused to live in lies, the regime would collapse instantly,” he declared.

"The work of God knows how to transform even the most senseless human actions into something good," said Patriarch Kirill in recent days, during the celebration of the feast of Saint Nicholas, who traditionally in May is associated with the promise of a good harvest for the agricultural season. And never more than today is such a blessing needed, as people hope for a new season of peace for the fields and lands ravaged by war.

Several of the country’s major business groups have formed a network to promote the idea that collaboration is more productive than competition, and they are now working together to find common paths to strengthen the national economy. Their efforts begin with social projects such as supporting low-income families, schools, and student hostels.

Mirziyoyev plans to build a large shopping centre on the site where, in 2005, hundreds of protesters—who had occupied a high-security prison in protest against a wave of arrests—were killed in a military crackdown. For years, the authorities claimed that the demonstrators were “slaughtered by Islamic terrorists.”

The government in Tbilisi is proudly touting Georgia’s buoyant GDP figures, claiming that the economy has tripled in recent years thanks to its own policies. However, the real driving force behind this surge has been the indirect effects of the war in Ukraine. Around 100,000 Russians have fled to Georgia to escape Putin’s mobilisation, and the boom in less visible sectors of the economy—such as trade triangulation to bypass sanctions against Moscow and surrogacy clinics—has fuelled further growth.

The effects of climate change are becoming more pronounced year after year on the Crimean Peninsula, intertwining with a worsening water shortage following the halt in the flow of Dnipro River water after the region's separation from Ukraine. This has had serious consequences for local agriculture, which blames the water usage in swimming pools and tourist resorts—an attempt to support a tourism sector in deep crisis due to the ongoing war.

The 16th edition of the Kazan Forum, a platform for cooperation between Moscow and the countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was held in the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. Topics discussed included digital financial systems to promote the use of national currencies in Islamic banking, and the use of technology to spread Islamic culture.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev continues to insist that “the Turkic World is our family”—a perspective that resonates increasingly with the rising nationalist sentiment in the majority-Azeri regions beyond the Iranian border, fuelled in part by support for Tabriz’s football team. A phenomenon that the authorities in Tehran are responding to with harsh repression.

The breakdown in relations with Europe was portrayed by Russian propaganda as a bright new horizon for the Eurasian space. But sanctions have enabled Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to grow in their role as intermediaries in trade with third countries. And today, many migrants are looking more to the West than to Moscow.

The region holds vast reserves of these minerals, now highly sought after by the high-tech industry. Kazakhstan speaks of “unparalleled deposits”. The European Union is working to foster suitable partnerships as a possible alternative to China for supplies. However, these efforts are hindered by underdeveloped technological infrastructure, which slows down the region’s real prospects for growth.