ConflictBarometer_2015

EUROPE
and setting up a tent camp in front of the parliament building.
The next day, tens of thousands rallied in support of Gruevski
in a counter-protest, organized by the ruling VMRO-DPMNE
party, also establishing a camp. During the next weeks, opposition
supporters continued their protests. After a series of
EU-mediated talks, on July 15, the leaders of the four main
parties agreed on the formation of an interim government
under a new prime minister in January 2016, early elections
to be held on April 24, and the appointment of new ministers
from the ranks of the opposition. Opposition MPs returned to
parliament after a 15-months boycott and a Special Prosecutor
was appointed to investigate the wiretapping. On October
7, hundreds of demonstrators rallied in Skopje against the
proposal of the ruling parties to outlaw the publication of
materials related to the surveillance scandal.
Further social groups expressed their discontent over governmental
policies and an alleged autocratic turn on several
occasions, demanding the resignation of government
members. For instance, university and high school students
repeatedly protested against the government. After first
protests in winter 2014, university students again rallied in
Skopje, opposing the educational reform on January 14 and
October 21. On February 11, over a thousand students occupied
the University of Skopje, which lasted until February
25. High school students staged rallies in the following two
months, for instance on March 19, when hundreds gathered
in Skopje and thousands in total in the towns of Tetovo,
Resen, Kumanovo, Negotino, Bitola, and Struga. On April 23,
approx. 10,000 university students and high school students
protested in Skopje, demanding the resignation of Education
Minister Abdilaqim Ademi. Journalists also rallied on several
occasions throughout the year. On January 20, more than a
thousand protesters rallied in Skopje over the conviction of
reporter Tomislav Kezarovski. Several other smaller protests
over alleged government attempts to limit media freedom
took place in Skopje on January 16, March 30, and April 22.
dve
GEORGIA (ABKHAZIA)
Intensity: 2 | Change: | Start: 1989
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
Abkhazian regional government vs.
government
secession
The non-violent crisis over secession between the breakaway
region Abkhazia and the central government continued.
On February 4, Russia's President Vladimir Putin ratified
the Treaty on Alliance and Strategic Partnership concluded
with Abkhazia's de facto president Raul Khadjimba on
11/24/2014. The agreement included, among other things,
the creation of a common security and defense space. Khadjimba
subsequently appointed former Russian general Anatoliy
Khrulev as Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces
of Abkhazia on May 18. The Abkhazian Parliament ratified an
agreement on a combined Russian-Abkhazian army group on
December 18. Georgia repeatedly condemned these steps
as a violation of international law and a Russian attempt to
annex Abkhazia [→ Russia Georgia]. Russian Armed Forces
conducted joint military exercises in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
on March 5 and again on September 8, involving 2,000
soldiers and 700 soldiers, respectively [→ Georgia (South
Ossetia)]. Georgia denounced this as unacceptable. Negotiations
mediated by the EU, UN, OSCE, and the US between
Georgia, Russia, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia began in March
and continued throughout the year. Four rounds of talks were
held in Geneva, Switzerland, bringing the total number of negotiation
rounds to 34. However, no agreement was reached
between the conflict parties concerning the restraint on the
use of force, the regulation of IDPs, and the return of ethnic
Georgian refugees to Abkhazia. lsu
GEORGIA (OPPOSITION)
Intensity: 3 | Change: | Start: 2007
Conflict parties:
Conflict items:
UNM, various opposition groups vs.
government
national power
The conflict over national power between various opposition
groups, most prominently the United National Movement
(UNM), and the government of the ruling party Georgian
Dream (GD) escalated to a violent crisis.
Throughout the year, opposition groups repeatedly demonstrated
against the government. On March 12, members of
the pro-UNM youth group Free Zone, demonstrating against
the government's economic policy, and activists of the Free
Generation movement, supporting GD, scuffled in front of
the parliament in the capital Tbilisi. The police detained six
Free Zone members. On March 15, UNM and GD supporters
clashed in Zugdidi, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, using
sticks, clubs, and stones, after GD activists had burst into the
local UNM headquarters. At least six people were injured,
among them one police officer. Tens of thousands followed
UNM's call and demonstrated in Tbilisi on March 21, demanding
the government to step down and accusing it of a failed
economic policy and corruption. On October 2, Free Zone
activists attacked a GD Member of Parliament in front of the
parliament building in Kutaisi, Imereti region. Police detained
three activists.
In early August, the former co-owner of the leading oppositional
and independent broadcaster Rustavi 2, Kibar
Khalvashi, filed a lawsuit claiming that ex-president Mikhail
Saakashvili of UNM had forced him to sell his shares of the
company. UNM and other opposition parties comdemned the
lawsuit as an attempt of GD government to seize control over
the opposition government-critic broadcaster. On November
3, the Tbilisi City Court ruled in favor of Khalvashi, however,
the Constitutional Court issued an injunction against
the implementation of the ruling until all possible appeals
were exhausted. On November 5, the City Court ordered
Rustavi 2 top management to be replaced by provisional
administrators, but adjourned the implementation until the
appeal was completed. The EU delegation, Tbilisi-based ambassadors
from the EU-member states, the US, and the OSCE
voiced their concerns over the case, stating it would raise
''serious questions about the independence of the judiciary''
and calling on the government to ensure media pluralism. jde
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