Sun, Nov 08 2009
CLAIMING VICTORY: South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity at a news conference in Tskhinvali, June 1 2009. Parties supporting the pro-Moscow leader of Georgia's rebel South Ossetia province won the May 31 2009 parliamentary election by a landslide, according to official results.

Georgia has been told to change its song if it wants to take part in the Eurovision final in Moscow.
Dora Bakoyannis highlights organisation's approach to Georgia, Kosovo, Afghanistan issues
An official statement at the end of the two-day ministerial council in Finland of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that the organisation had been "revitalized" by the "spirit of Helsinki" and quoted the Finnish prime minister as saying that the meeting had been constructive and substantive - and yet the summit ended with no agreement on a joint final declaration.
Nato foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Brussels on December 2 2008 on a "conditional and graduated re-engagement with Russia," the alliance's secretary-general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told journalists.
Russia has reacted to the 3.5 billion euro aid pledge to Georgia from various donors on October 22 with a propaganda offensive urging that Tbilisi not be allowed to use the money to re-arm.
South Ossetia and Abkhasia, like Kosovo, were "special cases", newly-appointed Russian ambassador to Bulgaria Yuri Isakov told his first news conference in Bulgaria on August 27 2008. Countries should decide about any recognition of independence of their own accord, he said, as quoted by Bulgarian news agency BTA. The grounds for the existence of independent states like South Ossetia and Abkhasia were by far more substantial than for Kosovo, which Russia did not recognise as independent.
At an extraordinary meeting held in Nato's headquarters in Brussels on August 19 2008, the military alliance's foreign ministers decided the bloc would help Georgia overcome the consequences of the recent military conflict with Russia, the press service of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Nato will send a special team to help the Georgian authorities evaluate the losses and damages, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin told reporters after the meeting. Nato also engaged itself in establishing a reliable communication connection with Georgia and decided to help Tbilisi in the field of cyber security.
The detainees will be held for 48 hours for questioning
After initial complaint, Bulgaria allows Russian police to search premises owned by the Bulgarian state
Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry says it is worried about the police raid that, according to the ministry, violated the property's diplomatic status
Bulgaria seeks its place in the Lisbon Treaty’s new EU
The Borissov – Papandreou talks were held during the European Council summit of heads of state and government in Brussels, and covered border checkpoints, trade and the Bourgas - Alexandroupolis pipeline.