Day: May 21, 2026

As the World Urban Forum in Baku enters its final day tomorrow, four days of ministerial commitments, first-ever summits, a landmark report, and the beginnings of a Baku Call to Action have produced more than most UN urban conferences manage.

A media tour of Baku’s cultural and historical landmarks was organized for foreign media representatives visiting the country for the 13th Session of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), aiming to present Azerbaijan’s development strategies and achievements in sustainable urban planning to the international community, AzerNEWS reports.

“If the European Union is what we saw in the case of Denmark, then Georgia has no place in such a European Union,” Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.

He also criticised Germany’s ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, saying it was unjustified for him to “lecture” Georgia about “such a European Union”.

Opinion: ‘Georgian Dream uses violations in European countries to justify itself’

Political analyst Paata Zakareishvili commented on the open letter sent by Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to European Union leaders.

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgia wants “a different European Union”.

“When Germany’s ambassador lectures us about such a European Union, it is, of course, impossible to justify. We want a different European Union. No one will be able to lecture us about a European Union where dogs are used against peaceful demonstrators.

For us, Mr Fischer is not European in terms of values, and [EU ambassador to Georgia] Mr Pawel Herczynski is not European in terms of values either. Geographically, they belong to Europe, but in terms of values they are incompatible with everything the European Union stands for,” Kobakhidze said.

The prime minister argued that Georgia would seek membership in a European Union that returns to the “values on which it was originally founded”.

“Before the 1940s, these values were alien to Europe. Only after the Second World War, particularly from 1949 onwards, when new constitutional systems emerged in different countries, including Germany, did new values become established in Europe,” he said.

German envoy in Georgia and alleged ‘secret meeting’: pro-government media attempt to discredit diplomat

Pro-government media claim Peter Fischer urged an “Iranian scenario” in Georgia; he and participants deny it

According to Irakli Kobakhidze, before that period Europe was “a space of continuous wars”, while the protection of human rights faced “serious problems”.

“When we talk about European values, we should remember that these values are not particularly old in Europe — they became established only in the late 1940s. That is why we must remind European bureaucrats that something with a history of only a few decades can be lost very easily,” Kobakhidze said in an interview with broadcaster Imedi TV.

European Commission report: Georgia must immediately halt its democratic backsliding

On 4 November, the European Commission published reports on political developments in ten countries seeking to join the European Union, including Georgia

Context

On 19 May, during a briefing at the government administration, Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze addressed an open letter to European leaders. In the letter, Kobakhidze placed particular emphasis on events in the Danish capital, Copenhagen.

According to him, police use of force during the dispersal of a peaceful demonstration — including the use of batons and dogs — raised serious questions about the democratic standards the European Union claims to uphold.

Kobakhidze asked Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, António Costa, President of the European Council, and Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, how they assess the violence in Copenhagen and whether such actions are compatible with the standards of democracy and human rights that the European Union consistently says it defends.

Germany’s ambassador: “We’re not agents of regime change in Georgia and don’t care who is in power”

Peter Fischer: “Claims that the EU is a ‘party of global war’ are baseless and only serve to shift political responsibility onto others”

Irakli Kobakhidze on the European Union

A high-level forum titled “Breathing Life into the New Urban Agenda: Integrating Air Quality and Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities” has been held as part of the World Urban Forum (WUF13), AzerNEWS reports.

Russia Restricts Armenian Flower Imports Amid Strained Relations  The Moscow Times

New IDD Policy Brief

📄 Armenia’s June 2026 Elections: Peace, Geopolitics and the Search for a New Identity
by Könül Şahin, regional analyst for the Ankara Policy Center

🔗  https://t.co/lit2dOOt8a

#Armenia  #ArmeniaElections2026  #SouthCaucasus  #PeaceProcess  #Geopolitics

— @IDD_ADA May 21, 2026

New Jack City (NJC), also known as Sawtooth Canyon, is a sport climbing destination in the high desert near Barstow, California. New Jack City offers something for climbers of all abilities with more than 450 sport climbs ranging from 5.3 – 5.13+. The rock is an unusual form of metamorphic rock of volcanic origin, offering often tricky and thought-provoking sequences and moves on huecos …

Speaking at the World Urban Forum, Kecia Rust, Executive Director and founder of the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa, said affordable housing remains inaccessible for millions of people because traditional financial systems fail to recognize the realities of informal incomes, AzerNEWS reports.