Global Voices Online

TOL Georgia comments on news that the opposition has called off its hunger strike after a second intervention from the Georgian patriarch. With no concessions forthcoming from the government, the blog wonders where the current political situation in Georgia leaves the opposition ahead of the May parliamentary vote.

Recent Links also in Central Asia & Caucasus

Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.

Alexander Visotzky writes about the opening of a monument in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, where the authorities uncovered a 15-foot high bronze statue of incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Dafydd reports that the EU has lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan. Reasons given are abolishment of the death penalty and release of political prisoners.