Occupied territories of Georgia
On 3 March 2009, Latvian President Valdis Zatlers met Giorgi Baramidze, the Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Georgia. The president expressed his support for Georgia's domestic reforms and foreign policy. He also asked Baramidze what Russia was doing in those parts of Georgia that it had occupied.
History of the Jews in the Soviet Union
The Georgian Jews () are from Georgia, in the Caucasus. Georgian Jews are one of the oldest communities in Georgia, tracing their migration into the country during the Babylonian captivity in 6th century BC. In 1801, the Russian Empire annexed Eastern Georgia. In the beginning of the 19th century, Ashkenazi Russian Jews were forced to move to Georgia by the Russian government. The Ashkenazi Jews and the Georgian Jews began establishing contact with each other, but relations were strained. Georgian Jews viewed the Ashkenazim as godless and secular, while the Ashkenazim looked down on the Georgian Jews. Zionism was a uniting cause for the two groups. Beginning in 1863, groups of Jews began making aliyah, mostly for religious reasons. The Red Army invaded Georgia in February 1921, prompting a mass exodus from the region.