2006 saw little significant change for freedom in the CIS region and “the only relatively bright spots” among the non-Baltic countries of the former Soviet Union were Ukraine and Georgia, which have been designated as Free and Partly Free, respectively, according to a U.S.-based Freedom House survey, according to Civil Georgia.

“Both Ukraine and Georgia succeeded in further consolidating some of the reforms that had been instituted after their respective democratic revolutions,” Freedom in the World 2007, a survey of worldwide political rights and civil liberties, said.

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While discussing the situation in Russia, the survey noted that Russian government policies “tolerated and encouraged the mistreatment of immigrants from Georgia and other Caucasus countries.”