TODAY: Troops begin controversial Georgia border control; EU fears Russia not a ‘reliable partner’; Medvedev’s first year analyzed; Russians unimpressed by income anti-corruption drive; democracy dwindling but economy bolstered in Sochi?; ballet

Surveillance on the borders between Abkhazia and South Ossetia and Geogia has begun with hundreds of troops deployed; Russia apparently plans to construct a naval base in Abkhazia.  Russian Ambassador to Abkhazia Semyon Grigoryev has set up the country’s new Russian embassy.  Reuters has a list of ‘tipping points’ in relations between Georgia and Russia here.  The Chairman of the Duma’s International Affairs Committee has apparently reiterated that Russia was forced to intervene in Georgia due to actions undertaken by President Mikheil Saakashvili.  ‘Any hope for trust, which is vital, was destroyed‘ by Russia’s move to protect the border areas, says current EU president Karel Schwarzenberg.  Russia will be ‘the ghost at the feast’ at the meeting of the Eastern Partnership, to be launched by the EU this week.