Georgia should not gamble with the patience of its Allies
Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in 2024. That is unfortunately aligned with the electoral cycle of US Presidential elections and campaigning in the EU-27 as we near the European Parliamentary elections. The Republican primaries’ debate in the US offers the first indication of a resurging neo-isolationism. As for Europe, polling suggests the far-right forces are gaining ground, campaigning with their own version of neo-isolationism; similar [...]
“Russian-Georgian Business Council” proposes to open road through occupied Tskhinvali
Davit Tsetskhladze (Facebook). TBILISI, DFWatch – At the meeting of the "Russia-Georgia Business Council" in Vladikavkaz, the capital of Russia’s republic of North Ossetia, the issue of opening a road connecting Russia and Georgia through occupied [...]
News
Former public defender Nino Lomjaria to establish new pro-EU public movement
Former Public Defender of Georgia Nino Lomjaria, who has been the object of permanent criticism and constant verbal attacks by the ruling party for the past years, is founding a new public movement, the first [...]
Six opposition parties in Georgia release statement claiming GD government collaborating with Putin’s Russia
The opposition parties of Georgia issue a joint statement speaking out about the threat of government shifting foreign political priorities and accuse the ruling power, Georgian Dream, of being a collaborator with the Putin regime [...]
Opposition demands setting up parliamentary commission to study corruption in judiciary
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition appeals President Salome Zurabishvili to convene parliament’s extraordinary session for creating special commission to study corruption in the judiciary. Opposition MPs say they have the necessary votes to set up commission. [...]
Georgian PM speaks about “Ukrainization” conspiracy, claims to have saved the country from war
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, whom the opposition and Western politicians often accuse of populist rhetoric, said during his speech in the parliament Friday that government saved the country from "Ukrainization“, and reiterated the narrative of [...]
Amid hysteria over “second front”, Abkhaz militia kicks off drills in Gali
The pro-EU protests in Tbilisi, which forced the government to kill the highly controversial bill on “foreign agents”, have triggered a natural hysteria in occupied Abkhazia, where the narrative has stubbornly been spread as if [...]
The opposition sets up united front to mobilize pro-Western forces against foreign agents’ bill
The moment of expulsion of opposition MPs from Legal Affairs Committee hearing. The opposition is creating a coordination council to resist the adoption of controversial bill on “foreign (influence) agents” by the ruling Georgian Dream, [...]
Parliament starts amid protests discussing “Russian law”, which many believe will drag Georgia to Putin’s embrace
(IPN) Verbal and physical confrontation followed the start of consideration of the anti-Western bill initiated by a political group close to the ruling Georgian Dream in the parliament on Thursday. The opposition urged supporters to [...]
Saakashvili’s health has deteriorated, the process will become irreversible in 1-2 months: Council of Doctors
Mikheil Saakashvili's health condition has worsened and if the current trend continues, irreversible processes will start in 1-2 months, states the Council of Doctors set by the Public Defender. “The patient has entered the phase [...]
Joe Biden nominates Robin Dunnigan as a new US ambassador to Georgia
President Joe Biden has announced his intent to nominate Robin Dunnigan as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Georgia. Robin Dunnigan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor, and [...]
Georgia: How to Be Rational and Coherent in That Disbalanced World? – A Conversation with Professor Neil Macfarlane
Tedo Japaridze I acquainted with Neil Macfarlane since the last century: it was 1990 when we met each other for the first time at some round table held by the Georgian MFA to discuss the [...]
Europe and Georgia
PACE to discuss dismissing its president in October
PACE President Pedro Agramunt. (Council of Europe.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will discuss a proposal to dismiss its chairperson in early October after a motion was tabled on Friday. The motion to dismiss PACE President Pedro Agramunt was backed by 158 out of the 636 member […]
Opinion
Minorities
New survey points to increasingly positive attitudes in Georgia toward minorities, LGBT+ individuals
(DFWatch) TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgians are increasingly positive about minorities, including LGBT+ people, according to the new survey commissioned by The Council of Europe Office in Georgia, which covers a period between 2018 and 2021. [...]
NGO News
GD and far-right Conservative Movement lead: TI report on party donations
The Conservative Movement, a far-right pro-Russian political party notorious for violence against LGBTQ activists and journalists, was second only to the ruling Georgian Dream in the last quarter of 2022 [...]
Civic groups in Georgia campaign to help Ukrainian refugees left out in the street
(Razom.ge) Georgian civic groups and activists have launched a fundraising campaign to provide temporary housing for Ukrainian refugees who were left out in the street after the end of state [...]
Georgian NGOs express concern over oil spill off Russia’s Black Sea coast
(Photo: Instagram / _svetlana__radionova_) TBILISI, DFWatch--Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Georgian National Platform, a coalition of more than 200 non-governmental organizations, expresses concern over an oil spill off Russia’s Black [...]