Saturday, December 6, 2025

Discussion: Reasons for instances of religious intolerance

Zaur Khalilov_Beka Mindiashvili_ Giorgi Gotsiridze _
From left to right: Zaur Khalilov, executive director of Civic Integration Fund, theologian Beka Mindiashvili, and lawyer Giorgi Gotsiridze. (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–A few days ago, in a town on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, local Orthodox Christians hung a pig’s head on the entrance to a Muslim madrasa school which was to be opened in few days, insulting the religious feelings of Muslims.

What are the reasons

Read more

U.S. to strengthen its military cooperation with Georgia

chuch_hagel
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuch Hagel. (Interpressnews.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The United States is strengthening its military cooperation with Georgia and several non NATO-member states on the background of events in Ukraine.

US is a strategic partner of Georgia and supports its North-Atlantic integration, US Secretary

Read more

Discussion: Youth unemployment in Georgia – causes and solutions

youth_unemployment_Crop
From left to right: Mariam Gogosashvili, student at GIPA, Temo Kakhidze, student at University of Patriarchate and Elene Beriashvili, student at Tbilisi State University. (Click to watch video.) (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–On September 6, DF Watch organized a discussion about the difficulties youth are having finding employment.

We invited students from three different universities to share their views on youth unemployment.

They agree that there are problems,

Read more

Religious summer camp brings children together across confessions

Summer_camp_DSC_0299_Crop
The camp in Vartsikhe brought together children of different religious background. (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–A ten-day summer camp was organized in mid-August for about one hundred Georgian Muslim and Christian children. The camp is aimed at making friends, train and educate, as well as breaking down prejudices about religion.

Giorgi Jaiani, 15, came

Read more

KaZantip festival in Georgia a failure, may be cancelled

kazantip__12__Crop
KaZantip visitors are making the most of it, but some are disappointed. (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–The long-awaited music festival KaZantip turned out a disappointment for some visitors and the head organizer.

The electronic music festival, which has been held for the last decade in Crimea, was moved to Georgia’s Black Sea coast after Russia’s

Read more

Mosque issue in Batumi remains unresolved

Tariel_Nakaidze_Crop
Tariel Nakaidze, one of the founders of the Union of Georgian Muslims. (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Years have passed without a solution to the need for a new mosque in Batumi. The governments keep promising Muslims that they will make a decision, but according to Muslims, both the central and the local government are attempting to delay

Read more

German film director Stefan Tolz on living in Georgia

Stefan_Tolz01_Crop
German film director Stefan Tolz. (DF Watch.)

TBILISI, DFWatch–“Full Speed Westward” (Vollgas gen Westen) – this is the title of a new movie by German film director Stefan Tolz. 

The movie opened in Georgia a few months ago and was well received. It is a documentary about Georgian reality, which shows

Read more

From Europe to the Caucasus: hunting time, then and now

Tedo Japaridze is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Parliament of Georgia.

There is indeed a civilizational cleavage between “Europe” and the South Caucasus. To encapsulate this cleavage in a single metaphor, one could say it is the difference between youth and age: the European sense of time seems youthful, with the certainty that

Read more

Lingering concerns over implementation of Georgia's anti-discrimination law

delys_sarah_Crop
Sarah Delys is a criminologist working for Human Rights Education and Monitoring Centre in Tbilisi.

Earlier this summer the UN Human Rights Committee published its concluding observations on Georgia’s fourth periodic report. The report praises the Government of Georgia on a number of positive steps, both at the legislative and the institutional level. Nevertheless,

Read more

If NATO delays path to Georgia’s membership, what is the alternative?

Tedo Japaridze is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Parliament of Georgia.
Tedo Japaridze is Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Parliament of Georgia.

Alliance’s September summit must offer ‘concrete,’ not ‘token’ help as Georgia faces Russia

In the same week that the European Union signed an association agreement with Georgia on June 27, NATO officials meeting in Brussels decided not to offer the country

Read more