DFWatch staff 
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia’s leading legal watchdog, the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), has condemned a new legislative proposal from the ruling Georgian Dream party that would ban individuals linked to outlawed political parties from taking part in politics, calling it unconstitutional and contrary to international human rights standards. In a statement released Wednesday, … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia expelled 851 foreign citizens between January and September this year, according to statistics from the Ministry of Internal Affairs published Thursday. The quarterly breakdown shows a steady rise across 2025: 219 expulsions in the first quarter, 306 in the second, and 326 in the third. By nationality, India and Iran … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Azerbaijan has exported 17.1 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline (also known as the South Caucasus Pipeline) between January and September 2024, according to data released by the country’s State Statistics Committee on Thursday. The volume represents a 1.98 percent increase compared with the same period last … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder of the independent outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, has been shortlisted for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, one of Europe’s highest honors for human rights and free expression. Amaghlobeli shares the finalist list with Andrzej Poczobut, a Belarusian journalist currently imprisoned in Belarus. … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia is seeing a surge in visitors from Uzbekistan, with the number of arrivals rising by nearly 23 percent this year, according to data released by the tour operator Check-in Travel and figures cited by BMG. Between January and September, 61,949 tourists from Uzbekistan visited Georgia, placing the Central Asian nation … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream scored an overwhelming victory in the Tbilisi City Council elections held on October 4, according to final results published Thursday by the Central Election Commission (CEC). Out of roughly 1 million registered voters, a total of 325,061 people cast their ballots, representing a turnout of about … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – The British government has imposed new financial sanctions on Russia’s Lukoil, but the company’s Georgian subsidiary has reported its best results in years, according to recently published financial statements. The sanctions, introduced by the United Kingdom on September 15, target Lukoil’s global operations but make specific exceptions for its participation in … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia’s government says it wants to make the country fully energy independent by 2030, a goal that Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze describes as achievable if new large-scale hydropower plants are built and renewable energy sources are expanded. In an interview with Gulf News, Kobakhidze said Georgia plans to increase its electricity … Read more
TBILISI, October 16 – Georgia’s diplomatic rift with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) widened on Thursday after the government fined Elina Valtonen, Finland’s foreign minister and current OSCE chair, for joining an anti-government protest during her recent visit to Tbilisi. The Interior Ministry confirmed to Interpressnews that Valtonen was fined 5,000 … Read more
TBILISI, October 15 – The Georgian government on Wednesday canceled a planned meeting between Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Elina Valtonen, Finland’s foreign minister and the current chair of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), after she briefly visited an anti-government protest outside parliament. In a statement, the government said Valtonen had … Read more