TBILISI, April 17 – Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Facebook that his former personal security officer, Giorgi Kuparashvili, has been appointed commander of a mechanized regiment in Ukraine’s Azov formation. In his post, Saakashvili identified Kuparashvili as a colonel in Ukraine’s armed forces and said he had been appointed to lead a mechanized … Read more
TBILISI, April 15 – The election victory of Peter Magyar’s Tisza party in Hungary has become fodder for both sides of Georgia’s politics, with each camp trying to turn Budapest into evidence for its case at home. For the opposition, it is a lesson in how an “authoritarian regime” can be defeated through elections. For … Read more
TBILISI, April 15 – Georgia’s opposition has asked the country’s president to pardon four jailed miners from the western town of Chiatura. The appeal came from the opposition party For Georgia, led by exiled former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia. Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, MP Shalva Kereselidze said the party would send a formal petition … Read more
TBILISI, April 14 – Heavy rainfall and a surging river have forced traffic restrictions on a key road in eastern Georgia, with authorities temporarily banning light vehicles from one affected section. Georgia’s Roads Department said the restriction is in place at the 130-kilometer mark of the Tbilisi-Bakurtsikhe-Lagodekhi road, near the village of Heretiskari. The road … Read more
TBILISI, April 9, Georgia’s annual memorial for the victims of the April 9, 1989 Soviet crackdown turned tense on Thursday, as mourning ceremonies outside parliament were repeatedly interrupted by shouting and scuffles. Citizens and activists spent the night at the April 9 memorial in central Tbilisi, where people gathered through the morning to honor the … Read more
TBILISI, April 8 – Georgia’s parliament is set to take up a bill that would wipe out fines and late-payment penalties imposed on people punished after recent rallies and demonstrations. The proposal was submitted by the opposition party For Georgia, led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and is due to be discussed in first … Read more
TBILISI, April 7 – Georgia’s central bank chief backs parliament’s price probe as a way to enhance competition and transparency, while the IMF warns against sliding into blunt price controls. It started as a Christmas Eve video message by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, and developed into first a government commission and then a parliamentary one. … Read more
TBILISI, April 7 – Georgian authorities said Tuesday they had arrested 44 people in a nationwide operation targeting suspects linked to the country’s criminal underworld, with charges also set to be filed in absentia against six more. The announcement was made by Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze at a briefing, where he said one of … Read more
TBILISI, April 7 – Georgia may soon introduce a new visa category aimed at attracting wealthy foreign visitors, under a fast-tracked bill now moving through parliament. The proposed new permit, called the C5 ordinary visa, would be a multiple-entry short-term visa valid for five years, with the right to stay in Georgia for up to … Read more
TBILISI, March 26 – A Tbilisi court on Thursday sentenced activist Mariam Madzgharashvili to two days of administrative detention for a protest on a sidewalk, as reported by Interpressnews. Tbilisi City Court found Madzgharashvili guilty of an administrative offense, a fast-track public order penalty system left over from the Soviet Union. Georgia’s political opposition has … Read more