Several days ago I had a meeting with two experienced lawyers. They and I are all rather concerned about freedom of expression in the country. During the discussion we concluded that those who don’t write, are not worried about anything at all; they have nothing to say
Opinion
Westerwelle's visit and Georgia-Germany relations
The visit of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany Guido Westerwelle to Tbilisi on March 15, 2012 represents an important event for the Germany-Georgia relations, taking into account the fact, that this visit coincides with the 20th anniversary
What can we expect from Westerwelle's visit?
We have bad experience with a German Foreign Minister’s visits to Georgia. Former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited Georgia several weeks before the August war in 2008. He brought along a map with several points for how to solve the Abkhazian conflict.
The Subtle Art of Realpolitik
Guido Westerwelle, a German Foreign Minister, a distinguished and energetic German politician, will soon be visiting Georgia. A visit by the German Foreign Minister in any corner of Europe these days is a significant event, writes former Georgian foreign minister, Ted
How Georgia’s future leader should not be
When George Washington held the first State of the Union address in the U.S. Congress, there was a debate about where the president should sit so that his official status wouldn’t be diminished, but at the same time wasn’t looking down on Congress, in order to visually
How Party Financing Regulations Should be Changed
Georgia’s party financing law was amended in December 2011. A campaign called This Affects You Too was formed in February out of concern that the amendments are a threat to democracy. Recently, the campaign presented their proposal for how to make new amendments, so that
Budgetary Expenses and State Debt in Georgia
Social expenses comprised the largest share in the State budget of Georgia in 2011, with 30% of total expenses directed towards this category. Dynamics indicate clearly that the budget is getting more and more burdened by the social obligations, writes Irina Guruli,
Virtual Universe Keeps Turning into a Dynamo
President Saakashvili in his recent address to the Parliament referred to the entire opposition as ones locked in a virtual world who have completely lost touch with reality. Interestingly, the ruling team has crafted a virtual reality of another nature, one that manifests
From Post-Soviet to Soviet – Something has changed!
‘Something’ really changed, because the party, the leader who called the collapse of the Soviet Empire the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century, in fact lost majority support from voters and was only able to retain power through falsification
Waiting for Saakashvili’s state of the nation speech
It’s already the fourth year that I am a member of parliament, and for the fourth time I have to listen to the Georgian president in the Georgian parliament; listen to his promises and views, in what in the constitution is called “report about the country’s