TBILISI, October 2 – Georgia’s government spending is set to increase sharply next year, with the draft 2026 budget projecting expenditures of 30.47 billion lari (about USD 11.3 billion). That is 2.53 billion lari more than the planned 2025 budget of 27.94 billion lari. According to the Finance Ministry, the proposed budget is made up … Read more
TBILISI, September 27 – Georgia’s ruling party Georgian Dream has announced it will ask the country’s Constitutional Court to outlaw the opposition United National Movement (UNM), the party founded by former president Mikheil Saakashvili. The move follows the conclusion of a six-month inquiry by a parliamentary investigative commission led by Vice Speaker Tea Tsulukiani. She … Read more
TBILISI, September 25 – Kakha Kaladze, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor, told voters in Saburtalo that Georgia’s independence was won “with blood and struggle” and must still be defended every day. Speaking under the campaign slogan “Peace for Georgia, more good for Tbilisi,” Kaladze argued that his party has kept the … Read more
TBILISI, September 25 – With Georgia’s hotly contested October 4 local elections just days away, opposition party Lelo is weighing whether to show up at a major street rally in Tbilisi the same evening. The move could put the party on a collision course with other opposition groups that have vowed to boycott the vote. … Read more
TBILISI, September 25 – Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has doubled down on sharp criticism of Western envoys, accusing EU, UK and German ambassadors in Tbilisi of overstepping their diplomatic role and interfering directly in the country’s politics. Speaking to reporters after the UK’s ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, a day after Germany’s … Read more
TBILISI, September 24 – Lawyers for Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the political council of Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM), are doubling down on claims that his arrest is politically motivated. Khabeishvili was detained earlier this month by Georgia’s State Security Service and charged with publicly promising money to officials in exchange for political support. … Read more
TBILISI, September 22 – Georgia’s opposition are adjusting their language under pressure from the ruling party’s legal threats ahead of a planned October 4 rally previously presented as a ‘peaceful revolution.‘ Paata Burchuladze, founder of the “Rustaveli Avenue” movement, said he was replacing the phrase “peaceful overthrow” with what he jokingly called “affectionate clean-up.” His … Read more
TBILISI, September 16 – Georgia’s prime minister is escalating attacks on jailed opposition activist Elene Khoshtaria, accusing her of being in the Kremlin’s pay. Speaking Tuesday after the Dutch ambassador visited Khoshtaria in detention, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze blasted the envoy for “grossly violating” the Vienna Convention and claimed the meeting was interference in Georgia’s … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – Elene Khoshtaria, one of the leaders of Georgia’s opposition group Coalition for Change, was taken to a temporary detention facility in the Tbilisi district of Zahesi, local media reported. Earlier this morning, police detained Khoshtaria outside her home and took her to a police station. Supporters from her party later gathered … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – Giga Bokeria, leader of the small opposition party Federalists, blasted the detention of Elena Khoshtaria, the head of the opposition group Droa. Bokeria described the move as “another shameless example of double standards” by what he called the “unconstitutional regime of Bidzina Ivanishvili,” the billionaire founder of the ruling Georgian Dream … Read more