TBILISI, DFWatch – Only four candidates have been approved to participate in the March 25 election to fill the post as president of the de facto republic of South Ossetia, a Georgian breakaway region currently occupied by Russia. Today the Central Election Commission […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili Tuesday February 28 gave his address to parliament and summarized the country’s situation as required by the Georgian Constitution. The leader grouped his political plans into five main points: Tackling unemployment, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Israeli officials deny that there are in talks with Georgia about handing over control over the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem. “This is news for us. We have heard nothing like that,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Yigal Palmor said, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – There were tough exchanges in the Georgian parliament yesterday, with President Mikheil Saakashvili at one point leaving the room after recommending an opponent to take a therapeutic mud bath to get rid of his delusions. The situation became so heated that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – From this year, Georgians who sign up with a private or vocational school for learning a new profession will receive a 1 000 lari voucher from the government. This was announced by President Mikheil Saakashvili during an annual speech to parliament […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The president in Georgia promises health insurance for all large families from 2013. Mikheil Saakashvili was making his annual address to parliament February 28. He noted that after establishing this system in Georgia, one out of two will be insured. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The president of the former Soviet republic of Georgia says this fall’s parliamentary election will be an important exam and says “conducting the freest elections which have ever been conducted is a question of national security.” Mikheil Saakashvili […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says his political force ‘has the resources to govern for many years and will never refuse this.’ The statement came during an annual speech to parliament Tuesday. Giorgi Targamadze, leader of the Christian […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili claims that the Netherlands wants to copy Georgia’s health care system. He said this during his annual speech to parliament on February 28. Speaking about the system implemented in Georgia, he said new hospitals […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said Tuesday night that Georgia will lift visa requirements for all Russians. Saakashvili was holding his annual speech to parliament about the state of the nation. “I have an new initiative to unilaterally […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – EU foreign ministers have issued a paper setting out to integrate Georgia more in the Union. The paper is a broad review of relations between Georgia and the EU and the country’s security. It notes that there has been progress in the Eastern […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – EU says parliamentary and presidential elections in Georgia should meet internationally recognized standards of democracy. A statement published on the EU’s Council on the South Caucasus webpage says the EU acknowledges Georgia’s European […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition politician in the former Soviet republic of Georgia accuses the government of lying about when three servicemen died last week. Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s former Foreign Minister, accuses the government of having postponed the sad […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The European Union’s commissioner for trade issues, Karel de Gucht, will arrive in Georgia today on February 28 and will start negotiations with Georgia about a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement. Moldova is also offered the same kind of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – When Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili comes to parliament this evening to make his speech about the state of the nation, groups and opposition parties will be demonstrating outside. The press office of the Free Georgia Party announced the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s billionaire-backed opposition movement, Georgian Dream, is not going to reconsider the country’s participation in the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. Press spokesperson Maya Pandzhikidze said this at a regular briefing on February 27. […]
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 […]
Part 1: Russia and Georgia One cannot Play at Giveaway Since the Rose Revolution and the assumption of political power by Mikhail Saakashvili the scope of influence of the Russian Federation over Georgia has been weakened to that extent that the Russian Federation has […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Black Sea port of Batumi has been chosen as host for the OSCE Economic Forum in May, Georgia’s Vice Speaker of Parliament Gigi Tsereteli told journalists Monday. Tsereteli says the decision was taken a few days ago after a meeting of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian authorities have issued fines to an opposition figurehead and his associates totaling 363 000 US dollars. The businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, who since October 2011 has been gradually building a base within the country’s politics, was […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president will make his annual speech to parliament tomorrow, February 28, at 20:00. Speaker of Parliament Davit Bakradze announced this today at a bureau session. “The best air time was picked for the president’s visit and speech […]
What is most valuable to the U.S. in regards to Georgia is to have a leader who is supportive of the U.S., but also has democratic legitimacy. And there are plenty of politicians who could fulfill that precondition, according to Lincoln Mitchell, Associate at Columbia […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem, which in its time was built with the support of the Georgian king and for centuries was considered a Georgian cultural center, may placed under Georgian control. The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili announced […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The small fireplace, wooden chairs, all the logs and even the small plant planted one day ago were demolished on Saturday by huge trucks and a tractor that dug a big hole inside the fenced-off area of old Kikvidze Park in northern Tbilisi. It happened […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia today presented its new combat vehicle Lazika at the Vaziani military base not far from the capital Tbilisi. The demonstration of the new vehicle’s technical and tactical abilities was attended by the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Friday evening, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s Facebook page suffered a similar attack as his Russian counterpart Dimitry Medvedev. Tens of comments per minute were submitted in Russian, until the administrator intervened and blocked […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Four more trees were cut in Tbilisi’s old Kikvidze Park yesterday night while activists left the area for a short time. The police Saturday arrested Lasha Chkhartishvili, the founder of Greenpeace Supporters Group and one of the organizers for trying […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Only one of Abkhazian de facto president Alexander Ankvab’s guards died after Wednesday’s assassination attempt. In the immedate aftermath of the shootout, a spokesman for Ankvab was quoted by Russian news agency Itar-Tass saying that a second […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s largest trading partner is Turkey, just like before, according to fresh data of from January 2012. According to Georgia’s Statistics Department, the turnover with Turkey last year totaled 90 million US dollars. Azerbaijan and Germany […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former Soviet republic of Georgia is to establish a new data-sharing and information protection model. A new law sets out the rules that will apply to both private and public bodies, the only requirement being that it is a ‘subject of critical […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – As one month is left until the de facto republic South Ossetia is to hold another presidential election, 21 candidates have registered their initiative group with the Central Election Commission. But the most popular candidate in a cancelled election […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An online campaign against Russian president Dimitry Medvedev’s Facebook page led to comments in Georgian language being blocked by the administrator. The campaigners wanted to express their protest against Russian policy regarding […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Groups in Georgia Thursday continued their campaign against the new party financing rules which were ushered in last December. At different spots around Tbilisi and in several other towns there were demonstrations to highlight the threat posed by […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian authorities have arrested the head of security at opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili’s ski resort. It was officers of the Georgian finance ministry’s investigative unit which arrested Revaz Mumladze, who is head of security at the billionaire’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – On Dadiani Street in northern Tbilisi near Didube metro, there is a big old park called Kikvidze Park. Here, the government has decided to build another one of Georgia’s characteristic transparent glass police stations. A protest was launched against […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russia hopes to restore friendly relations with the Georgian people, Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says. “We have never equaled the Georgian government to the Georgian people. And I hope very much that this really brotherly people to us […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Georgian security analyst says today’s attack on Abkhazia’s leader could have been carried out by Moscow-loyal forces who are angered by Alexander Ankvab’s efforts to disrupt them. Mamuka Areshidze, chair of Caucasus Center for Strategic Research […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A lawmaker from Georgia’s ruling party says he doesn’t exclude that Russia was behind today’s ambush of Abkhazian leader Alexander Anhvab’s convoy. “The fact itself that there were several attacks on this person, while he was the so-called Prime […]
It was a long way of looking for the women in Georgian politics. For the last decade, the only explanation for the lack of women in positions of power was: women are not ready themselves, are not showing will, writes Nina Tsihistavi, researcher in gender issues and women’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russian security police FSB forced a civilian airliner to return to Moscow and confiscated the passport of a South Ossetian ex-politician. Dzambolat Tedeev, who pondered running for president in South Ossetia last fall, was sitting on an airplane […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – This morning’s roadside ambush has left one of de facto Abkhazian president Alexander Ankvab’s bodyguards dead, and authorities are now using helicopters to hunt down the attackers. The attack happened at 08:25 in the morning Moscow time. News […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Three Georgian soldiers have died in Afghanistan, according to Georgia’s Defense Minister. The country has now lost a total of fifteen soldiers in the ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) mission. “The military servicemen died while they were […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Wednesday morning the de facto president of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia was attacked while in his car on his way to work in Sukhumi. Alexander Ankvab himself was not hurt, Abkhazian and Russian media report, but one of his bodyguards […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former member of parliament accused of planning a coup d’état in 2007 was released on bail. Georgian authorities accuse Valeri Gelbakhiani of having hatched the plot together with Badri Patarkatsishvili, a now deceased billionaire who owned […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – As a new chapter unfolded in the saga about Georgia’s party finance reform, the Chamber of Control Monday made a request which seemed an implicit criticism of its critics. The CoC was given retroactive powers in a reform last December, but since such […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili Tuesday took his movement one step further to becoming a full-fledged party, but stopped short of assuming leadership. Ivanishvili’s citizenship was revoked by President Mikheil Saakashvili at the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian Speaker of Parliament Davit Bakradze is asking parliament to change the recently introduced party finance rules so that they guarantee the freedom of speech more. He said this during a bureau session on February 20, responding to a petition […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili promised to this week unveil a new combat vehicle his country has developed called ‘Lazika’. The president said this in a speech February 20 during a surprise visit to his country’s soldiers stationed in […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said during a visit to Afghanistan that the United States will help Georgia to defend its territory. The president was addressing Georgian soldiers in the ISAF mission at a military base in Helmand province. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The United Kingdom’s ambassador to Georgia, Judith Gough, Monday visisted Abkhazia, one of two breakaway regions. Ambassador Gough was travelling together with Regional Adviser Claire Delassard and Political Affairs Counsellor James Gallagher. […]
Georgia’s 2012 budget is significantly different from the 2011 budget due to it being an election year. The expenditure part of the budget is particularly interesting. There are several expenditures which directly or indirectly aim to increase voters’ content, and this will […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili will hold his annual state of the nation address in parliament’s next week. The exact date of his speech is not yet known. Georgian Speaker of Parliament Davit Bakradze said this at a parliamentary bureau session Monday. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili today visited his country’s soldiers at the combat outpost Shukvani in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. No information was released beforehand about the president’s visit to Afghanistan, and it only became […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The change of U.S. Ambassador to Georgia is routine, says the embassy’s press service. ‘Ambassadors are replaced once in three years. John Bass has been Ambassador to Georgia since October 2009. Consequently, three years will pass in autumn 2012. He may […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A former parliamentarian has been arrested in Georgia today just as he entered the country from Armenia. Valeri Gelbakhiani had just crossed the border as law-enforcers arrested him. He voluntarily surrendered and was transferred […]
From 2009 to 2011, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) carried out the first and so far only survey of eTransparency in Georgia, monitoring some 100 web pages of different public authorities in Georgia, writes Constantine Janjghava, project […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Hunters saved from freezing to death, sailors are saved from pirates, a monk saved from hostage-takers, villagers saved from water and power shortage. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili gives you the heroes of daily life. As DF Watch continues […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Barack Obama has proposed Richard Boyce Norland as new U.S. ambassador to Georgia. The President proposed Norland as replacement for current ambassador John R. Bass, whose term expires this autumn. He was appointed in October 2009. The Senate’s Foreign […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Just days before the premiere, two cinemas in Azerbaijan have decided not to show a new Russian movie set during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Much of the new movie “August. Eight” was shot in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the backdrop to the story […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The loud sound of a horn and whistles was heard outside parliament in Tbilisi today, as activists and rights groups protested against a new set of rules that they say threaten basic freedoms. They came there not only to show how strongly opposed they are […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former Soviet republic of Georgia is going to construct a new coal power station in the near future. This was announced Thursday by the director of Georgian Industrial Group, Nana Turnava. She said the group has signed a contract with the Turkish […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Revenue Service says it can not understand the charges made by a billionaire opposition politician that his TV van was damaged in customs. The revenue service said in a statement Thursday that Bidzina Ivanishvili’s claim that TV equipment he was […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s defense ministry says the current twelve month service length is not enough to properly prepare persons called up for compulsory military service. It is now asking parliament to increase the length of service to 15 months. The bill is certain […]
In official or semi-official conversations, president Saakashvili’s supporters often remark that Saakashvili should somehow stay in power to finish the reforms he started, because otherwise the country’s direction will be reversed and it will head back into the past, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Outspoken activists and rights groups met in Tbilisi today and signed a petition called ‘It affects you too’, demanding that something is done to rein in Georgia’s new rules about party financing which they see as a threat to basic rights. The rules […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A billionaire in Georgia who is building an opposition movement says his TV equipment was deliberately damaged while in customs. Bidzina Ivanishvili’s press office said Tuesday that a production van belonging to his TV company with broadcasting […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s foreign ministry says Russia keeps on militarizing Georgia’s occupied regions, is deploying the newest offensive weapons and continues building military infrastructure. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday that Russia […]
TBILISI, DFWatch - The South Ossetian opposition leader who was injured in an attack by authorities last week says she will decide in three days whether to stay in politics or quit, and that she might ask for political asylum elsewhere. “It’s the first time I got the idea about getting out of South Ossetia. I [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A suspected explosive device was reported to have been found outside Russia’s consulate in Tbilisi Wednesday. However, it turned out to be just an empty suitcase, according to Interior Ministry spokesperson Shotia Utiashvili. The suspicious object […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Israel’s transport minister proposes to establish visa-free travel with the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The proposal was put forth during a visit to Israel February 13 by Georgia’s minister of economic development Vera Kobalia and is reported on […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili today presented the members of the initiative group for his new political party called Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. Among the members of the group are famous public figures, lawyers, a journalist, also […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto authorities in South Ossetia said she suffered a heart attack and had to be sent away to Russia for treatment. But now opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva denies she had a heart attack at all. She says her injuries were caused by physical and […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is giving the highest priority to investigating Monday’s foiled bombing attempt against the car of an employee at the Israeli embassy. President Mikheil Saakashvili’s press spokesperson Manana Manjgaladze said this today at a regular briefing. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia and Iran’s new visa free agreement has led to a tripling of travel. We take a closer look at the extent of cooperation between the two countries. The agreement about visa-free travel between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Georgia came into […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A United Nations envoy says the new party finance rules Georgia introduced in December are a violation of human rights. Special Rapporteur Maina Kiai says that ‘they at times use ambiguous language, are fuelling an overall climate of distrust, and […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A terror suspect was arrested in Zugdidi Tuesday, but Georgian authorities deny that it is linked with yesterday’s bomb attacks against Israeli embassies in Georgia and India. The Georgian Interior Ministry Tuesday arrested a person suspected of planning […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Tbilisi’s old Gudiashvili Square was fully covered with white snow on Sunday as people showed up to defend it once more from an uncertain fate. Even though it was a freezing minus five degrees, people still gathered on the square on February 12 at what […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Work to construct one of the biggest hydro electric power stations in Georgia has been halted, after its Turkish investor pulled out. The Georgian government explains that the Turkish investor refused to go through with the project, and therefore a new […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An explosive device was found under the car of a driver for the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi early Monday morning. The same day, a bomb went off in the Indian capital New Dehli, injuring two people; a driver for the Israeli embassy and a diplomat’s wife. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the elected assembly’s minority block is in danger of breaking up. So the ruling party is helping them out. One more member of parliament (MP) from the ruling party has left the party. Mikheil Machavariani, first […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A South Ossetian ex-politician has been fired from his position as coach for Russia’s national wrestling team. Dzambulat Tedeev is an opposition candidate who tried to register for the region’s presidential election last November, but was denied […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Most newspapers in the former Soviet republic of Georgia today publish a petition which protests controversial changes to a law about party financing. When the law on Political Associations of Citizens was changed in December 2011, it caused a strong […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Today at 17:00 the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili will meet representatives of the parliamentary majority at his residence in Tbilisi’s Avlabari district. Items on the agenda will be Georgia’s domestic and foreign policy. Majority representatives […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the bigger parties are giving away representatives in an apparent effort to prevent the moderate opposition from becoming too small. The radical faction Unity for Justice seems to be building up steam, as Roman […]
In December 2011 the Parliament of Georgia upheld amendments to rules about party financing and other relevant regulations. These amendments impose severe and disproportionate limitations on voters, the private sector: business, non-governmental organizations outside o […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The acting president of the Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia claims the situation in the region is within the frames of the law. An opposition leader who was detained Thursday evening is still in hospital after suffering a stroke. “Alla Dzhioyeva […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian monk who mysteriously disappeared in Abkhazia is free after 25 days of captivity and has returned home. The monk Iona, or Mamuka Maisuradze, was detained in Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia nearly three weeks ago. Shota Utiashvili, head of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Several leading Georgian organizations are now demanding clearer limits for the powers of the country’s party finance watchdog. The Chamber of Control itself is considering changes in its powers. The groups met Friday with the head of the Chamber of Control’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Organizations in the former Soviet republic of Georgia are planning to take immediate measures together with media workers to protest against a new law amendment which they claim poses a serious threat to freedom of speech, freedom of the media and […]
On December 4, 2011, the president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili announced an initiative to build a new city called “Lazika” in the West of Georgia, between Anaklia and Kulevi. The new city is supposed to be the largest after the capital, Tbilisi, and reach a population of about […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – South Ossetian opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva has regained consciousness in a hospital in Tskhinvali. Doctors want to transport her out of the breakaway republic and to Russia, but she refuses to be moved. It was just one day before she was going to hold […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Coalition for Media Advocacy says it is unacceptable to prevent journalists from bringing cameras into the session hall of the the Georgian parliament. It recently became known that there will be a photo ban in the new Georgian parliament building in […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The wife of opposition financier Bidzina Ivanishvili is suing Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, after he wrongfully revoked her citizenship. Saakashvili revoked Ekaterine Khvedelidze’s Georgian citizenship last October, at a time when […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The leader of the Georgian breakaway republic Abkhazia asks the EU not to teach Abkhazians how to live. “You can get blind from brilliant ideas of the international diplomacy, but they are not for Abkhazia. Our request is don’t teach us how to live. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The popular opposition leader in South Ossetia, Alla Dzhioyeva, has been detained, reports Ekho Kavkaza. The internet portal writes that unidentified officials entered the politician’s headquarters and detained Dzioyeva, who refused to go with […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Abkhazia wants the EU to recognize the Georgian breakaway region’s own passports as valid travel documents, just as is the case with North Cyprus. De facto foreign minister Viacheslav Chirikba said this February 8 after meeting Philip Dimitrov, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili calls for the government to investigate a police special operation in 2006 which took the lives of two young men. It’s known as the Vazagashvili case and gathers a crowd every year at the spot near Paliashvili […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia recorded a record number of visitors entering the country in January 2012. According to data from the Border Guard Department and the National Administration of Tourism, 227 006 international travelers entered the country in January, which is 41% […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The government of Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili has begun an unprecedented move to cut off the foreign funding of civil rights groups and election observers, because it believes that the groups are trying to affect the outcome of the election this fall. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Among all the other problems the weather is causing, Tbilisi citizens have one more worry: Their garbage fee has increased dramatically. A few months ago, a law amendment made the municipal garbage fee dependent on the electricity bill, so the more […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Snowy weather is creating difficulties in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. The whole country is currently covered with up to two meters of snow, but the transit of goods east-west is flowing normally. The international airport in Tbilisi says their […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The situation in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia ahead of a rescheduled elections is getting more strained day by day. The region’s state security committee released a statement Wednesday warning of ‘possible provocations by Georgian special […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In the Georgian capital, news hungry citizens can now get their daily update from a bright red bicycle. The reason the new mobile newsstand is hitting the streets is that City Hall has removed many of the old permanent booths. Since last December, independent […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Journalists in Georgia will no longer be allowed to bring cameras into the session hall of the Parliament building. This is where plenary sessions are held. They will also be prevented from having cameras with them in the small meeting rooms where committee […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russian President Dimitry Medvedev says the Russian and Georgian people should have relations and thinks it’s therefore necessary to restore trade relation. The president made this statement on Monday during a meeting with his supporters. “We have […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – There is growing uncertainty about whether the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili may stay on as prime minister after the end of his second term as president. Yesterday, the editorial board of the Washington Post published a comment in which […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – It is one of Georgia’s most touted reforms abroad, but now lawyers who have experienced it in practice warn that the overhauled Criminal Procedure Code of 2010 isn’t working. The reform saw deep involvement by top legal expertise from […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The situation in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia is getting more complicated as both top candidates refuse to take part in a rescheduled election on March 25. Kremlin favorite Anatoly Bibilov says he refrains from taking part […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A shot was fired at a journalist’s house in the Georgian capital Monday. No-one was injured. The journalist Khatuna Paichadze was at work when the shot rang out at around 14:00 local time. The bullet broke a window in her first floor flat in an Italian yard […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has been in contact with the foreign minister of Georgia to discuss security issues. It’s the country’s deputy foreign minister Nikoloz Vashakidze who brings this information at a regular briefing on Monday. […]
TBLISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Speaker of Parliament says that there is no talk of Georgia having a role in a potential conflict between Iran and the USA. Davit Bakradze was commenting a statement made earlier by the deputy secretary of the country’s security council, Batu Kutelia, […]
A lot of reforms have been carried out in the country during the first two decades after Georgia’s independence in 1991. Although some of them were rather controversial and contradictory, they led to significant changes in various spheres of Georgia’s social life, writes David Losaberidze, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – English is first priority for Georgian youth, but they might as well keep a basic knowledge of Russian too, just in case. Margo is getting ready to go abroad for a year through an exchange program, after graduating from university last summer, specializing in journalism. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president says Russia stopped its attack in August 2008 after the United States started deploying forces to assist the small country. Mikheil Saakashvili was speaking to students at the U.S. Naval Academy February 3, a speech that was carried […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A South Ossetian opposition leader calls for the other candidates to not take part in a rescheduled election March 25, calling it illegal, and instead recognize her as the legitimate head of government. Several candidates have registered with the Central […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Seven years after his death, the anniversary of Georgia’s late prime minister Zurab Zhvania is still testimony to the fact that many refuse to accept the case as closed. Some of the youth who gathered in front of parliament in Tbilisi Friday bore […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president says Georgia already is the biggest trade hub in the Caucasus region and that the construction of Europe’s biggest shopping center is just completed here. He made this statement during his speech at Georgetown University in Washington. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Defense Minister signals that his country will strengthen its military capability. Bacho Akhalaia made the statement on February 2 after the meeting his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta at a meeting of defense ministers among NATO […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – “The military cooperation between Georgia and USA is entering a completely new stage, which means that Georgia will better protect itself,” Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says. The president said this Thursday during his visit to the U.S. after meeting with […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president says the Georgian government has delivered on its promises. He said this during a speech at Georgetown University as part of his official visit to the U.S. this week. “Our economy has quadrupled. Crime has decreased fivefold. The poverty level has fallen […]
– Right! What we did not get was, something that was in the preliminary statement of the White House, stating that: “The President will reconfirm U.S. support for the integrity of Georgia’s territory within its internationally recognized borders”. We did not hear that; and really lacked that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – During a speech at Georgetown University in Washington, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said that his first presidential salary was 40 dollars and the state treasury was completely empty when he came to government in what is called the […]
Georgia’s only way forward towards strengthened security, economic growth and modernization is to build a pluralistic political society. Georgia cannot build a national security state, it must build a liberal state, writes Levan Tsutskiridze, international relations specialist
TBILISI, DFWatch – Nani has been working in Turkey for last ten years at a rich family, taking care of all the household activities. Her husband died years ago and she had to provide her two daughters with food and clothes. She couldn’t find a job here in Georgia and decided to leave for Turkey […]
The Georgian public is already used to multiple amendments to different laws, which dramatically change regulation principles in different areas in the country. We also got used to the fact that some of the changes are introduced to the parliament and adopted by the legislator […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto head of the Abkhazian church Besarion Aplia confirms that a Georgian cleric was arrested in Abkhazia a few days ago. Aplia says the Georgian cleric didn’t have his documents in order. Georgia discussed this issue on Tuesday during a regular […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says the changes his country has been through can not be undone by himself nor anyone else. He was speaking at the US Institute of Peace on invitation from the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based […]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Snowfall and strong winds are making trouble for people all over Georgia. More than 72 000 were without electricity Thursday morning. The biggest distributor, Energo-Pro, said they had brought down the number of customers without power from 64 000 to around 49 000 by early afternoon. Motorists are heavily affected. Sections [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - A civil rights group in Georgia wants a new set of rules to ensure that the country's media watchdog becomes more independent. Georgian Young Lawyer's Association (GYLA) last year criticized the present chair of the communications regulatory commission, Irakli Chikovani, for having a conflict of interest. In a study GYLA found [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - We asked Caucasus expert Tom de Waal a few questions following Monday's meeting between U.S. president Barack Obama and Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili in Washington. de Waal is a journalist and writer, previously Caucasus editor of Institute for War and Peace Reporting, and now senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Media workers in the former Soviet republic of Georgia met Wednesday to reaffirm their mutual pledge to support eachother in case of harassment from authorities. “The main goal is to fight against illegal actions, protecting each other and solidarity when the media is in trouble,” says Mamuka Glonti, who took the [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - The Georgian president says the results of his meeting with U.S. president Barack Obama exceeded his expectations. President Mikheil Saakashvili said the issues he discussed with Obama at the White House Monday represent “a new and higher level of cooperation between the two countries; on the one hand military security and on the [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili says that his country's military cooperation with the United States is moving into a new phase. According Saakashvili's press spokesperson, America no longer only prepares Georgian forces for tasks like anti-terrorism or the ISAF mission in Afghanistan, but takes an active role in building Georgia's military capability. According to [...]
TBILISI, DFWatch - The leadership of Georgia's breakaway region South Ossetia say an opposition politician's quest to claim election victory threatens a fragile peace and may have serious consequences. Authorities released the statement after talks with opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva, who has been campaigning on and off to claim victory after an election in November which [...]
