TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Foreign Minister met his Slovakian colleague on Thursday during a visit to Bratislava. The ministers discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation, including important issues for both countries ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili continues his struggle to be allowed to stand for election for parliament in October. His lawyers say a recently proposed constitutional change to allow non-Georgians to hold office has not made the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russia warns its citizens of going to Georgia, while Georgia responds that the dangers are made up. Russian travel advice for those of its citizens who plan to vacation in Georgia is not the usual notes about vaccines and visas; it warns that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto authorities in Abkhazia yesterday detained six suspects in the case about the assassination attempt on the president in February. On February 22, Alexander Ankvab’s car was fired on with machine guns and a […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The government in Georgia does not take seriously allegations about the existence of a plan to kill President Saakashvili’s main competitor, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Full transcript here But one of the politicians in Ivanishvili’s coalition says that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A comment by the EU’s Ambassador to Georgia was interpreted as casting doubt on claims by the opposition Georgian Dream bloc about the government secretly building a paramilitary force. But now Georgian Dream blames a Georgian […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The media regulatory body in Georgia Thursday said a cable station was trying to politicize the situation in order to divert attention from its own violations. The body has fined Trialeti TV 5 000 lari (about USD 3 000) for broadcasting on a […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A group in Georgia asks the media regulatory body to stop putting pressure on independent media outlets in the country. The alliance behind the appeal is called Solidarity for Freedom of Media and was formed in early February in the wake of the takeover of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Constitutional Court made a decision in favor of canceling the requirement of a license for cable broadcasting. But a license is still needed for satellite broadcasting. The court partly satisfied an appeal by the Public Defender, who […]
Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani, a prince and writer who lived in the 18th century, is buried at Vsesvyatsky Cemetery in Moscow. TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Foreign Ministry has formally protested against how Russia is treating a royal cemetary in Moscow. Tbilisi believes that authorities in Moscow are going ahead with construction work on the cemetary, which contains the graves of the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Frank Wisner, former US Ambassador to the UN, who last year negotiated with Hosni Mubarak to defuse the Egyptian crisis, is in Georgia to hold meetings. Wisner arrived on invitation of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the Georgian president’s main political […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Around ten youth activists today protested outside the Georgian National Communication Commission against the fining of a regional television station. Irakli Beraia, one of the activists, says the fine is an attempt by the government to suppress […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s richest is not going to apply to the president for double citizenship. Bidzina Ivanishvili’s citizenship issue is still unresolved. Six months has passed since the president revoked it, which happened four days after the businessman released […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. Department of Defense has brought 28 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAP) to Georgia to train Georgian troops. The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi released a statement saying that the vehicles will be transfered from the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The newly elected leader of South Ossetia, a former local KGB head, promises to continue the course of closer relations with Russia, on a course towards uniting South and North Ossetia. South Ossetia, or the Tskhinvali region, which was occupied […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A bust of Poland’s late president Lech Kaczynski was opened Tuesday here in Tbilisi. The square where it is located is near the street named after him by Tbilisi City Council to honor him after his tragic death two years ago. Zaal Samadashvili, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili Monday defended a new network of voluntary reservists which the main opposition bloc has warned are paramilitaries meant for starting a civil war. Saakashvili, speaking at an event to mark 23 years since […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Tbilisi City Court has sentenced a Russian businessman to pay a fine of about USD 1 200 because he had visited Abkhazia before coming to Georgia. The court found that the businessman had violated a law which bans travel across the borders […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – About 30 000 Russians have entered Georgia since visa restrictions were lifted February 28. This is seventy per cent higher than the same period last year. Before President Mikheil Saakashvili the liberalized visa rules for Russians, there was visa […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – They came holding candles to commemorate the twenty people who died here twenty three years ago. But police cleared them away to make room for President Mikheil Saakashvili’s April 9 event. Just before Saakashvili was to hold his speech, police […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Speaking on April 9, officially known as The Day of National Unity, President Mikheil Saakashvili warned against his country’s enemy within. Addressing soldiers in the yard of the parliament building on the important public holiday dedicated to unity, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili announced the test flight in a speech April 9. The date is symbolically significant as a peaceful demonstration for independence was attacked by Soviet troops here in Tbilisi in 1989. Saakashvili made reference to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – April 9 is 21 year anniversary for the restoration of Georgia’s independence and 23 years since the Soviet Union used soldiers to disperse a peaceful protest in Tbilisi. Georgian society, government and opposition remembered this day on Rustaveli […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russia’s chief sanitary inspector is concerned about the deployment of U.S. military laboratories at former Soviet medical institutions in Ukraine and Georgia. According to NEWSru, a Russian news website owned by Gazprom, Gennady Onishchenko […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili’s main competitor will be allowed to participate in the parliamentary elections in October, after the government agreed to amend the constitution. Following the amendment, EU citizens can run in elections in Georgia. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The museum dedicated to Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in his hometown of Gori in Georgia will change name to the Museum of Stalinism. The Ministry of Culture is behind the idea that the museum will offer visitors a historical account of stalinism, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In South Ossetia, the opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva has decided to set up a new political party. April 7, an organizing committee for the new party called ‘Iriston – Freedom Square’ met at Dzhioyeva’s headquarters, Ekho Kavkaza reports. “We […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A former local head of the KGB in South Ossetia has won the presidential elections in the breakaway region. Leonid Tibilov received about 55 percent of the votes beating competitor David Sanakoyev, presidential human rights commissioner. The […]
A couple of days ago the Government of Georgia denied the Georgian billionaire Bizdina Ivanishvili the Georgian citizenship for which Mr. Ivanishvili, a child of Georgian parents, one who was born, grown up and educated in Georgia, applied in early January 2012. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – More than 13 percent of voters in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia had cast their vote in the presidential election by 10:00 in the morning. The Central Election Commission of the region says this is a higher turnout than in the first […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto republic South Ossetia tomorrow holds the second round of its second presidential elections. The first election was held in November 2011. The Kremlin favorite and an opposition leader got through to the second round, in which the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Public Defender in Georgia believes the time has come to reduce the number of prisoners in the country. The ombudsperson said this at a joint session of parliamentary committees to discuss his report about the human rights situation last year. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian non-governmental organizations call on Georgian politicians to stop making xenophobic statements and ask the media not to spread such comments. “The authors of such statements probably try to play on ethnic and religious feelings […]
Marine Chitashvili, Thank you for your letter and for citing many of the interesting issues that the survey brings to light. We also thank you for your comments supporting our representative sampling methodology on the March 26 showing of “Tskheli Khazi.” As my […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Foreign Ministry today invited international organizations to send a long-term observation mission ‘immediately’ ahead of the parliamentary elections in October. Normally, long-term observers would arrive about six weeks before the election, […]
In a press conference held in Tbilisi on 5 April the Georgian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Nino Kalandadze, has attacked me for adopting unfriendly positions regarding her Government’s policy line, in particular for critisizing as „illusionist“ official […]
Dear Mr. Navarro, From March 21 to 30 I was honored to be named by you as a local expert supporting the methodological part of your recent sociological survey published at 03.21.2012. First of all, I want to express my gratitude for regarding me as an expert or a trustworthy person, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia makes Russian its second state language. The region’s elected assembly adopted a constitutional law called “On State Language of the Republic of South Ossetia”, which obliges the de facto state’s bodies […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia will no longer let Russia conduct observation flights over its territory, and has suspended its obligations under a post-Cold War treaty which provide countries with mutual openness in each other’s military activities. The Georgian Foreign […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Christian Democrats propose a new law which will allow Saakashvili’s main opponent to participate in elections without being a Georgian citizen. His citizenship issue is still unclear. The Georgian president revoked billionaire businessman […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia has broken off relations with a distinguished German diplomat, alleging he compared the Saakashvili regime to Nazi Germany. Dieter Boden, who negotiated a peace plan for how to solve the conflict with breakaway Abkhazia ten years ago, told […]
The survey which was implemented in March of 2012 in Georgia, by the one of the leading and authoritative organization in the World – The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDIIA or NDI) has caused a hard discussion in Georgian society, writes […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Yesterday, he was denied having his political rights restored, but today Georgia’s richest man vowed to regain his citizenship, form a political party and launch himself as candidate for Prime Minister within just over two weeks. Georgian […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The de facto parliament of Georgia’s breakaway republic Abkhazia has elected a Speaker of Parliament. The first session of the new breakaway Abkhazian parliament was held yesterday, April 3. Valery Bganba was elected as new Speaker of Parliament. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, John Bass, says there is a deficit of curiosity and questioning among Georgian journalists. He said this in Batumi while meeting with the media. Bass says he sometimes is surprised by the lack of curiosity among […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian authorities today denied the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili of becoming a citizen of his native country. Today’s decision by the Civil Registry to deny him citizenship by naturalization ends the last legal avenue the opposition […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Finland’s Foreign Minister is on a working visit to Georgia within the frames of a tour of the region. Erkki Tuomioja arrived in Georgia on April 3, the 20 year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Finland and […]
As for many things in Georgia, the fate of sociology is dramatic in Georgian politics, writes Ramaz Sakvarelidze, political commentator. The culmination of this drama was the so-called exit poll on election day in 2008. The results of this survey were nearly identical to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s foreign minister Grigol Vashadze says he too is concerned about a major military exercise Russia is planning to hold right before Georgia’s parliamentary election in October. Russia’s exercise “Kavkaz 2012” will for the first time take place […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president calls on the international community to send ultra long-term election observers to his country before the parliamentary elections in October. Rights groups and part of the opposition have been appealing to the world to send […]
Giorgi Okroporidze – a convict, who suffered from something that authorities maintain “no longer happens”. He was tortured, writes Mikheil Ghoghadze, lawyer at Georgian Young Lawyer’s Association. In late December 2011, Giorgi Okropirize’s mother came to us. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – NATO once again underlines that the decision that Georgia will become member of Alliance stands firm. Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO Secretary General, said this today during a press conference with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili at the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A top Georgian security official warns that there could be another war with Russia. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in August 2008 over two breakaway republics. Now the secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council warns that an […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The number of visitors to Georgia in the first quarter of 2012 was 680 000. This is a 40 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. The new statistics were released by the Interior Ministry on April 2 and is based on data from custom’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The second of two Georgians has been saved from execution for drug crimes in Malaysia. Babutsa Gordadze had her death sentence changed into eight years in jail. She has already served two years in a Malaysian jail. Earlier, Darejan Kokhtashvili, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is considered the main competitor of the Georgian government, is counting the days left until his Georgian citizenship is restored, giving him full political rights. The final date for when the government […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president will participate at the session of the NATO Georgia commission on April 3 in Brussels. According to the president’s administration, Mikheil Saakashvili will meet NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and the two will […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Sakashvili says Georgia as never before needs many foreign observers. “We need many international observers not only on the day of the elections but today, tomorrow, and the day after. The sooner observers arrive from the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Russian mobile operator in Georgia portrays Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia as an independent country on its website. It’s Beeline, which is owned by the Russian mobile company VimpelCom, which now suggests to readers of its website […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Bulgaria expresses its full support for Georgia’s integration process towards NATO and the EU. Boyko Borisov, Bulgarian Prime Minister, said this Sunday during a meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Specifically Borisov said his […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Marking a break with single issue campaigning, rights groups in Tbilisi Saturday held a demonstration for solidarity and people power. The demonstration was called Civic Solidarity Campaign and consisted of six human chains on six squares in the capital, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Three thousand locals massed in Batumi Saturday to protest the planned construction of a mosque honoring the historic Turkish leader Aziz. The decision to construct the mosque is part of an agreement reached by authorities in Tbilisi and the Turkish […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian authorities have succeeded in saving one of their citizens from being executed for drug crimes in Malaysia. The news comes in a statement released by Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s office. It says a Malaysian court has overturned Darejan […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A new poll by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) shows the opposition Georgian Dream led by Bidzina Ivanishvili reduced to only 10%. Mikhail Saakashvili’s National Movement party receives 47%. NDI has been in hot waters locally over the poll, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. Embassy to Georgia has expressed its confidence in surveys done by the National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute and says the polls are conducted professionally and are based on legitimate methodology. The […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – After the 19th round of the Geneva talks, Georgia hopes that Moscow, like Tbilisi, will commit to a non-use of force pledge; but such a pledge does not seem to be forthcoming. Regular talks have been held in Geneva since the Russia-Georgia war in August […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian parliament asks the international community to react to intentional destruction of historical monuments on the territory of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia. The Georgian legislative body calls for the international community to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Public Defender gives priority to the problems of internally displaced persons (IDPs). Giorgi Tughushi presented his annual report on human rights in Georgia, which in details describes problems faced in different areas, like the prison […]
About a month ago Tbilisi Appellate Court delivered a judgment in a case involving a person with a disability, who was represented in court by Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. The respondents were the legal entity of public law Social Service Agency at the Ministry […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A new opinion poll in Georgia surprisingly showed that a new opposition movement has little support. Was it a sensational, true, finding, or did the pollster “cook” the survey? The election campaign is well underway in Georgia, and apart from the ground rules […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Deputy Justice Minister says there will be a decision in about a week regarding the businessman who had his citizenship revoked. Bidzina Ivanishvili is considered to be Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili’s main competitor, but his […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Georgian billionaire who is considered the main competitor of the government yesterday met EU officials and discussed the election campaign in the country. The press office of Bidzina Ivanishvili’s political coalition Georgian Dream reports the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – From now on it will be possible to be elected to parliament from the age of 21. Before, the age limit was 25 years. The Constitution of Georgia sets a lower age limit for being elected to parliament, so appropriate changes are to be made to the constitution. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia has changed its laws so that parliament can meet in the new parliament building in Kutaisi already from May 1. During a transition period, Georgia’s parliamentarians may gather at either the new building or in the old building in Tbilisi. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A little known clause in Georgia’s election law may allow the authorities to block most foreign election observers, only allowing two observers from each organization. This includes the OSCE and the EU. A newly established movement called League of Voters […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The current situation in Georgian prisons remains one of the main problems in the human rights field, according to the public defender’s annual report to parliament. About 300 pages out of 645 explain the conditions and problems in Georgian prisons. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Public Defender on Thursday presented his annual report on human rights in the country. Among the most important problems is conditions in the prison and penitentiary system in Georgia, where human rights are often violated, according to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The International Monetary Fund will support the Georgian government’s economic and finance program of 2012-2013 with USD 387 000 000. Edward Gardner, IMF Senior Resident Representative in Georgia, said on Wednesday that an agreement has been achieved […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A delegation from the Georgian parliament is going to Uganda to take part in the 126th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The visit will last from March 31 to April 5 in the city of Kampala. Meetings will be held with delegations of different […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Editor in Chief of the Georgian edition of Forbes blames the magazine’s owner of censorship, after an interview with the billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is trying to wrest power from President Saakashvili. At a press conference March 27, Revaz […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In Georgia, there have been demonstrations throughout March against what is seen as violations of women’s rights. The national TV channel Imedi started a show called ‘Women’s Logic’. The concept is that three two-member groups of men are invited […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s foreign trade turnover increased by 15 percent compared to the same period last year. Germany moved from fifth to third place among the ten largest trade partners. Georgian National Statistics Department, GeoStat, published this information […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Abkhazia, the Georgian breakaway republic, last Saturday held the last of two election rounds for parliament. A closer look reveals that ethnic Abkhaz have a stronger representation among those who were elected. In fact, the majority of elected MPs are […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian parliament asks the international community to help keep a watch on the restoration work planned at several historical sites in Abkhazia. This comes a few days after Alexander Ankvab, de facto president of Abkhazia, spoke about an initiative […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – If there were elections tomorrow 47 percent would vote for the party of President Mikheil Saakashvili, the National Movement, according to a survey by the U.S. National Democratic Institute. The Georgian Dream coalition of Bidzina Ivanishvili […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition activist who first spoke out about the alleged paramilitary groups in Western Georgia has been arrested in Zugdidi. Vako Avaliani, spokesperson for the opposition Free Democrats party, told DF Watch that that Kakha Mikaia was arrested on […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition party in Georgia that claimed President Saakashvili is organizing political paramilitaries reports that one of its members has been arrested. Information about the arrest of Sergo Chachibaia, a member of the Free Democrats Party, was […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Tbilisi does not recognize last weekend’s elections for parliament and president in Georgia’s breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, respectively. Nino Kalandadze, Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia said at one of her regular briefings that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Tuesday, the results of a reguler opinion poll done by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) are expected. Although regular, the results are eagerly awaited because they will indicate the political landscape seven months before an election which will […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Leonid Tibilov, a former head of the KGB in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia beat the other three candidates in the president elections Sunday. In the region’s previous attempt to select a leader, an opposition candidate won against the Kremlin […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The breakaway republic Abkhazia Sunday completed its 2012 parliamentary election by holding a second round of voting. There was voting in 20 districts this time. The region has a first past the post system, and these districts out of a total of 35 needed […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – For the second time in a month, there has been a death during police questioning in Georgia. The Interior Ministry does not say when it happened, only that took place at Gori police station. Tamaz Jghamadze was asked to come to the police in Gori to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia Sunday held presidential elections. By 10 in the morning, 11% of voters had visited election precincts; a high turnout, according to the Central Election Committee of the region. Interfax reports that Tskhinvali […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Patriarch, Ilia II, told foreign diplomats that their assistance is needed for the difficult election period his country is heading into. Ilia, who has great influence among the population, appealed to the diplomats during a ceremony Friday […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Abkhazia today holds the second round of the elections for parliament. 20 constituencies are selecting a candidate in a first past the post system. In the first round, March 10, 13 candidates were chosen, out of a total of 35. In one district, less […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Today it is twenty years since Georgia and the U.S. established diplomatic relations. Marking the occasion, the U.S. Embassy writes in a press release that since 1992, hundreds of Peace Corps volunteers have come to Georgia and over five thousand […]
March 20, opposition politician Irakli Alasania sent a letter to Georgia’s National Security Council, detailing what he claims is a paramilitary force set up by President Saakashvili within the last few months, which could be used against opposition supporters. The government […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The first forum organized by the EU’s Eastern Partnership is being held in Tbilisi’s Radisson Hotel. It is jointly hosted by the office of State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Institute for Eastern Studies, Poland. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The visa rules between Georgia and Lebanon will be simplified, the two countries’ prime minister have decided. Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri yesterday left for a two day visit to Lebanon. There, he met the President, the Speaker of Parliament […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The confirmation hearing for the next U.S. Ambassador to Georgia has made waves in the country of his assignment. One senator asked Richard B. Norland to supervise the democratic processes in the country. In Georgia, the hearing has been interpreted […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The World Bank has granted Georgia two new loans. The loans total 130 million US dollars and will go to finance infrastructural development and rehabilitation of the roads in the eastern Kakheti region. 70 million US dollars was approved by the World Bank […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Alla Dzhioyeva, the defiant opposition leader in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia, asks her supporters to vote in Sunday’s election. She herself, however, is boycotting the poll. She was the apparent winner of last November’s election, which the region’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia is preparing for another presidential election. The poll on March 25 will be the region’s second attempt, after the first one failed and led to a still unresolved protest campaign by the winner to claim victory. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has appointed a special representative to South Ossetia, five days after awarding the same kind of job title in regards to Abkhazia, the other Georgian breakaway region. The person in charge of South Ossetia, the arena […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Interior Ministry said March 21 that all armed groups are under the control of the government. “There are no other armed units, cannot be and won’t be,” said Shota Utiashvilil, head of the Interior Ministry’s press and analytical department. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. National Democratic Institute today presented its latest findings about public attitudes in Georgia. The survey was conducted in February 2012 by Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC). The topics for the questionnaire covered the themes […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A pro-democracy campaign in the former Soviet republic Georgia is noting a slight progress as parliament Wednesday took into account their criticism. The groups have said that recent changes to the campaign finance rules pose a threat to democracy. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former Soviet republic of Georgia has made the building of Lazika, a hypothetical metropol on the Black Sea, one of its top priorities. The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili announced the plan at the end of 2011. He said Georgia plans to build […]
On February 29, 2012, during a debate in Parliament, President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili referred to a former pupil at Tbilisi Public School #53 as a hooligan, writes David Jishkariani is researcher at the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition politician in Georgia Tuesday described in more detail what he knows about an alleged paramilitary force recently established by President Saakashvili in the west of the country. But he said documents about the illegal armed units will not […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian border police Monday detained a Russian cargo ship carrying coal across the Black Sea from Ukraine to Turkey. The Pur-Navolok is now in arrest in the Georgian port Batumi with its Russian crew of ten. Preliminary information indicates that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition candidate Tuesday presented details about an alleged secret paramilitary organization he claims was recently organized by President Mikheil Saakashvili in western Georgia. Leader of the Free Democrats Irakli Alasania had called the press […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is to send a task group to Malaysia to study the situation regarding two Georgians sentenced to death for drug related crimes. Babutsa Gordadze (26) and Darejan Kokhtashvili (37) were arrested in Malaysia in October 2010, accused of trafficking […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Vakhtang Nadibaidze (53) stands in line in front of the Polish embassy, waiting for the answer to his visa application. Many Georgians have been in his place, facing the labyrinth it is to get a visa at the European embassies here. He remembers how about […]
The regulation of administrative offenses and administrative detention in particular are of grave concern to local and international human rights organizations, which has been clearly demonstrated several times, inter alia, by providing observations on the issue and expressing […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In Georgia, a vague new law is on its way to be clarified, as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) continue their negotiations with parliament’s judiciary committee to amend the law about political unions of citizens. The concept of ‘related legal […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Parliamentarians in Georgia are awaiting the testimony of the chairman of the country’s Chamber of Control, a controversial agency recently vested with broad extrajudicial powers. Parliament will hear Chamber chairman Levan Bezhashvili explain what’s going […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Four non-governmental organizations in Georgia Monday for the third time met with parliament’s judicial committee about the new law on party financing, called ‘law on political unions of citizens’. Georgian Young Lawyers Organization, Transparency International […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s foreign ministry says the U.S. State Department has confirmed to them that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is coming to Georgia in the near future. But the exact date has yet to be announced. Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalanadadze says […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – There are intense preparations going on between Georgia and Israel to cancel visa restrictions between the two countries. There are also talks with Israeli airlines regarding direct flights between Georgia and Israel, and Knesset is ready to give control […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has dismissed the charges made by one of the opposition leaders that he was preparing for civil war as a campaign move ahead of the parliamentary election in October. He was responding to something the Free […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – In August 2007, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi listed twelve young women who each held special talents and one day could become powerful. DF Watch went looking for them. The embassy cable leaked by Wikileaks in 2011 is dedicated to Georgian women who held […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s former UN ambassador, now an opposition leader, says that President Mikheil Saakashvili’s apparatus is organizing paramilitary groups and handing out weapons in preparation for a civil war in the power struggle ahead of the election this October. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Council of Europe is to examine moves by the government of Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili made ahead of a crucial parliamentary election in October. The Advisory Board of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission has put it on the agenda of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A report from an Israeli news agency contradicts what the Georgian government is saying about negotiations over visa rules between the two countries. New agency Izrus writes that Israeli officials acknowledge that there are going to be negotiations […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – After a top Georgian lawmaker and the foreign ministry came out with critical remarks about a statement by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov about visa rules, Georgia’s security council chief also added his comments. Security Council Secretary Giga […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Thursday responded to a request by Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov the day before that Georgia should cancel a law that targets some Russians as criminals for having visited Georgia’s breakaway regions. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Germany wants to send in extra long-term election observers to Georgia ahead of an important parliamentary election which sees two political blocs for the first time competing against each other. The extra observers will be working for the European Union, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, John Bass, has expressed concern about the wave of interrogations carried out by the Georgian Chamber of Control. “Concerned about the controversy surrounding the Chamber of Control’s recent […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Representatives of Tbilisi State University’s student’s union Wednesday beat two students. The students who were beaten believe the reason was a recently started blog which contains criticism of the student’s union and its actions, as well as the university. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia is not going to abolish the law on occupied territories before Russia starts pulling back its occupying troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This was the response Georgia’s ruling party had to a statement by Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Patriarch congratules Vladimir Putin with having been elected as president of Russia. Polls have shown Patriarch Ilia II to be the most respected person among the Georgian population. His administration has published the text of the […]
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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A bill in Georgia will entitle the president to issue secret acts if the country’s defense and security is at stake. Not only the president will have this right, but also the ministries of defense, internal affairs, justice, finance and energy and natural […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – German Foreign Affairs Minister Guido Westerwelle will visit Georgia on March 15 as part of a tour of the South Caucasus. Travelling with him are Markus Loning, the German Federal Government’s Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A two day business conference was launched in Tbilisi Wednesday called Making Business with USA. The conference is the result of an agreement between U.S. President Barack Obama and Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili to hold high level dialog between their […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russia is ready to cancel its visa requirements for Georgian citizens if Georgia changes the law about the occupied territories, says Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. According to the law, Russian citizens who go to Abkhazia or South Ossetia can […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The opposition Christian Democratic Movement blames the government of having adopted a law which discriminates against women. Representative of the Christian Democrats Magda Anikashvili said this on March 13 at a parliament session. She says that before […]
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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Do you know what “NGO” means? If not, look out. You might be targeted by their next campaign to raise awareness. They have been on the streets of Georgia demonstrating for democratic rights, and their ads are on TV promoting the environment. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili will attend the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit to be held March 27-28 in Seoul, South Korea. The president’s press spokesperson Manana Manjgaladze said this at a regular briefing Tuesday. According to the summit’s […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – American defense officials Tuesday visited Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili to talk about a biological research facility which opened near Tbilisi one year ago. The Central Public Health Reference Laboratory is a joint American-Georgian cooperation, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Chamber of Control has started a wave of interrogations in western Georgia. People are being called in for questioning at local government buildings. The coalition Choice for Freedom says the letter calling people in for talks does not give any […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The delegations of the U.S. and the EU in Georgia do not recognize the recent de facto parliamentary elections in Abkhazia as legitimate. Both have releases statements expressing support for Georgia’s territorial integrity. “The United States […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Eastern Partnership Georgia appeals to the EU for help in the case of party financing rules. Authorities in Georgia enforced new tough restrictions on party financing last December, and made the rules apply also to organizations and individuals ‘indirectly’ […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Chamber of Control keeps using its newly granted authority and fines a Georgian billionaire turned politician’s bank 822 040 lari (about 498 000 US dollars) for avoiding the law during financial transactions. In a statement, the Chamber […]
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. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili Monday responded to a Russian invitation to reestablish diplomatic relations by saying Georgians will fight Russia in the parliamentary election this fall. Saakashvili is being challenged in October’s election by a new coalition headed by […]
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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian Speaker of Parliament, Davit Bakradze, March 12 began an official visit to Israel. Bakradze has been invited by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, according to the parliament press office. During his stay, Bakradze will have meetings with Israeli […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – There will be a second round of the de facto elections for parliament in the Georgian breakaway region Abkhazia, because representatives were elected from only 13 electoral districts out of a total of 35. Abkhazia is a part of Georgia currently occupied […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia halted the flow of Russian natural gas to Armenia on Saturday, due to a technical accident on the pipeline caused by a landslide near the village of Mamkoda near Tbilisi. Energy minister Alexander Khetaguri said Saturday that […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Abkhazia, one of Georgia’s two breakaway regions, Saturday held parliamentary elections. According to the de facto Central Election Commission, voter turnout was 29.25% in 174 electoral districts by 15:00. This increased to 37.6% turnout by 18:00. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – U.S. Marines have arrived in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to hold a two week exercise with the Georgian fourth infantry brigade. The joint exercise lasts from 10 to 24 March and takes place at Vaziani military base less than an hour’s drive […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is being criticized for his speech in the parliament of neighboring Azerbaijan. A member of the Azerbaijani parliament calls Saakashvili an adventurer (авантюрист). News agency Regnum.ru reports this, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Foreign direct investment in Georgia is increasing dramatically, and much of it comes from companies registered in the British Virgin Island, a known tax haven with low transparency. Foreign direct investments increased by 58% in the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, is unfamiliar with there being negotiations regarding returning church control over the Monastery of the Cross to Georgia. The Patriarch said this in an exclusive interview with the online portal […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Here in Georgia, the ‘This Affects You Too’ campaign continues as organizers delivered a special appeal to parliament, the president’s administration and the foreign affairs ministry, requesting them to invite long term observers from the OSCE for the whole […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Up to forty people gathered Thursday in front of the police building in Khashuri, a town in central Georgia, protesting the recent death of a man during interrogation. About half of people there were activists from Tbilisi, while the rest were locals. […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – NATO is to strengthen its efforts to further democratic reforms in Georgia as part of preparing the country for membership in the alliance. “Today we also have an opportunity to reinforce further the cooperation between NATO and Georgia through supporting […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A lawmaker in Georgia confirms that there were negotiations with Russia about setting up a counter-terrorism center together. It was Georgia’s Vice Speaker of Parliament, Mikheil Machavariani, who Thursday responded to something the president-elect of […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A billionaire newcomer politician in the former Soviet republic of Georgia criticizes a radical opposition leader for mismanagement involving a violent clash last spring. The movement People’s Assembly mobilized all across the country in 2011, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The days are long gone when Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili spoke of Vladimir Putin’s height, while the Russian leader said he wanted to hang Saakashvili by his private parts. Yesterday’s speeches by both shows that relations between them have […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Pro-democracy campaigners in Georgia welcome a step by the government to change a controversial law which they believe would be used to secure Mikheil Saakashvili’s power grip over the country in an election this fall. But the groups are not satisfied […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – An opposition billionaire in the former Soviet republic of Georgia Tuesday had meetings with representatives for the movement behind a protest wave which ended in a fatal clash with police in May 2011. Bidzina Ivanishvili met with People’s Assembly, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s leader Mikheil Saakashvili Wednesday went on the offensive against newly elected Russian president Vladimir Putin’s brainchild; a Eurasian union, to encompass most of what was formerly part of the Soviet Union. „Any attempt to resurrect the […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Campaigners in the former Soviet republic of Georgia are asking the European Union and the OSCE for help to prevent Mikheil Saakasvhili from rigging the election this fall. Pro-democracy groups have been campaigning since December last year to reverse […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili met his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev March 6 during a two-day visit to the country. A press release from the Azerbaijani president’s administration says that the two expressed satisfaction with how […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Interior Ministry has fired a local police chief after a controversial death of a suspect under interrogation. The ministry says in a statement dated March 6 that the head of Khashuri police station, where a detainee died under suspicious […]
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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia increases its sentencing of hate crimes. A new bill to amend the Criminal Code will make it mandatory for courts to use the maximum sentence if the crime was motivated by racial, linguistic, religious, national or ethnic prejudice. For every […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Where exactly does Europe end and Asia start? Some say it’s the Likhi mountain range, which separates Georgia’s western and eastern parts. Regardless of how Europe’s geographical extent is measured, the cultural connection to Europe has long been a […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen reiterates that Georgia is eligible for membership in the alliance sometime in the future when all criteria are met. Fogh Rasmussen said this at a regular briefing when asked by journalists how a potential […]
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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A new law in the former Soviet republic of Georgia has led to several international organizations reconsidering their democracy building activities. The law was supposed to strengthen transparency in the election campaign this year and next, but a broad […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – School children in Georgia are given as home assignment to ‘like’ their leaders. Having a popular official Facebook page has become essential to public figures of Georgia. Users of the social networking site in the former Soviet republic recently started […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – 92.77% of the voters in South Ossetia voted for Vladimir Putin as president of Russia. In the other breakaway republic Abkhazia, 90.94% of voters supported Putin in the presidential elections. 15,839 voters participated in the election in South Ossetia, Ria […]
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, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Interior Minister says his ministry’s preliminary findings show that the death of a prisoner at a regional police station was an accident, but that it is outrageous that something like this could happen. Following the death of Solomon […]
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 […]
‘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 […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili Saturday unveiled another home produced weapon system; a Georgian version of the Grad multiple rocket launcher. According to the EU’s investigation into the August 2008 war, he ordered his army to use Grads, also […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Georgian beach resort came under machine gun and rocket propelled grenade fire last night. According to a statement on the Georgian Interior Ministry’s website, the attack started at 03:20 at night and lasted for ten minutes. No-one was injured. The […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Confusion continues over a detainee’s suspicious death at a police station, after a Georgian website released photos of the victim, Solomon Kimeridze, showing bodily injuries which could be the result of torture. Yesterday evening, all three national […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Russia offers Georgia visa-free travel and to restore diplomatic relations, but not without conditions. The Russian foreign ministry says in a statement on its website that Georgia first must create a ‘reliable legal environment’ that can guarantee […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has set up a new board of military advisers in the Defense Ministry. The point of having the new advisors there is to aid in the transformation process of Georgia’s armed forces. The advisors will analyze […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The inflation rate fell to minus 2.1% in February, as an estimate for year as a whole. This the first deflation since August 2009. The drop is mainly due to falling prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages. According to figures released March 2 by […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Democracy campaigners in the former Soviet republic of Georgia call for international observers to come and monitor what’s going on. They believe the Saakashvili government is setting things up to rig the election for parliament this fall. Last election, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, have been given even more power to manage the sale of state property. Parliament has adopted a law which gives the president freedom to set the period of payment for state property when selling real estate […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former Soviet republic of Georgia has simplified the definition of what an act of terrorism is. Previously, an act of terrorism was defined in the Criminal Code as causing explosion, fire, or use of weapon, in a way that is a danger to human life, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The former Soviet republic of Georgia is seeing a steady increase in foreigners visiting. Iranians account for the highest growth in visits. According to the country’s Interior Ministry, 38.9% more foreigners arrived in Georgia in 2011, compared to […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The government in the former Soviet republic of Georgia is liberalizing its policy on drug addiction. According to authorities, drug addiction will no longer be considered a crime. Drug abuse will still be punished with fines, but the money from such […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – President Mikheil Saakashvili hopes a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU will make unemployment disappear in Georgia. Saakashvili made his statement while visiting an Abipharm pharmaceutical plant in the village Tserovani near […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Georgian Public Defender calls for an objectively investigation into the death of Solomon Kimeridze. “The cause of death should be found; also whether he was a victim of inhumane and severe treatment,” says a recent statement by the Public […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The Civil Registry is out of time to give a written response regarding opposition businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian citizenship, his lawyers say. On January 5, his lawyers filed an application to the Civil Registry asking to give Ivanshvili […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s president Mikheil Saakashvili was not only confronted with objections to his rule inside the parliament building Tuesday. On the outside, people had gathered, banging pots with spoons in protest against his eight years leading the former […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – Georgia’s Constitutional Court has decided that parliament did not have the right to give prosecutors powers to conduct secret wiretappings. Tamar Khidasheli and Georgian Young Lawyers Association filed a lawsuit at the Constitutional Court regarding […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The ‘This Affects You Too’ campaign continues to push for amendments to recent new rules that they say restricts freedom of speech, property rights, the right to political activism, right to assembly and independence more generally. Today, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – A Russian Duma member calls Georgia’s lifting of visa rules for Russians propaganda. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said in his annual speech to parliament Tuesday night that he would drop visa requirements for all Russian citizens. Today, […]
TBILISI, DFWatch – The political party For a Renewed Georgia will today open a regional office in Mtskheta-Mtianeti north of Tbilisi for refugees from the Akhalgori region. Party leaders will meet residents of Tsilknisi and Tserovani, two villages where most of the refugees […]
