Monthly Archives: March 2021

EU-mediated talks fail to resolve Georgia’s political crisis

By | March 31st, 2021|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , |

Christian Danielsson addressing the media after the failed talks. TBILISI, DFWatch--EU-mediated negotiations to end the political crisis in Georgia have once more ended in failure.  The compromise proposed by EU envoy Christian Danielsson was rejected Tuesday evening by both the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) and the group of opposition parties led by United National Movement (UNM). [...]

Third wave looming, but half of Georgians don’t want to get vaccinated

By | March 27th, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s vaccination effort has run into a roadblock, as many people are skeptical of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is believed to have caused the death of a 27-year-old nurse a week ago. The attitude toward the vaccine made by Pfizer and BioNTech is more positive, although the available supplies of it are limited. A large [...]

Georgian ex-PM Gakharia keeps people guessing after cryptic message that he hasn’t left politics

By | March 22nd, 2021|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , |

(Facebook/გახარია.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Monday that he has not left politics, without further explanation, leaving people guessing as to what he might have meant. "I am not leaving anything, not even politics," Giorgi Gakharia wrote on his Facebook page on Monday. But when asked by reporters, he did not explain [...]

Georgia will not halt the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine despite 27-year-old nurse’s life-threatening allergic reaction

By | March 18th, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , , |

(Government of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia is not halting its use of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine after a 27-year-old female nurse suffered anaphylactic shock and went into a coma on Thursday after receiving the jab. "We recently heard a report about AstraZeneca from a strict European regulator. It is recognized as a safe vaccine that has far more [...]

Georgian PM rejects opposition’s two main demands

By | March 17th, 2021|Categories: Politics|Tags: , , , , , , , , , |

Irakli Garibashvili meeting with Josep Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. (Facebook/Government of Georgia.) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s prime minister on Tuesday rejected the two main demands put forth by the opposition, thus prolonging the country’s four and a half months long political crisis. "The next parliamentary elections will be held in 2024," Prime [...]

Locals in Gali, Abkhazia demand lifting of 5-day Covid-19 quarantine for crossing Enguri Bridge

By | March 12th, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Enguri Bridge. (DFWatch.) GALI, DFWatch--Gali residents demand the opening of the checkpoint on Enguri Bridge and the lifting of the five-day quarantine for travelers that have been tested for Covid-19.  Locals told DFWatch that because of the quarantine requirement, many people have resorted to a dangerous route, wading through the surging Enguri river at the so-called [...]

South Ossetia incident: Two Russian soldiers advance 500m into Georgian-controlled territory, fire warning shots, in failed attempt to detain resident

By | March 9th, 2021|Categories: In brief|Tags: , |

TBILISI, DFWatch--The two armed Russian service members advanced 500 meters into territory controlled by Georgia and fired warning shots in an attempt to seize a local resident in the village Khurvaleti, about 50km northwest of Tbilisi, an eyewitness told Radio Tavisupleba. Khurvaleti is located at the southern tip of the breakaway region South Ossetia, whose de [...]

Audio of Georgian PM discussing crackdown on social media comments sparks outrage in Georgia

By | March 7th, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: , , |

Bera Ivanishvili (left) and Irakli Garibashvili. (Newposts.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Audio recordings aired by an opposition TV channel in Georgia have caused outrage and demands for the prime minister’s resignation. The recordings, aired Saturday on TV Pirveli, appear to show Georgia’s current PM Irakli Garibashvili and ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili's rapper son Bera discussing with Anzor Chubinidze, [...]

Georgia’s economy minister expects a sevenfold increase in flights this month as Covid-19 restrictions on air travel are lifted

By | March 4th, 2021|Categories: Economy|Tags: , , , |

(Avianews.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia expects air traffic to increase sharply as Covid-19 related restrictions on regular flights are lifted, to reach a level this month seven times what it was in August last year. By summer, the number of flights per week may reach 200, a 20-fold increase, the Minister of Economy Natia Turnava said Thursday at [...]

Georgian opposition offers to tone down protests to give negotiations a chance

By | March 4th, 2021|Categories: News|Tags: |

Policemen guarding the entrance to parliament during an opposition protest on March 2, 2021. (RFE/RL) TBILISI, DFWatch--Georgia’s opposition have decided to scale back their protest rallies, citing a wish to not give the ruling Georgian Dream party an excuse to stall the talks initiated by the President of the European Council. The decision was made at [...]