Wednesday, July 31, 2025

Olympic champion in freestyle wrestling to run for mayor of Gori for Georgia's ruling party

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgian Dream has nominated Olympic champion Vladimer (Lado) Khinchegashvili as a candidate for mayor of Gori in the October local elections. Following the results of the previous elections in this city, the 30-year-old athlete, who has not yet made a public announcement to leave the sport, will most likely win this election. Lado Khinchegashvili … Read more

Georgia responds to Russian threat of 'countermeasures' to NATO drills

TBILISI, DFWatch–As NATO’s military drills ‘Agile Spirit 2021’ got underway in Georgia this week, spokespersons for both Georgia and Russia made warning statements illustrating the risk of another round of conflict.  Kremlin spokesman Dimitry Peskov first said NATO’s Agile Spirit 2021 exercise with 2,500 military personnel from 12 alliance members and three partner countries right … Read more

GD withdrawal from EU-brokered political agreement fuels confrontation ahead local elections

Georgian Dream’s withdrawal from the EU-brokered political agreement has fueled ongoing political confrontation in the country. The case has even reached the point where part of the opposition is considering boycotting the local elections scheduled in October. One MP, Zurab “Girchi” Japaridze, has already left parliament. On Wednesday the GD announced about pulling out from … Read more

Georgia's public defender calls on law enforcement to prosecute perpetrators of July 5 violence

TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s public defender calls on law enforcement bodies to react to the violent attacks on journalists during the night of July 5 and the following days and make the results public. After crowds of ultra conservatives hunted down journalists in the street and beat them in the night of July 5 to 6, locally … Read more

UNM nominates its chairperson for Tbilisi mayoral race but fails to put up united opposition front

TBILISI, DFWatch–The largest opposition party in Georgia, the United National Movement, on Friday nominated party chairman Nika Melia as its candidate for Tbilisi Mayor in the local elections in October. But Melia has so far failed to secure broad opposition support behind his candidacy as he tries to unseat the incumbent mayor, Georgian Dream frontman … Read more

Georgia sees disturbing rise in Covid-19 cases but government rules out another lockdown

TBILISI, DFWatch–The government in Georgia  is facing a setback in its fight against the coronavirus as experts predict an increase in daily cases in the next 2-3 weeks, but the government reiterates that it’s not planning another lockdown. Meanwhile, the mass vaccination program is continuing and the government plans to set up vaccination centers in … Read more

Georgian PM rules out another lockdown despite Covid-19 virus again running rampant

TBILISI, DFWatch–The Georgian government is not going to declare a lockdown ahead of the upcoming elections, despite a rapidly deteriorating situation in tackling the spread of the coronavirus. Many see the government’s avoidance of new unpopular restrictions in light of the critically important local elections in fall. Imposing a new lockdown now would not play … Read more

Georgian PM aligns himself with hate groups to hunt down „anti-Christian forces“

For the first time in Georgia’s recent history, its PM used the shocking term „anti-Christian forces“ in his public discourse. Today, such an “eschatological” motif may look a little unusual, to say the least. PM Gharibashvili touched on the sensitive strings of the identity of the majority of ethnic Georgians, further dividing the already polarized … Read more

Rally in Tbilisi calls for PM's resignation after death of cameraman beaten in July 5 violence

Opposition parties, journalists and civil society activists are protesting in the center of Tbilisi on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, after the death of a cameraman who was beaten during the violent rampage which has become known in Georgia as “the July 5 pogrom”.  Organizers of Sunday’s rally demand the immediate resignation … Read more