Author: Goga Akhalkatsi

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said it was “shameful” that “simulant” imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili had been paying “millions of dollars” to damage the country’s reputation, after the latest disclosure on the United States Department of Justice’s website of activities of a lobbying firm associated with the former official’s lawyers. Published on Tuesday, the new information revealed the lobbying company Akerman had been involved in drawing up a draft resolution for the European Parliament that was critical of the Georgian Government around Saakashvili’s imprisonment, preparation of articles about the health condition of the former President for international…

The Georgian State Security Service hosted a two-day seminar for employees of the country’s Public Defender’s Office on the topic of national security.  Organised as part of the European Union project titled Support to the Security Sector Oversight in Georgia, the seminar featured heads of administrative and analytical departments of the Service, the body said on Tuesday. Chairs of its Counter-Terrorism Centre, Counter-Intelligence and Information and Analytical departments were also involved and reviewed the topics on the agenda. The seminar also discussed security in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions, as well as combating terrorist, chemical, biological, radiation,…

Georgia may not feature highly on the ‘must visit’ list of many westerners, but it does attract tourists in droves from neighbouring countries. Its ‘offer’ – especially in the capital – is sufficiently attractive to suggest that an increase in low cost flights alone (although it is on the margin for flight operations out of some parts of Western Europe) could build visitor numbers rapidly. That is just one reason the government is considering building a new airport at Tbilisi, the capital. Another is that the current concession on the international airport there, held by TAV, ends in 2027. The government may hope to…

Megha Krishna, a 23-year-old student from India, was in her third year at Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine, when on 24 February 2022, Russia invaded the country. “The war started the day before my birthday. This was very unfortunate. Every day before my birthday, I’ll remember that traumatic event,” she says. Krishna is one of the approximately 18,000 Indian students (according to Ukrainian government data from 2021) who had chosen Ukraine for their undergraduate studies before the war broke out. “The first option for me was Ukraine,” she tells Equal Times. “The study [programme] was very good, and I felt…

Belgium has removed Georgia from the list of safe countries. Belgium introduced the safe country of origin concept in 2012 and updates it at least once a year. However, the list can be reviewed if the situation in the country of origin has changed. Georgia was on the updated list as of April 7, 2023 and was removed from was the most recent updated version on July 10, 2023. According to the Belgian Internal Federal Public Service: “Regarding Georgia, the opinion of the General Commissioner for Refugees and Stateless Persons is followed and not the opinion of the FPS [Federal Public Service of] Foreign Affairs.” The…

This week, NATO leaders gathered to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. While Ukraine was again promised that it would be admitted to NATO when “allies agree and conditions are met,” Georgia was urged to “work on the reforms”.   With a devastating war raging in Ukraine, there are fears that Georgia could be Moscow’s next target, prompting the Georgian government to recalibrate its rhetoric about NATO membership. ‘NATO fatigue’ in Georgia “Had Georgia already been a NATO member in 2008, there would have been no war and no Russian occupation either. Georgia seems to be hitting the glass door,” according to…

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Georgia has abstained from joining anti-Russian sanctions, nor has it openly criticized Moscow for its actions in Ukraine. Moscow has responded by restoring direct flights between the two countries and abolishing the visa requirements imposed on Georgian nationals in the early 2000s. Russian officials have repeatedly praised the current Georgian government for maintaining a constructive approach deemed worthy of a sovereign country, and bilateral trade has grown. In 2022, Georgia’s exports to Russia increased by 6.8 percent to $652 million, while imports soared by 79 percent to $1.8 billion: the highest level for the past sixteen years.…

The European Union’s representative to the Caucasus Toivo Klaar saw a promising moment turn into “disappointment and frustration” almost immediately as Azerbaijan briefly allowed natural gas to flow to Artsakh from Armenia, only to shut it down again as its continues its stranglehold on Artsakh residents. Klaar, who is tasked with pushing the EU’s policies in the region especially the notion of direct dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku, on Sunday welcomed the news of the gas flow resumption. Artsakhgas announced on Sunday morning that the gas supply was restored to Artsakh, but shortly thereafter, the company reported that Azerbaijan turned…

Azerbaijan’s authoritarian president, Ilham Aliyev, is an unlikely champion for the victims of French colonialism. But as chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), that is precisely how he is positioning himself. Of course, he has his own grievances against France, namely Paris’ allegedly pro-Armenian stance in the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks that have followed the Second Karabakh War of 2020. In a speech on July 5 at the Ministerial Meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau in Baku, Aliyev criticized France at length and said some NAM members are still suffering from its continuing practice of “neocolonialism.” NAM was established during the Cold War…

Tabaterra will produce certain Japan Tobacco International brands in Azerbaijan and sell them in Georgia under a recently signed deal between the companies. “We are very pleased to have partnership with JTI on the production and export of global brands,” said Tabaterra Director Elman Javanshir in a statement. “The export agreement we signed is a clear example of production of high-quality products at Tabaterra in accordance with international standards. According to Javanshir, the export agreement will make a significant contribution to the economy of Azerbaijan, generating annual foreign currency inflows of around $13 million. “The export agreement we signed with Tabaterra…