Author: Goga Akhalkatsi

European Union leaders are in the southern Spanish city of Granada for an informal summit focused on the 27-member bloc’s enlargement, disagreements over migration and economic competitiveness. Friday’s summit comes a day after leaders of the European Political Community, a forum of more than 40 countries across the continent, met in the city and pledged their continued support for Ukraine in the presence of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The pledge was made as fears grow in Ukraine that political turmoil in the United States could delay or prevent further aid to the country in its fight against Russia’s invasion. A rift between Ukraine…

The Palestinian health ministry on Thursday released the names of 7,028 people killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, a day after US President Joe Biden questioned the death toll since the war began on 7 October. Biden told reporters at the White House that he has “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth” about the number of people killed by Israel so far. “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” he added. In response, the health ministry published a 210-page report, detailing the names, ages, genders, and ID numbers of every person killed in the…

Georgia’s path to EU membership is a strategic dilemma for the bloc: reward a country for democratic backsliding or leave it vulnerable to further Russian influence. To avoid shattering the hopes of a pro-EU population, a middle ground is needed. The stakes for Georgia’s future are high. By the end of this year, the European Commission is due to issue its recommendation on granting Georgia candidate status for EU membership. Whether the country catches up with Ukraine and Moldova on their path to EU membership will have far reaching consequences: a ‘no’ could destabilise Georgia from within by shattering the dream of…

Consultations on European integration are underway in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi between the deputy ministers of foreign and European affairs of Georgia and the countries of the Western Balkans, the Georgian foreign office said on Tuesday. Officials from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia are joining their Georgian counterparts in sharing experience gained by their states in their work for European integration. Coordinating steps to be taken in the process, and creating a “common agenda” around matters of common interest are also among the objectives for the meetings, coming under the Georgian Ministry’s initiative for establishing consultation formats…

Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration was in focus of the meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis that took place on Thursday on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit in Granada. The meeting noted the importance of Greece’s support in the country’s European integration path, the Government Administration said. The officials reviewed the steps taken by the Georgian Government in this regard, including the dynamics of the country’s “positive” implementation of the bloc’s conditions for granting the membership candidate status. Garibashvili stressed Georgia “deserved” the candidate status, and further pointed out…

Frankfurt, Brussels (6/10 – 27) While Tajik authorities have not been able to lay their hands on their activist opponents living in Europe, they are able to turn the screws on their families and relatives, back in the old country. The recent case of arrest of family members took place shortly after President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Germany, to attend a summit of Central Asian leaders, at the end of last month. Throughout Rahmon’s visit, he was trailed by demonstrators holding up placards bearing pictures of political prisoners and calling him a dictator. When Rahmon headed to the Bundestag on…

Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani ruled out the possibility of outbreak of a war in the Caucasus amid concerns about the escalation of tensions between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, the defense minister soothed the worries about the recent developments in the Caucasus. “We believe that no war will break out in the region,” he stated. Highlighting Iran’s “explicit” stances on the tensions between Baku and Yerevan, the minister said, “We won’t approve of any changes in the borders. The process we…

Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in an interview published on October 6 that the Wagner mercenary group founded by the now-deceased Yevgeny Prigozhin had planned a coup in Moldova. Sandu told the Financial Times that according to government information, the coup was planned this year by Prigozhin’s team. She also said money had been smuggled from Russia into Moldova, partly by couriers and partly through bank accounts in Dubai, and said that pro-Russian forces in Moldova will continue to be financed by Moscow to destabilize the country. “The situation is really dramatic, and we have to protect ourselves,” Sandu said in the interview.…

On October 3, the ISET Policy Institute and Zinc Network published a study that assesses potential risks associated with Russian business ownership in various sectors of the Georgian economy. It treats Russia as a “global threat actor” and thus investigates this hostile state’s exploitation of private business ownership as a hybrid threat. The study’s authors looked at eight industries: electricity, oil and natural gas, communications, mining and mineral waters, tourism, banking, construction, and transportation. The authors say Russian influence in the electricity sector is significant. It is manifested through direct ownership or control by Russian businesses or owners. The oil and gas sector also exhibited noticeable influence, particularly through the…

Paris, Wellington, London (16/10 – 45) Two former champions are showing their strength, as New Zealand and South Africa are through to the 2023 Rugby World Cup semifinals, at the expense of the two best teams in the world. New Zealand and South Africa – the pair ruining Ireland and France’s dreams of becoming a new champion in this tournament. Ireland and France tried their best, but the pedigree of New Zealand and South Africa as former champions could not be denied. On Saturday at Stade de France, Saint-Denis, three-time champions New Zealand prolonged Ireland’s quarter-finals curse. Before this year’s…