Author: Goga Akhalkatsi

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…

When the United States and its Western allies are so distracted by the war in Ukraine, it poses a challenge for those of us elsewhere in the world. How do we ensure the conflicts we face, which are just as urgent and real, are fully understood in the Western corridors of power and the columns of newspapers? Take the situation in Karabakh. This region of Azerbaijan was occupied by neighboring Armenia for 30 years. And after a brutal war in the early 1990s, which saw close to 1 million Azerbaijanis ethnically cleansed from their land, occupying Armenian forces mined thousands…

The Georgian delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili attended the Third Summit of the European Political Community (EPC) held in Granada, Spain on October 5-6. The visit centered around the anticipated report of the European Commission on Georgia’s fulfillment of the twelve conditions for becoming the candidate for membership in the EU. The summit was attended by the heads of 47 European countries and heads of various institutions of the European Union. The Prime Minister participated in a thematic discussion on “Multilateralism, Security and Geopolitical Developments” and held meetings with his counterparts from various countries. He also met the President…