Author: Vasil Iarajuli

The bilateral economic relations and priority directions were discussed on Wednesday by Georgian Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili and Mamuka Tsereteli, the head of the America Georgia Business Council, as well as the US business delegation, who will participate in the upcoming Tbilisi Silk Road Forum. The strategic partnership between Georgia and the US was highlighted at the meeting, with the officials stressing the importance of developing “closer” relations between the business circles of the two states, the Economy Ministry said. The parties reviewed fruitful cooperation in finance, tourism, transport, healthcare and renewable energy, as well as real estate, information technology,…

For most of its post-Soviet history, Armenia has essentially had one partner in the field of defense and security: Russia. But recent experiences have shown that Moscow cannot be relied on for help when the chips are down. So now, despite the country’s deep economic dependence on Russia, Armenia’s leaders are looking elsewhere for security cooperation and finding eager partners. France steps in to boost Armenia’s weak air defenses On October 23 Yerevan signed an agreement with Paris on the purchase of three GM 200 anti-aircraft radar systems and a memorandum of understanding on the future delivery of Mistral short-range air defense systems. Future…

Georgia hosted 5,566,980 international travellers between January and September, marking a 76.9 percent recovery to the pre-pandemic figures of 2019 and a 43 percent increase in figures compared to last year, the Georgian National Tourism Administration announced on Monday. The body said the number of foreign tourist visits amounted to 3,655,576 in nine months, showing a 91.6 percent recovery from the pre-pandemic level and marking a 35.2 percent increase year-on-year. It also said 2,706,863 foreign visitors had arrived as of the third quarter of 2023, exceeding the pre-pandemic figures by 80.2 percent and a 2022 numbers by 19.4 percent. The…

President of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, former Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Permanent Representative to the UN Dennis Francis has sent a letter to the Permanent Mission of Azerbaijan to the UN, Azernews reports. In his letter, the President of the UN General Assembly noted that he accepted the Azerbaijan request to convene an emergency special session. The special session of the General Assembly will be held on October 26 at the UN headquarters in New York with the participation of 120 UN member countries, 18 observer countries, and 10 observer organizations. Source : Azernews

The European Commission’s provisional endorsement of Georgia’s EU chances contained a not-so-subtle message couched in diplomatic jargon: Tbilisi must forge stronger national consensus on European, liberal values for the country to remain a viable candidate for EU membership. It is not immediately clear whether the governing Georgian Dream party got the point. The commission recommendation, issued November 8, said Georgia could become eligible for EU candidate status “on the understanding that a number of steps are taken.” Another document issued in 2022 identifies 12 conditions that must be met for Georgia to continue on its accession path. An overarching condition, outlined in the…

Azerbaijan has risen to 36 positions in the Cyber Security Index. According to the relevant decree of the Azerbaijani President, work is currently underway towards the establishment of a National Cyber Centre. Head of the State Security Service Ali Nagiyev said this during his speech at the Critical Infrastructure Defence Challenge 2023 event held in Baku, Azernews reports. “I must also note that cooperation with special services of partner countries and advanced technology companies in the field of combating cyber threats is expanding in the direction of ensuring the security of critical information infrastructures as well as organising the fight against cyber…

“Azerbaijan and Georgia make an important contribution to the energy security of Europe,” says Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov during his speech at the IV International Silk Road Forum in Tbilisi, Azernews reports. “Azerbaijan and Georgia make an important contribution to Europe’s energy security. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas, as well as the Southern Gas Corridor, realized with the joint participation of our countries, are considered strategic projects from this point of view,” the Minister said. According to the Minister, the Southern Gas Corridor is allowed to directly transport Azerbaijani gas to Europe. Last July, Azerbaijan and the European Commission signed a Memorandum…

Dengue fever will become a major threat in the southern United States, southern Europe and new parts of Africa this decade, the WHO’s chief scientist said, as warmer temperatures create the conditions for the mosquitoes carrying the infection to spread. The illness has long been a scourge in much of Asia and Latin America, causing an estimated 20,000 deaths each year. Rates of the disease have already risen eight-fold globally since 2000, driven largely by climate change as well as the increased movement of people and urbanization.  Many cases go unrecorded, but in 2022 4.2 million cases were reported worldwide and public…

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron sought to promote — with little success so far — the creation of an international coalition to fight the armed Palestinian group Hamas, during a two-day trip to the Middle East that started in Israel. Leaders he met with in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt didn’t publicly address the issue. The first response to the devastating Israel-Hamas war is “the fight against terrorism,” Macron said Wednesday after his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. “The right response is to cooperate, to draw lessons from the international coalition against the Islamic State group” that intervened in Iraq…

Andrej Plenković, the Croatian Prime Minister, on Friday pledged his Government’s support for Georgia’s European Union membership candidate status later this year, and noted the European Commission’s forthcoming report in early November, which will evaluate Tbilisi’s efforts to meet the candidacy conditions, would be a “main element” in the process. In his press comments following the European Political Community Summit in Granada, Spain, the official claimed the current imprisonment of Georgia’s former President Mikheil Saakashvili would not have “any significant effect” on Tbilisi’s EU integration, and highlighted the bloc’s member states would use the European Commission’s report in their discussions…