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After years of delay, Georgia’s Anaklia deep-sea port is being relaunched under a new model, which the government claims will protect national interests. Yet, following nearly a decade marked by political controversy, failed partnerships, and international disputes, the latest announcement prompts a familiar question: Is Anaklia finally emerging as a truly strategic infrastructure project, or …
Continue reading “Anaklia Reset: Government Takes Full Ownership as Strategic Port Plan Shifts”
“There was a cracked pipe that should have been welded and properly repaired. Instead, they just covered it with a thick layer of paint. All that mattered was that the inspector took a quick look and said, ‘Yes, it’s been fixed,’” recalls Sandro (name changed), a young Georgian seafarer describing the most harrowing voyage of …
Continue reading “Inside Russia’s Shadow Fleet: The Hidden Risks for Georgian Seafarers”
The substantive hearings in the so-called “sabotage” case against Georgia’s eight opposition leaders are continuing at an accelerated pace. The defendants and their lawyers expect a verdict by the end of this month or, at the latest, in August. While the court initially held roughly one hearing per month, over the past month proceedings have …
Continue reading “Closed-Door Trial of Eight Georgian Opposition Leaders Speeds Toward Verdict”
A British citizen, Matthew Roy Desmond, faces between 8 and 12 years in prison in Georgia. According to his lawyers, the Prosecutor’s Office has charged him under Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 262 of Georgia’s Criminal Code, which concern the illegal importation of large quantities of narcotic and psychotropic substances into the country. His …
On June 10, Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze held a special press briefing to announce the elevation of Georgia–China relations to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership — a move that was announced yesterday, on the 34th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and Georgia. On June 9, Chinese …
On June 17, the European Parliament will discuss the annual report on Georgia as a candidate country. Rapporteur on Georgia Rasa Juknevičienė expects the European Parliament to adopt the report with a large majority, as the main political groups in Europe are united in their assessment of Georgian Dream. In an interview with Netgazeti, Juknevičienė …
“There is no more time for grey zones,” says David McAllister, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs. He answered Netgazeti’s questions about the enlargement process and relations between Georgia and the European Union. In June, the European Parliament will debate a critical report on Georgia, which AFET has adopted. Representatives of the …
A court in Azerbaijan has ordered the detention of journalist Afgan Sadygov after reopening a criminal case that Azerbaijani authorities had officially closed just two months earlier. Sadygov — who was forcibly deported from Georgia in April despite legal concerns raised by the European Court of Human Rights — says the case is politically motivated …
An oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili — the honorary chairman of the Georgian Dream party, former Prime Minister of Georgia, and widely regarded as the country’s informal ruler — hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at his business center. The meeting also included government delegations. The party published a video of the meeting with the original sound replaced …
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his wife, Mehriban Aliyeva, arrived in Georgia today, on April 6. The Georgian government confirmed the visit only today, despite reports about Aliyev’s trip having circulated unofficially as early as yesterday. According to official information, Ilham Aliyev is scheduled to meet with Irakli Kobakhidze and Mikheil Kavelashvili. His program also …
Continue reading “Aliyev Visits Georgia a Day After Tbilisi Deports Journalist Afghan Sadygov”
“Let us pay attention to this phrase: no country is protected from the consequences of a regional crisis. The crisis is much closer than it may seem at first glance,” Iran’s Ambassador to Georgia, Seyed Ali Moujani, wrote in a social media post on March 31. He accompanied the post with an image showing a …
On March 30, the Prosecutor’s Office brought a new charge against a Georgian opposition politicion Aleksandre (Aleko) Elisashvili. This time, he is accused of starting a fire in the archive building of the Tbilisi City Court. The prosecution alleges that, Elisashvili set the fire in the court archive on May 4, 2025. As a result, …
The report prepared under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) “Moscow Mechanism” on human rights and fundamental freedoms in Georgia has been published on March 12. The report reviews developments concerning human rights and fundamental freedoms in Georgia since the spring of 2024 and provides relevant recommendations. The rapporteur for the report …
The alliance, announced on March 2, brings together United National Movement, Akhali, Droa, Girchi – More Freedom, Freedom Square, Strategy Aghmashenebeli, Federalists, National Democratic Party, and European Georgia. According to a joint statement, the parties have agreed on a unified strategy for victory and clear rules for cooperation. The alliance’s stated goals are to end …
Continue reading “Nine Pro-Western Parties Form United Opposition Alliance in Georgia”
On February 18, police in Tbilisi detained Eliso Kiladze, the founder and editor-in-chief of Qronika+. It later emerged that the journalist had been arrested in connection with a so-called fraudulent call center case. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Kiladze has been charged alongside several other individuals, including former Chief Prosecutor Otar Partskhaladze, brothers David and …
By decree, the Georgian Dream government has approved the number of student places at state universities for the upcoming academic year. The move follows a controversial higher education reform, widely seen as an attempt to consolidate control over the education system. Based on the principle of “one city, one faculty” and changes to faculty quotas, …
The “Georgian Dream” parliament has passed another set of repressive legislative amendments at first reading. Under the amendments, the definition of a “grant” is further defined and significantly expanded, placing virtually any form of political self-expression by an individual under state control and criminalizing it if the individual receives resources from a citizen or a …
Continue reading “Georgian Dream Passes Another Package of Repressive Amendments at First Reading”
The Kutaisi City Court has sentenced four miners to prison. Merab Saralidze and Giorgi Neparidze were each sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison, while Tengiz Gvelesiani and Archil Chumburidze received sentences of 4 years and 3 months. The verdict was announced by Judge Tamar Mazanashvili. The prosecution charged the miners – Giorgi …
In 2025, internal power struggles within Georgian Dream escalated, resulting in the criminal prosecution of several high-ranking former officials, including a former prime minister and the former head of the State Security Service. While most of these officials face corruption charges, the former chief prosecutor stands accused of ordering a murder. In addition to targeting …
Continue reading “Dream vs. Dream: 10 Major Cases Against Former Officials in 2025”
The de facto security agency of Russian-occupied South Ossetia [KGB] has specified a new charge against the Akhalgori-based Georgian activist Tamar Mearakishvili, who is currently detained. She is “suspected of transmitting information to foreign media outlets affiliated with Georgian intelligence services.” At this stage, even her family members are unaware of her whereabouts or other …
Former State Security Service chief Grigol Liluashvili has been arrested on corruption charges, prosecutors say. He is accused of accepting millions of dollars in bribes between 2021 and 2023, including payments from a Turkish investor to lobby for wind power projects, bribes linked to gasification tenders, and proceeds from protecting fraudulent ‘call centers’. Prosecutors also …
The ruling Georgian Dream party has unveiled plans for significant government restructuring. The Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Personal Data Protection Service will be abolished, with all their functions transferred to the State Audit Office starting 2 March 2026. Meanwhile, the Business Ombudsman will move under the Ministry of Economy beginning 1 January 2026, according to Parliament …
Georgian citizens will no longer be able to vote from abroad in parliamentary elections — Georgian Dream plans to introduce corresponding amendments to the Election Code. The statement was made today, 17 November, by GD’s Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili. According to him, a new Election Code will be initiated in Parliament, which will include “essentially …
Continue reading “Georgian Dream Moves to Ban Overseas Voting, Targeting Large Critical Electorate”
Criminal prosecution has been initiated against former Prime Minister and opposition For Georgia party leader Giorgi Gakharia in connection with the June 20, 2019 events and the Chorchana checkpoint case. The announcement was made on November 12, by the Prosecutor General, Giorgi Gvaramidze, at a press briefing. Gakharia is charged with organizing the intentional infliction …
Turkey has confirmed that 20 servicemen were killed when a C-130 military transport aircraft crashed in eastern Georgia near the Azerbaijani border on November 11. The Republic of Türkiye Ministry of National Defence confirmed the loss of its servicemen in an official statement on X: “Our heroic comrades-in-arms were martyred on November 11, 2025, when …
An aircraft has crashed near the Georgia-Azerbaijan border. Footage of the crash has been shared by the pro–Georgian Dream TV channel Imedi, which reported that the aircraft was believed to be a Turkish military jet. However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has clarified that it was a cargo aircraft, and the details are still under …
Continue reading “Turkish Aircraft Crashes Near Georgia-Azerbaijan Border, Investigation Underway”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgian Dream responds to the European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement Report, which ranks Georgia as the candidate country with the most negative assessment among the ten candidate countries. In a statement issued by the ministry, it says the European Commission’s critical evaluation is unfounded and “used for yet another round …
The European Commission’s 2025 Enlargement Report delivers its harshest assessment yet of Georgia’s democratic decline, warning that the country’s EU accession process has “de facto reached a halt” following a year marked by repression, human rights violations, and hostile anti-EU rhetoric from the ruling Georgian Dream government. In the 2025 Georgia Report, published on November …
Continue reading “Georgia Called ‘Candidate Country in Name Only’ in EU Annual Enlargement Package”
According to the Investigation Service of the Ministry of Finance, as part of an ongoing probe into the legality of how grants allocated by the Rural Development Agency of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture were spent, another member of an organized group has been arrested on charges of large-scale embezzlement of state funds, …
Members of the For Georgia party, founded by former Prime Minister from Georgian Dream Party (2019-2021) Giorgi Gakharia, plan to take up their parliamentary mandates. The announcement was made today, October 20, by party member Giorgi Sharashidze during a briefing. According to him, refusing to use the parliamentary and municipal platforms – especially in this …
Continue reading ““For Georgia” Party to Take Up Parliamentary Mandates”
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, searches were conducted at the homes of former Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, former Head of the State Security Service Grigol Liluashvili, former Prosecutor General Otar Partskhaladze, and eight other individuals connected to them. The announcement was made at a briefing by Prosecutor General Giorgi Gvaramidze. “Within the framework of …
The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) claims that a large quantity of firearms, ammunition, and explosives with a detonator has been discovered in connection with October 4 events. According to the SSSG, on the instructions of a Georgian representative of a military unit operating in Ukraine, Georgian citizen B. Ch. acquired a significant amount …
Georgian Dream–appointed President Mikheil Kavelashvili addresses US President Donald Trump: Open Letter To the President of the United States of America, His Excellency Mr. Donald Trump First of all, I would like once again to express my deep respect for you as the leader chosen by the American people. I also wish to reiterate my …
