Mikheil Saakashvili

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Bidzina Ivanishvili

EU Parliament calls for sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

The EU Parliament has adopted a scathing condemnation of Georgian Dream’s foreign agent draft law, calling for the sanctioning of the party’s founder, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and hinging Georgia’s accession talks with the abortion of the draft law. The European Parliament approved the resolution with 425 MEPs voting in favour of it, 25 against, and 30 abstaining. The resolution strongly condemned Georgian Dream’s reintroduction of the controversial foreign agent bill, underlining that the draft

Nika Melia. Image: Shota Kincha/OC Media

Georgia

Internal strife overshadows the UNM’s ‘manifesto of unity’

by Shota Kincha

•4 min read

Georgia’s largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), has adopted a new ‘manifesto for unity’ without the approval of several senior members, potentially deepening internal strife within the party. The manifesto was signed during the party’s commemoration of the Rose Revolution’s 20th anniversary. The revolution catapulted the party, then-led by Mikheil Saakashvili, the imprisoned former president of Georgia, into power until they were unseated by Georgian Dream in 2012.

Mikheil Saakashvili and Irakli Gharibashvili speaking at the UN General Assembly. Images via UN/YouTube and IPN.

Analysis

Datablog | Georgia’s changing priorities at the UN General Assembly

by Givi Silagadze

•5 min read

A quantitative analysis of the speeches made by Georgia’s leaders at the annual UN General Assembly found that their themes and priorities changed after the change of government in 2012, with Georgian Dream leaders more positive and discussing Russia less negatively than their predecessors. The UN General Assembly (UNGA), currently in its 78th session, meets annually in September and offers an opportunity for the heads of state or government of every country to raise the issues that they cons

Photo collage by Marine Danielyan/CivilNet.

Armenia

Roses and Velvet: a contested legacy of revolution

by Shota Kincha

•9 min read

This year marks 20 years since Georgia’s Rose Revolution, and five since the Velvet Revolution in Armenia. Both were born of a desire to end corruption and build a democratic future; their successes and failures, though, have remained a matter for debate. ‘Come out all of you who think that the building and development of the modern Georgian state started this day’. This was the call of the organisers of gatherings in Tbilisi and Batumi last November to commemorate the anniversary of the 2003

Mikheil Saakashvili attending Tbilisi City Court remotely on 3 July. Image via Netgazeti.

Georgia

Zelensky orders Georgian ambassador to return to Tbilisi to consult over Saakashvili

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•2 min read

Ukraine has summoned the Georgian Ambassador to the country and ordered him to return to Georgia to consult with his government over Ukraine’s demand to hand over Mikheil Saakashvili. On Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky again called on the Georgian authorities to hand over the imprisoned third president of Georgia, who holds Ukrainian citizenship. Zelensky said that Georgian Ambassador Giorgi Zakarashvili would be asked to return to Georgia within 48 hours. In a tweet on Monday, Zelen

Georgia

Public Defender’s council: Mikheil Saakashvili will become bedridden

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

A medical council created under the auspices of Georgia’s Public Defender has announced that imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s health has severely deteriorated, and is expected to worsen. The council of four medical specialists reportedly visited the former president at the Vivamedi clinic on Sunday, with three more participating in an online discussion following the visit. The report says that Saakashvili’s health condition has deteriorated since the council’s last visit on

A woman protests in support of Mikheil Saakashvili on 7 February. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.

Georgia

UNM ‘in emergency mode’ after court declines to release Saakashvili

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

The opposition United National Movement (UNM) has announced ‘continuous protests’ and a suspension of their work in parliament in Georgia after former president Mikheil Saakashvili was denied release for medical treatment. An appeal by Saakashvili to have his sentence overturned or postponed on medical grounds was dismissed by Tbilisi City Court on Monday. He has been in the Vivamedi clinic since 12 May 2022 following several hunger strikes in protest against his detention. Family members and