• Georgia has been mourning five fighters killed on December 3 in heavy fighting near the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, marking the deadliest single incident for Georgian fighters since the Russian invasion of Ukraine restarted on February 24. These latest casualties brought the death toll of Georgian citizens resisting Russian military aggression in Ukraine to 33. The public pressure via social networks and TV outlets continued to mount as Georgian authorities took days to join the public in expressing sympathies to their loved ones. On Monday, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Parliament, and other public officials offered their condolences, but not without using the momentum to lambast the opposition. PM Garibashvili said “the party of war” is luring Georgian to their demise.
• Mikheil Saakashvili’s health is crumbling, doctors say as the demands of his rapid evacuation for treatment are back on the agenda. Representatives from the largest opposition party – the United National Movement – say Saakashvili’s life hangs in balance, while medical professionals speak of serious, possibly lethal, consequences if he is not urgently treated. Moldovan President, Maia Sandu also raised her voice in support of Saakashvili, tweeting the request for his transfer to an appropriate hospital. The majority party officials continue to downplay the concerns.
• The rhetorical gap between President Salome Zurabishvili continued to grow as Zurabishvili visited Poland to offer full-throated support for Ukraine’s victory, as well as unqualified sympathies to the families of the fallen Georgian fighters. Supposedly unsupported and disclaimed/rejected by her own government, president Salome Zurabishvili continues her state visit to Poland voicing Georgia’s support for the Ukrainian fight against Russia while trying to keep the country steady on the Euro-Atlantic path.

Talk of the town

• Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has been under fire from civic and liberal quarters for picking “Tbilisi – the City of Peace” as the capital’s holiday slogan. The critics say the choice of words is a snub at Kyiv, rendered particularly cynical as Georgian fighters die. The majority party leader Irakli Kobakhidze did not miss the chance to blame the opposition for – you guessed it – hating peace. Perhaps the opposition should learn its lesson and look statesmanlike by focusing on substance, rather than on fighting slogans.

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