The Daily Beat: 4 May
Prime Minister Irakli Garibshvili is in Budapest, where he addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), warning against forces that seek to undermine traditional values and control people by promoting “LGBTQ+ propaganda” and “gender-affirming procedures for children.” In his speech, Irakli Garibashvili pledged to weaponize Christian family values against false freedoms and protect the rights of the majority who believe in the definition of marriage as the “union between a man and a woman.” He also lauded Prime Minister Orbán for his wise and visionary leadership.
The Party of European Socialists (PES) condemned the prime minister’s participation in the ultra-conservative CPAC gathering in Budapest, calling it unacceptable and reaffirming its decision to evaluate the status of the Georgian Dream within the PES at the next meeting of the Presidency. “The actions of Prime Minister Garibashvili are unacceptable and place him completely outside the values of our political family. The PES already decided to evaluate the status of the Georgian Dream within the party at the next meeting of the Presidency. This is obviously a necessary step following the intervention by Garibashvili today,” the second largest and most influential European political group said in a statement.
Don’t miss a beat!
The EU announced the adoption of EUR 30 million under the European Peace Facility to assist Georgia’s defense forces in enhancing security, stability, and resilience. The approved funding will cover a period of 36 months and will be allocated towards non-lethal equipment, supplies, and services for the units of the Georgian Defense Forces. EU Assistance will also cover areas such as engineering, command and control, medical, logistics, and cyber-defense equipment. This is already the third such EU assistance package approved upon the request of Georgian authorities. Moldova will get EUR 40 million under the same assistance mechanism.
In a letter addressed to the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee, civil society organizations called to launch the Response Policy Procedures to safeguard Georgian democracy, civic space, and free media. Watchdogs expressed their deep concern over the continued and blatant disregard by the Georgian government of the Open Government Declaration, urging the Steering Committee to effectively re-evaluate the government’s commitments to the principles of open governance. The Response Policy mechanism is applied when an OGP-participating country takes actions that blatantly undermine the values and principles of OGP, as articulated in the Open Government Declaration.
According to the findings of the study – “Russians in the South Caucasus: Political Attitudes and the War in Ukraine,” – released by the Center for East European and International Studies (ZOIS), Russians living in Georgia are much less likely to have participated in political activities (including protesting the war in Ukraine) while living in Russia, than Russians in Armenia. A ZOIS study reflects a face-to-face survey of 1,600 Russian respondents who had fled to Georgia and Armenia due to the war in Ukraine in late 2022. The respondents were asked to share their experiences and attitudes towards living in those countries.
The state security service confirmed the release and safe transfer to Georgia-controlled territory of two Georgian citizens illegally detained by Russian occupation forces almost a week ago near the occupation line of Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia. The security service announced that releasing Georgian citizens was made possible by activating various channels, including the EUMM hotline mechanism and other available resources.
