The Daily Beat: 8 June
Their European colleagues have grilled the Georgian MPs from the ruling party during the meeting of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee (PAC), with Chairperson MEP Marina Kaljurand railing against “incomplete, patchy and often superficial” implementation of the twelve conditions for the EU candidacy. She also shot down the protestations of the Georgian Dream MPs with a stern “look into the mirror and see what you can do better.” Our detailed readout is worth looking through.
Don’t miss a beat!
Pressed by the moderator to name the countries that help Russia circumvent sanctions, the U.S. State Department’s point man on sanctions, Jim O’Brian, mentioned Georgia, alongside Armenia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and UAE. Without pointing an accusatory finger, he said he visits those countries to discuss the circumvention of sanctions, fueling the Georgian opposition’s accusations that Tbilisi is doing more than simply refusing to join the economic sanctions.
IDFI, a watchdog, said most of its requests submitted under freedom-of-information laws were left unanswered by government agencies. The watchdog, which annually submits typical FOI requests to measure the feedback rate, says the responsiveness has fallen to the lowest level since 2010.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed a Georgian fighting for Ukraine fell, near Bakhmut. This brings the unofficial death toll of the Georgian citizens defending Ukraine to 35.
The ruling party allowed a splinter duo from the opposition United National Movement to form an official “political group,” conferring it some procedural advantages.
Chart of the Day
One hundred countries have backed the Georgian IDPs’ right to return to their homes at the UN General Assembly, the record figure since the resolution was first tabled in 2008. Voting against and, thus, rallying at Russia’s side were Belarus, Burundi, Cuba, North Korea, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria, and Zimbabwe. In a significant sea change, China reverted to its more traditional abstention after having voted against the resolution in 2022.
