The Daily Beat: 25 July

Permanent Under-Secretary of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Sir Philip Barton, visited Tbilisi, holding a meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, and head of the government’s administration Revaz Javelidze. According to the official press release, the parties discussed bilateral relations with particular emphasis on the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue, which covers a wide range of Georgia-UK cooperation issues. While in Tbilisi, Sir Philip Barton also met with Georgian lawmakers, opposition politicians, and civil society representatives.

The US State Department reminded the Georgian authorities of the responsibility for Mikheil Saakashvili‘s health. At a press briefing, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller fielded a question about the health of ex-President Mikhail Saakashvili, saying that the US is closely monitoring Saakashvili’s case and remain very concerned about his health.

Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze claimed that 3 out of 12 EU recommendations still need to be fulfilled only due to the lack of clarity from the EU side. According to Irakli Kobakhize, EU recommendations on judicial reform, deoligarchization, and anti-money laundering measures need more clarity, and if the EU provides more details, they will be fully met like the rest.   

Ireland’s Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth issued Weekly Accommodations and Arrivals Statistics Report, revealing that most asylum seekers in Irish accommodation centers are Georgian citizens. According to the report, the asylum seekers from Georgia even outstrip the countries such as Nigeria, Somalia, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan. Irish data suggests that, at present, there are 3432 asylum seekers from Georgia.