The Daily Beat: 26 July
United States Embassy in Tbilisi issued a statement addressing the accusations made by “some media outlets and amplified by political figures” against the Embassy and its employees regarding alleged engagement in lobbying on behalf of Georgia’s former President, Mikheil Saakashvili. “As we have made clear, no one at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi has engaged in lobbying on behalf of former President Saakashvili or helped to schedule any meetings for his lobbyists. Malicious stories alleging or implying that Embassy employees received money from lobbying firms are categorically false and irresponsible,” – reads the statement.
The ruling Georgian Dream party officials and CSOs gathered at the EU-sponsored conference – “Georgia’s Way to the European Union,” to discuss fulfilling the 12 EU conditions, primarily addressing the justice system, deoligarchization, and media environment. EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski also attended the conference, highlighting the importance of the CSOs’ engagement in reform efforts. This was a rare occasion for a meeting between the ruling party officials and CSOs, whose relations have been chilly after the attempt of the ruling party to pass the Russia-styled law “On Transparency of Foreign Funding.”
Parents of children suffering from achondroplasia, a rare genetic condition that may lead to dwarfism, urged the Health Ministry to provide a definitive date when the treatment with the novel medicine may commence. Parents set a deadline of July 28 for the Ministry and threatened to resume their 24-hour protest otherwise. In response to these demands, the Coordinating Council for Rare Diseases approved a long-awaited National Protocol on Achondroplasia, providing relevant drug treatment for children suffering from this rare condition.
Transparency International – Georgia (TI Georgia) estimates revealed that since March 2022, Russian citizens registered 21.326 companies in Georgia, three-fold more than those registered in the previous 27 years. According to TI-Georgia, Russian citizens register 1300 companies monthly in Georgia after the war in Ukraine.
The State Security Service (SSG) announced the detention of two Georgian citizens for their links with the “Islamic State” terrorist organization. According to the State Security Service, the counter-terrorist operation was conducted simultaneously at four locations in two Georgian regions.
