The Daily Beat: 12 December
President Salome Zurabishvili is readying to host the reception in connection with the upcoming European Council meeting that is set to take a final decision on granting the EU candidate status to Georgia. At a reception scheduled for December 13, President Zurabishvili is expected to deliver signatures to the petition – “Our Voice to Europe” to the EU Ambassador, symbolically reminding the EU that the vast majority of the Georgian public supports the country’s EU integration. As Civil.ge understands, former presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, and the representatives of the Georgian Dream government are also invited to the reception.
In the meantime, the senior representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party seem confident of the positive outcome of the European Council’s decision on Georgia. They are almost certain that disagreements over Ukraine will not affect Georgia’s EU candidacy and are planning celebrations, declining to attend the President’s reception.
Speaking at the presentation of a new education strategy, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stressed that renewed goals of general education would be based on strengthening the national identity among adults, promoting the establishment of healthy values, patriotism, Georgian traditions, culture, and family values. PM Garibashvili also decried the almost two-decades-old education reforms of the United National Movement, claiming that UNM education reforms aimed to “change our national identity, our DNA, our Georgianness” and “trying to mold a new Georgian.”
At its December meeting, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe discussed the implementation of ECHR judgments by Georgia, among others, expressing concern about the failure of state authorities to protect against homophobic or religiously motivated attacks. The Committee also “noted with regret that the adopted National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights for 2022-2030 does not adequately address the needs of the LGBTI community, calling upon the authorities to ensure the enjoyment of the LGBTI community’s right to peaceful assembly.
The ruling Georgian Dream party whip, Mamuka Mdinaradze, said at a press briefing that a consensus on financing the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) had been reached. According to Mamuka Mdinaradze, the GPB budget will remain the same for the next two years, enabling the GPB to complete a new building and renew an entire infrastructure and equipment. From 2026, the annual budget of the Public Broadcaster “will depend on the total number of the employed in Georgia” and will be determined by multiplying the number of employed individuals in Georgia by 64.
The government approved Georgia’s Communication Strategy for 2024-2027. According to the official press release, the document aims to develop a unified vision of a proactive, coherent, and coordinated communication system between the government and the public. The new strategy also prioritizes the fight against disinformation and fake news, bolstering efforts to fight against disinformation and developing the capabilities of strategic communications units of state agencies. Yet, the government has not published its new communication strategy.
During the meeting with so-called MPs of occupied Abkhazia, de-facto president Aslan Bzhania spoke of foreign threats and the malign influence of the West, emphasizing the crucial importance of maintaining close ties with Russia. “The West, the USA, and European countries do not want to view Abkhazia as part of the world. They want our capital to be not in Sokhumi but in Tbilisi, and they are working on it systematically. This is because they want to demonstrate to the world that Russia’s recognition of our sovereignty means nothing,” Bzhania told the so-called legislators.
