The Daily Beat: 11 January
The Patriarchate requested the donors to rewrite the icon depicting Stalin, exhibited in Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, as the topic continues to dominate the public discourse, sparking controversy and jokes in social networks and media. The Patriarchate issued a special statement, saying the icon needs to be rewritten since Matrona’s meeting with Stalin is not confirmed by the canonical text of the saint’s life.
The Danish Ambassador to Georgia, Anne Toft Sørensen, was summoned to the foreign ministry for referring to Bidzina Ivanishvili as an oligarch in her Ambassadorial op-ed published in the Danish daily newspaper “Jyllands-Posten.” The foreign ministry’s statement said that these “evaluative statements lacking objectivity” are not conducive to creating a positive image of Georgia, also highlighting that “certain forces used given publication for political interpretations, which, naturally, impeding the effective realization of the main objective set by the European Union – depolarization.”
The Ambassador of Denmark left the foreign ministry without comments. Still, in an explanatory announcement, the Danish Embassy in Tbilisi noted that the excerpt was taken out of context, refraining from further comments on this matter. Before the meeting at the foreign ministry, the Georgian Dream MPs decried the Danish diplomat’s “reference,” calling it “irresponsible” and “impertinent.” Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi and General Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party went even further in his assessments, labeling the ambassador’s remarks as a “dirty slur.”
Director of the National Library, Giorgi Kekelidze, said that the Parliament Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, suggested he leave his post. “The speaker met me and said that I have to leave my post because 11 years is too much, even though I have been working well, and it is time for renewal and change. I told him that legally it is up to him, but it would be unfair,” posted Kekelidze on his Facebook page. Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, the son of the first Georgian President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, is supposed to fill the vacancy in the National Library, which is subordinated to the parliament.
Recent media reports, citing local residents, suggest that Turkish vessels have been engaging in illegal anchovy fishing in the territorial waters of Georgia, specifically off the coast of the occupied Abkhazia. Fishing involving Turkish vessels, which has persisted for years, has raised concerns locally this year due to an increased volume of fish caught and an unbearable odor spreading across the city of Sokhumi. It remains unknown whether the Georgian authorities have granted permission for fishing to the Turkish companies. Civil.ge has reached out to the relevant Georgian authorities, but no response has been received.
