The Daily Beat: 26 January
The Armenian delegation headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan arrived in Georgia, where he was received by the Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili. The Prime Ministers chaired the session of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation and afterward made joint statements for the press. At the press briefing, Georgian and Armenian leaders announced they had signed the declaration on strategic partnership between the countries.
In a Facebook post, President Salome Zurabishvili welcomed Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan‘s visit to Tbilisi and, at the same time, expressed her regret that usually she is not allowed to host and meet foreign guests properly. President also noted that the relevant agencies are keeping her in dark on high-level foreign visits and other important events.
The websites of the opposition-oriented TV channels – Mtavari Arkhi and Formula– and the President’s official website were reportedly cyber-attacked. According to the RFE/RL-Georgian Service, upon entering the President’s website, a message appeared that read “Hacked by COZY BEAR, Glory to Russia.” The Russian hacker group “Cozy Bear” is believed to be linked to Russian intelligence. A few days earlier, the Soviet Past Research Laboratory – SovLab, a civil society organization, also reported a “coordinated” cyberattack from Russia.
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, US Department of State James O’Brien, speaking at the German Marshall Fund event Europe Whole and Free: Priorities for 2024, said that the US sees Georgia as a “critical security partner for the Black Sea” and stressed the importance of the upcoming 2024 parliamentary elections. He also praised the Georgian government for its efforts to prevent sanctions circumvention. According to the Assistant Secretary, the US will support international observer missions and work closely with CSOs in Georgia to ensure the election goes well.
The importance of the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia was also mentioned by the EU ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, while commenting for journalists after participating in the celebration of International Customs Day. The EU Ambassador said that free and fair elections are an integral part of the nine steps identified by the European Commission that need to be implemented to move forward on the EU path. Therefore, according to him, the EU will follow the elections very closely.
Transparency International-Georgia, an anti-corruption watchdog, updated its alleged high-level corruption cases list. The current list includes 164 alleged cases of high-level corruption, where at least 169 high-level public officials can be identified, including 13 judges, 30 members of the Parliament, the prime minister, ex-prime minister, and ministers. Introducing the list, the TI-Georgia notes that although “Impressively low levels of petty corruption characterize Georgia,” there is almost “total impunity for high-level corruption,” also suggesting that the country is experiencing the ultimate form of corruption – a “state capture.”
Eight people arrested on administrative charges during the eviction standoff with the authorities in central Tbilisi were each fined GEL 2000 (around USD 750) by the court, the Social Justice Center, a local CSO, defending the interests of these persons in the court, confirmed to Civil. ge. In the meantime, students blocked the chancellery of the Tbilisi State University, calling for the release of Akaki Chikobava and Giorgi Khasia, both of whom had been sentenced to pre-trial detention for allegedly acting in the group to damage the vehicle of the Enforcement Bureau during the eviction.
