The Daily Beat: 15 February
President Salome Zurabishvili left for Munich to attend the Munich Security Conference scheduled for February 16-18. In the meantime, Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, yet another time, tried to mock the president and diminish the importance of her foreign visits, saying that the president was representing only herself and not the country at the conference.
During the meeting with the local government representatives, the youth, and civic activists in Marneuli, EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński spoke with journalists and stressed the importance of involving civil society organizations in the legislative and decision-making process, reminding the government of its responsibility to ensure their fullest possible engagement. He also alluded to PM Irakli Kobakhidze‘s planned visit to Brussels, expressing hope that Georgia and the EU will agree on concrete steps, enabling the country to move swiftly forward on the EU path.
At his first briefing as chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Irakli Garibashvili called President Salome Zurabishvili a “traitor” and “an opposition force” who has repeatedly violated the constitution. The newly appointed ruling party chair also brushed off all corruption allegations, slammed the opposition, and claimed to gain the constitutional majority in the 2024 parliamentary elections. According to Irakli Garibashvili, the GD party leadership plans to visit ten regions within 100 days starting in March as part of the pre-election campaign.
Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili is on an official visit to Turkey, where he has met with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. The Ministers discussed transit and energy projects, economic cooperation, and regional security challenges. According to the foreign ministry, the Turkish side reaffirmed its support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity during the meeting. While in Ankara, Foreign Minister Darchiashvili is also scheduled to meet with the Speaker of the Turkish parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş.
The newly appointed Defense Minister, Irakli Chikovani, participated online in the 19th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. The heads and high-ranking officials of the defense agencies supporting Ukraine from around 50 countries attended the meeting.
The Data of the Day
The National Bank of Georgia reported that in January 2024, the volume of money transfers from abroad decreased by 40.8%, amounting to USD 263.4 million US dollars, compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. According to the NBG data, Russia still tops the list with the largest amount – USD 67.64 million transferred to Georgia. Despite that, the NBG suggests that the annual growth rate of inflow volume from Russia decreased by 74%.
