The Daily Beat: 26 March
On March 26, history has been made as Georgia qualified for EURO 2024 after beating Greece in a penalty shoot-out following a tense playoff final that ended 0-0 after extra time. It is the first time that Georgia has qualified for either the European Championship or a major tournament. Georgia will be in Group F in Germany this summer alongside Turkey, Portugal, and the Czech Republic. This historic win sparked huge celebrations across the capital city of Tbilisi.
Russian state media TASS reported that the Basmannyy Court of Moscow sentenced in absentia a Georgian citizen, Alexander Inasaridze, on charges of committing a “terrorist attack” on the Crimean Bridge in October 2022. Inasaridze allegedly owns the trucking company whose vehicle transported the explosives that later exploded on the bridge. Moscow court sentenced him to two months of preventive detention from the moment of his extradition to Russia.
In an interview with the Russian newspaper “Argumenty i Fakty,” Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, claims that Russia enjoys “advanced relations” with all the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) except Georgia and Moldova. “As for the rest of the countries, we respect their sovereignty, and at the same time, we remember our common history and economic interdependence that developed during the USSR,” said Peskov.
The ruling Georgian Dream party lawmakers have announced amendments to Georgia’s electoral code, claiming it will improve the efficiency of the country’s electoral system and make elected officials more responsive to local constituencies. However, the proposed amendments have triggered concerns among their critics that the ruling party is clinging to the ousted majoritarian system and are seen as another tactical ploy by the GD to tweak the system to its advantage. In this piece, Civil.ge delves into the GD-proposed amendments.
