Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, attended the opening of his party’s brand-new head office and launched the GD’s election campaign. In his address to the party, Ivanishvili claimed to win the October elections with a constitutional majority and defeat the “Global War Party,” “agentura,” and “liberal fascism.” He also pledged to bring to justice the representatives of the United National Movement responsible for dragging Georgia into the war with Russia in 2008. “This will be a referendum between war and peace,” Ivanishvili told his supporters.
On July 16, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia said the government received 11 times more support than the Georgian civil sector, based on the official figures of financial support to the Georgian government for 2019-2024. “According to the latest analysis of the European Commission’s data, the EU funds received by Georgian ministries and other state institutions in 2019-2024 amount to 517 million euros, while the amount allocated to civil society organizations is 46.1 million euros,” – noted the Delegation.
In an interview with the Voice of America (VOA), U.S. Department of Defense Spokesperson Patrick Ryder confirmed that one of the reasons for the U.S. decision to postpone the NOBLE PARTNER military exercise “indefinitely” was false statements by some Georgian officials claiming that the U.S. was trying to stir up tensions in the region.
Speaking at a press conference on July 16, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller commented on zero mention of Georgia in the Washington communiqué, saying that the Georgian government’s actions and in particular the passage of the foreign agents’ law, fundamentally altered its relations with the U.S. and countries in Europe. “We continue to support the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, but we have seen the government of Georgia take a different turn and take a different path,” Miller said.
On July 16, 25 member countries of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC), an international partnership promoting media freedom worldwide, issued a statement on the foreign agents law, adopted and enacted almost two months ago, expressing their “deep concern” about the deterioration of media freedom in Georgia. “We condemn all intimidation and violence against the free press and civil society, which remain indispensable to an effective and stable democracy,” the statement says.
Teimuraz Khomasuridze, a Georgian citizen who had been illegally detained by the Russian occupation forces near the Tskhinvali occupation line, has been released and is now safe on the Tbilisi-controlled territory, the State Security Service (SSSG) reported on July 16. “The responsibility for all destructive acts committed in the occupied territories of Georgia, as well as along the occupation line, rests with the occupying power,” the SSSG said in a statement.
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