The Daily Beat: 8 September

The ruling Georgian Dream government officials found no time to meet with the German Bundestag delegation, citing business. Only Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, from the GD side, met with the German delegation.  On September 4-6, the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag visited Georgia, meeting with representatives of the parliamentary opposition, local think tanks, and SCOs.

In an interview with Russian media outlet RBK, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov defended the adoption of the Foreign Agents Law by Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party and repeated the Georgian Government’s narrative that the U.S., Poland, France, and “many other countries” have much stricter such laws. He also accused the West of imposing an “LGBT agenda” on Georgia and talked about the developments in occupied Abkhazia.

In an interview for the National Journal, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen reiterated U.S. concerns about developments in Georgia, the Foreign Agents, October elections, and the ruling Georgian Dream party’s promise to ban opposition parties. Speaking to the National Journal, Senator Shaheen also recalled her discussions in Tbilisi, saying that Prime Minister Kobakhidze conveyed the request to the U.S. side “to stop funding all civil society organizations that might be critical of the Georgian Dream government.”

President Salome Zurabishvili, in an interview with opposition-leaning Formula TV, expressed support for the abolition of the post of Culture Minister, further suggesting the reallocation of funding to other institutions, such as creating cultural funds.

In a post published on a social platform X, the Norwegian Foreign Ministry expressed concern over the Georgian anti-LGBT legislation, encouraging the withdrawal of the legislative package. The Norwegian Foreign Ministry believes that the law infringes on fundamental human rights, as well as undermines the country’s democracy and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Georgia signed the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law on September 5, alongside the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Israel, Andorra, Iceland, Norway, Moldova, and San Marino during a conference of Council of Europe Ministers of Justice in Vilnius. The document is the first international legally binding treaty to ensure that the use of AI systems is fully consistent with human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Two Georgian judokas, Giorgi Kaldani, and Ina Kaldani, won silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the Paris Paralympics. Georgia has seven medals from the Paris Paralympics so far, with three more Para athletes to compete before the Games end on September 8.

On September 8, the last day of the Paris Paralympics, another Georgian athlete, Akaki Jincharadze, competed in the Para Powerlifting (+107kg) and won a bronze medal. The day before, on September 7, Georgian Para Judoka Revaz Chikoidze (+90kg – J2) secured the silver medal after losing to Turkey’s competitor Bolukbasi in the final match. Thus, Georgia finished the Paris Paralympic Games with a record nine medals, including one gold, four silver, and four bronze.