The Daily Beat: 23 February
According to the Wall Street Journal, Georgia became the only co-sponsor of the UN General Assembly Resolution on the Ukraine war proposed by the U.S. delegation, which significantly tones down criticism of Russia. The Ukraine resolution has been introduced every year since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 and the Georgian Dream government has supported the Ukrainian version of the resolution in previous years.
In an interview with RFE/RL’s Georgian Service, former Defense Minister Irakli Alasania asserted that Georgia could have had a fully developed air defense system from France by 2021. However, he claimed that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party and its patron, Bidzina Ivanishvili, sabotaged the deal. Alasania says that just before signing the deal, he received a phone call urging him to cancel the deal. He believes Bidzina Ivanishvili, was behind that call.
On February 21, Grigol Gegelia of the opposition coalition Strong Georgia criticized the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov‘s recent remarks on the 3+3 regional platform, which remains open to Georgia. GD’s First Vice Speaker Gia Volski stated that there are currently no conditions for Georgia’s participation, but did not completely dismiss the possibility for the future.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics has called on the Interior Ministry to stop imposing heavy fines on journalists under Article 174 prima of the Administrative Code of Georgia for allegedly “artificially blocking the road.” The organization said: “The number of journalists fined for blocking roads is increasing every day, which indicates a trend,” citing 13 such cases, most of them in the capital, Tbilisi.
Amidst increasing financial sanctions imposed by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) government on protesters and opponents, Free Business, an online platform created by the business sector in response to government pressure, has launched a new feature: Free Donation. The initiative, which operates under the slogan “A free society finances democracy,” aims to support individuals and organizations facing financial repression.
International journalists, newsrooms, press freedom advocates, human rights defenders, and journalists’ organizations have called for the director of Batumelebi/Netgazeti Mzia Amaglobeli’s release. “The Georgian authorities must release Mzia immediately, drop the disproportionate charges against her, and conduct an independent investigation into the allegations of mistreatment against her,” reads the statement of the International Press Institute (IPI).
Roberto Montella, Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, attended a football match in Tbilisi organized by Kakha Kaladze, a key figure in the ruling Georgian Dream party, just weeks before the October 26 parliamentary elections. Both Montella and Kaladze, old friends and former AC Milan players, are raising concerns about Montella’s impartiality in his role in the OSCE’s election monitoring mission in Georgia, according to a February 20 report from the OCCRP.
The 2024 parliamentary elections and the situation in Georgia were discussed at the joint meeting of the three General Committees of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on February 21, during the general debate on “Priority Challenges to European Security Concerns.” Several members expressed concern about the state of democracy in Georgia, the alleged electoral fraud, and the repression.