The Daily Beat: 24 April
Georgian Dream’s Minister of Infrastructure Irakli Karseladze has resigned. He will be replaced by Revaz Sokhadze, the GD’s Prime Minister announced on April 24. Karseladze had held the position since February 2021. Newly appointed Sokhadze, 47, has served as the majoritarian representative of the Samgori district in the Tbilisi City Assembly since 2017.
The Georgian Dream government has issued a decree allowing citizens of 17 countries to enter and stay in Georgia without a visa under certain conditions. The list includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Yemen, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the appointment of new ambassadors to Slovakia, Ireland, and Malaysia. Konstantine Kvachakidze has been designated as Georgia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Slovak Republic. Meanwhile, Sopio Katsarava and Irakli Asashvili will represent Georgia’s interests in Ireland and Malaysia, respectively.
Levan Davitashvili, Georgian Dream’s First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, is in Washington, D.C., for the 2025 spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the IMF. During his visit, he also met with Joshua Huck, Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, a critic of Georgia’s democratic backsliding.
Commenting on an unnamed Georgian Dream official’s statement that Georgia will join the European Union by 2030, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova cast doubt on the bloc’s future and questioned its relevance to national economies. Speaking at a press briefing on April 24, Zakharova suggested that the EU is in decline and may not exist by the end of the decade, while also saying Georgia and Russia are “systematically working on the normalization of relations.”
The Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) has spotlighted serious concerns regarding prison conditions and psychiatric care in Georgia in its 34th General Report covering activities during 2024. According to the report, Georgia is one of nine countries in the former Soviet Union that were identified as having a “contemporary informal prisoner hierarchy” that continues to influence the prison system.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski voiced strong concern over Georgia’s democratic direction in a speech before the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, warning that Poland is “saddened” to see Tbilisi drifting away from its European path, while stressing, “We are not blaming Georgian society for the decisions of its government.” Sikorski added that the outcome of Russia’s war in Ukraine will shape the future of countries like Moldova, Georgia, and Armenia.