The Daily Beat: 13 May
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has addressed an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance, amid the unprecedented international isolation that the GD government faces. Written in a frustrated tone, the letter expresses the government’s grievance that its offers to restart relations with the U.S. “from a clean slate” have gone unnoticed.
On May 13, the GD Parliament passed a legislative package amending the Organic Law on Political Associations and the Law on the Constitutional Court. The revised law allows the Court to ban political groups aiming to overthrow Georgia’s constitutional order by force or incite violence, national, regional, religious, or social strife.
While speaking before the GD parliament, Aleksandre Darakhvelidze, the deputy interior minister of the ruling GD party, claimed that the upcoming legislative amendments will specifically target foreigners who participate in anti-regime protests. The proposed legislative changes will make it easier to expel foreigners and prohibit them from re-entering the country.
On May 7, pro-Russian politicians and public figures, many linked to the ruling Georgian Dream party, gathered in central Tbilisi to launch a campaign for restoring diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia. The event, titled “Round Table: Georgia’s Place in Changing World and Perspectives of Neighboring Politics,” was chaired by Mamuka Pipia, a Georgian-born Russian businessman and leader of the pro-Russian “Solidarity for Peace” party, established in 2023.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the assault on a TV Pirveli crew during an interview with former Kvemo Kartli governor Giorgi Shinjikashvili, which left journalist Mariam Makasarashvili hospitalized with a concussion. RSF noted that impunity for violence against journalists is increasing in Georgia, which dropped 11 spots in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index.
Archil Chikovani resigned as Mayor of Batumi, announcing his decision in a Facebook post in which he thanked the “big Georgian Dream family” and pledged his loyalty to the ruling party. It remains unclear who will replace Chikovani. Chikovani’s resignation comes amid a GD officials’ reshuffle in the autonomous republic and just weeks after Tornike Rizhvadze stepped down as head of the local government of Adjara.