Good Monday morning, dear readers, as Georgia starts the week with lingering uncertainty over the future of the protests, and growing anticipation ahead of tomorrow’s EU enlargement report.
Past Week
The past week’s main news was Georgian Dream finally revealing the details about its constitutional appeal that seeks to ban opposition, singling out three main forces – United National Movement, Ahali, and Lelo/Strong Georgia, as its targets, while warning others would follow should their influence grow. Officials also specified that they spared For Georgia, a party led by exiled ex-Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, because of their last-minute decision to reverse the parliamentary boycott. Despite earlier plans, GD’s current appeal also won’t be seeking to ban individuals from active politics.
Corruption-related arrests of ex-officials also continued, with former Deputy Infrastructure Minister Koba Gabunia being the next to find himself behind bars, while ex-Minister Irakli Karseladze’s home was also searched. As the recent pattern suggests, this may mean a quick case in the offing for him, too. Commenting on the developments, Irakli Kobakhidze said that cracking down on corruption was among “specific statements and clear hints” made by GD founder Bidzina Ivanishvili upon his re-comeback to formal politics back in 2023. Government’s anti-corruption drive has its skeptics, though, with Transparency International Georgia, a key local corruption watchdog, noting that “elite corruption was and remains much more widespread” than the ruling party wants to admit.
International: GD said it would boycott future sessions of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly (PA), citing MEPs’ “hostile and narrow political approaches,” and a recent Euronest resolution that, among other things, called Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections “rigged,” labeled the Georgian Dream government “self-proclaimed,” and urged authorities to release “political prisoners.” The resolution followed the recent Euronest PA session in Yerevan, in which the Georgian Dream delegation refused to participate.
Women in prison: The good news was that prosecutors and the court agreed to release detained activist and teacher Nino Datashvili on bail amid worsening health, a rare instance in protest-related cases where pre-trial custody was replaced with milder restraint measures. At the same time, concerns have mounted about the condition of Anastasia Zinovkina, a Russian citizen who is serving her multi-year sentence after being convicted on drug charges linked to protests. A letter circulated on social media saying the detainee was “humiliated and tortured” in prison as she asked for conditions to relieve her painful spinal condition. Georgian women’s prison conditions were also in the BBC’s focus, as the mother of Bella Culley, a British teenager in a Georgian jail on drug-smuggling charges, told the agency her daughter “has been boiling pasta in a kettle and toasting bread over a candle flame.”
Also: Police continued detaining protesters for blocking Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue, while the Georgian Orthodox Church demoted a priest who had criticized the ruling party and the church hierarchy.
Long-Read: In our recent feature, we go into more detail about the current struggles of Georgia’s independent online media as they face growing pressure under Georgian Dream’s repressive laws. Read here.
Weekend Troubles
Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue remained in the spotlight over the weekend as protesters continued their road-blocking routine, though for shorter periods, while police kept making arrests. More than 100 people are estimated to have been detained under recently enacted stricter laws targeting protest-related offenses. The weekend also saw the first case of a protester being detained for repeated road-blocking, a violation that carries a potential prison sentence of up to a year. Outrage has grown after older demonstrators, including 71-year-old Aza Chalichava, a committed activist displaced from Abkhazia, were seen being taken away by police.
Why it matters: Georgian protesters remain committed to holding the area in front of the parliament as their key protest space, despite warnings from the ruling party to crack down on daily rallies. Over the decades, the site has acquired a symbolic significance, echoing the nation’s larger struggles. You can read in our recent Dispatch column why this place matters so deeply.
Data
Georgia Among Top in Erasmus: According to the EU delegation in Georgia, “13,258 Georgian students & staff have studied & trained in Europe through ErasmusPlus”. It further added that “Over 22,000 joined EU-funded youth and cultural exchanges.” It also noted that 299 Erasmus Mundus scholarships have been awarded to Georgian graduates, placing Georgia fourth worldwide for Erasmus+ mobility participation.
GDP Up: Georgia’s real gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 6.4% in September 2025 compared to the same month of the previous year, according to official data. Read more.
What to expect
Tomorrow, the European Commission will be presenting its annual enlargement reports for candidate and potential countries, including Georgia. The reports typically assess the country’s alignment with the EU acquis – its body of common rights and regulations, which in turn provides an assessment of the country’s readiness for accession. The report assesses 31 chapters covering distinct policy areas, with EC marking up four levels of preparedness: early stage of preparation, some level of preparation, moderately well prepared, and good level of preparation. Read details from last year’s reports here.
Also Read:
Our now-weekly Moscow Calling roundups cover the main developments concerning relations between Russia and Georgia, and provide an update on the state of affairs in Russia-occupied territories. It also gives a brief account of Georgian affairs as reflected in Russia’s propaganda machinery. Read here.
OTD: From Civil.ge’s Archives
On this day in 2017, Civil.ge reported on what now looks like a parallel reality: “The ruling Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia (GDDG) initiated on November 2 a new round of the constitutional amendment process to incorporate the Venice Commission recommendations in the newly-adopted constitution. The respective legislative proposal was sponsored by 116 lawmakers.” The changes, among others, included allowing parties to form election blocs for the next parliamentary election, and removing “state security,” “preventing crime” and “administering justice” from the constitutional grounds for restricting freedom of faith, confession and conscience. Full report here.
Visual Stories: Tbilisi’s Bus-Riding Dogs
As temperatures slowly drop in Tbilisi, the city’s many street dogs increasingly turn to public transport to stay warm. Some have local caretakers who know of their adventurous habits and have fitted them with collars bearing phone numbers, just in case their four-legged friends lose their way amid the city’s bustle.
