Civil Georgia

First Deputy Foreign Minister George Zurabashvili has been appointed Prime Minister’s Special Representative for Relations with Russia while retaining his current position, Irakli Kobakhidze announced on October 21.

The National Bank of Georgia (NBG) kept its key refinancing rate unchanged at 8.25% after its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on October 21, while raising its inflation forecast to 5.4% and economic growth projection to 7.2% for 2026.

Georgia’s Constitutional Court, based in the coastal city of Batumi, starts hearing the lawsuit filed by 88 MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five major opposition forces: United National Movement (UNM), Coalition for Change, Lelo/Stro…

Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), called on the Georgian ruling majority “to uphold political pluralism and preserve the space for political opposition” in a statement coming a day before the country’s Constitutional Court is…

Davit Peikrishvili, a detained figure associated with Georgia’s criminal underworld in media reports, was hospitalized with “multiple injuries” as his lawyer alleges an attack at Gldani Prison on October 19 by recently detained figures similarly associated

Judge Manana Kobakhidze spoke with RFE/RL’s Georgian Service about “many factors” — including her human rights advocacy before 2012 and her Georgian Dream past — that led her to request recusal from the ruling party’s lawsuit to ban five opposition partie…

For Georgia, an opposition party founded and led by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, says its case to be examined separately from other opposition groups as the Constitutional Court starts to hear Georgian Dream’s lawsuit seeking to declare five opp…

Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused EU representatives of interference in internal affairs and an attempt to pressure the court after the European Commission spokesperson criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party’s constitutional lawsuit seeking

Georgia’s external merchandise trade, excluding non-declared trade, reached USD 20.535 billion in January-September 2026, up 9.2% year-on-year, according to preliminary data released by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat) on October 19.

Vakho Sanaia, the opposition-leaning Formula TV anchor and journalist, was sentenced to 30 days of administrative detention after the Interior Ministry filed another complaint against him over social media posts the Ministry deemed insulting to Georgian D…

Nana Keinishvili announced her departure from the board of the National Bank of Georgia (NBG) a week after prosecutors announced a probe into alleged illegal business activities, and RFE/RL’s Georgian service published a report suggesting she may have pre…

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and honorary chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, made a rare public appearance on October 17, chairing meetings of the party’s political council and parliamentary majority, with Prime Minister Irakli Koba…

The shares of Georgian Media Production Group, the company that owns the British-sanctioned, pro-government TV Imedi, have been redistributed among four people, who now hold equal 25% stakes in the company, according to documents filed with Georgia’s Nati…

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on October 16 on the sidelines of the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the UN Convention on Biodiversity in Yerevan, where the two discussed bilateral re…

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis visited Georgia on October 16 in his capacity as the chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), holding talks with Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili and…

Below is the weekly digest of key developments and discourses in and around the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia, as well as those concerning Tbilisi–Moscow relations.

Transparency International Georgia, a local civil society organization, has reviewed seven memoranda issued by the Communications Commission (ComCom), Georgia’s media regulator, concerning government-critical broadcasters TV Pirveli and Formula, identifyi…

The Dutch House of Representatives, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, adopted a motion calling on the government to work with like-minded partners to bring an interstate case against Georgia before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), citing…

Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office said it is investigating Nana Keinishvili, National Bank of Georgia (NBG) Board member and former Georgian Dream MP, over alleged illegal participation in entrepreneurial activity.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the “immediate withdrawal” of the Georgian Dream’s constitutional lawsuit seeking to ban opposition parties and reiterating calls for the release of what it describes as “political prisoners,” as we…

The UN Human Rights Council adopted by consensus a resolution on “Cooperation with Georgia” in Geneva, addressing the human rights situation in the country’s occupied territories, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported on October 7.

Georgian musician Misho Sulukhia alleged on October 7 that plainclothes men claiming to be law enforcers assaulted him near Tbilisi’s Lisi Lake and attempted to force him to confess to a crime he did not commit.

Georgian anti-government protester Sergey Kancheli said he left Georgia after six police officers took him to a cemetery and subjected him to physical and verbal abuse, including physically assaulting him, scratching his face with a knife, threatening him…

Up to 35,000 families have stopped receiving subsistence allowances under Georgia’s largest social assistance scheme after authorities reviewed up to 80,000 families, Georgian Dream Health Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze said during an October 6 press briefi…

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze lauded Georgia’s expanding economic ties with China at an October 7 government meeting, while stressing the government’s efforts to explore new markets, including through ongoing trade talks with South Korea,

Georgia’s State Security Service (SSSG) said it arrested a Georgian citizen for allegedly attempting to sell uranium-238 to a foreign citizen for USD 700,000.

Georgia’s National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement has regained its registration with the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR), an official register within the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) framework, nearly t…

The Social Justice Center (SJC), a local human rights watchdog, has said the Georgian authorities appear to have violated its moratorium on extraditions to Russia, calling on them to “immediately suspend” the practice until conditions in Russia “change su…

Georgia’s prison controversy, which followed allegations by an inmate that he was sexually abused at the hands of prison guards, has escalated amid allegations that more prisoners have been punished, including through physical violence, for expressing sup…

Around 3,300 foreign nationals have been expelled from Georgia so far this year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported on October 6, amid Georgian Dream’s announced crackdown on “illegal migration.”

Access to medical services and socio-economic assistance for Ukrainian citizens residing in Georgia who arrived in Georgia due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has been extended until January 1, 2027, the Georgian Dream government administration…

Iakob Guledani, an inmate at Rustavi’s Penitentiary Facility No. 17, was found dead, TV Pirveli reported on October 4, citing a relative.

Russian authorities reported that a prisoner, Dmitry Pushkarev, who had been previously extradited from Georgia, was killed after he attacked escorts on a train, killing one and wounding three.

Ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party candidates won all four majoritarian races in Municipal Council (Sakrebulo) by-elections held on October 3, according to the preliminary results published by Georgia’s Central Election Commission (CEC).

Designated German Ambassador Barbara Voss spoke about “damage” in the legacy of German-Georgian friendship, efforts to preserve “what has been built” between the two countries, and areas of future cooperation in an address delivered during the German Unity

Convicted inmate Giorgi Davitadze told the appeals court that he was sexually assaulted at the hands of prison guards in a de-escalation cell and later attempted suicide.

Below is the weekly digest of key developments and discourses in and around the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia, as well as those concerning Tbilisi–Moscow relations.

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) is another major German foundation, after the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS), to announce an exit from Georgia amid funding restrictions introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party as part of its crac…

Russian citizen Mikhail Timofeyev, a former aide and political associate of imprisoned ex-Khabarovsk Governor Sergei Furgal, detained since January following a Russian extradition request, was released from extradition detention on a GEL 50,000 bail, his…

Georgia’s annual inflation rate remained at 5.6% in September, while consumer prices increased by 0.4% month-on-month, according to data released by the National Statistics Office (Geostat) on October 2.

Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Shio III received a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on October 1, a day after a similar visit from Moscow’s Patriarchate, the Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service Reported, with the two s…

Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) announced that it has closed its Tbilisi office on September 30 after more than two decades of work with the country, citing Georgia’s grant restrictions and the Georgian government’s rejection of its applications for fund…

Georgia is hosting “SHARP LYNX 2026,” a computer-assisted exercise of the NATO Multinational Military Police Battalion hosted and directed by the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC) within the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP) M…

Communications Commission (ComCom), Georgia’s public media regulator, fined TV Formula GEL 10,000 (USD 3,854) for what it described as violations regarding impartiality and the coverage based on broadcaster’s “personal views,” marking the fourth sanction…

The United Kingdom has sanctioned several Georgia-linked individuals, including the former and newly installed leaders of the Russia-occupied Tskhinvali region and four pro-Kremlin figures, as part of a new package targeting individuals and entities invol…

Bera Ivanishvili, the son of Georgian Dream founder and billionaire honorary chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili, said on September 30 that he plans to take legal action over what he described as a “discrediting and defamatory campaign” against him and his famil…

Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Shio III received a delegation from the Moscow Patriarchate, with the sides discussing “troubled regions” and relations between the two countries, the Georgian Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service reported on September

Tbilisi City Court has sentenced Russian citizen Aleksandr Popov to 15 days in administrative detention and ordered his deportation from Georgia after he urinated from a balcony, reportedly under the influence of alcohol.

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) summoned Iranian Ambassador Seyed Ali Moujani after his controversial remarks pointing to “differing histories” regarding Queen Ketevan, a canonized Georgian monarch known to have been tortured to death at the

Georgia will tighten credit rules by gradually raising the income threshold under its 25% payment-to-income (PTI) rules — which set the maximum share of a borrower’s income that can be used for loan payments — to GEL 2,500, citing growth in average nominal