ll EaP Think Bridge is a platform uniting expert communities in the countries of Eastern Partnership region to fill the gap in distributing analytical products for stakeholders

Georgia: One-Party Parliament

01/2021

The newly elected parliament of Georgia went into action – without opposition representatives. Although it has enough votes for the MPs to make decisions, a one-party parliament will undoubtedly damage the country image in the international arena.

Georgian Parliament with No Opposition

12/2020

The elections did not bring peace to Georgia: the opposition does not recognize their results and refuses to work in the parliament. The protracted political crisis also threatens the economy and relations with international partners.

Georgia: Street Protests or One-Party Parliament?

11/2020

The parliamentary elections took place on October 31 with 9 parties surpassing the threshold of 1%. However, 8 of these 9 parties are boycotting the work of the parliament. With the second round of the elections ahead, a series of protests took place in several cities of the country.

Georgia under Risk to be Involved in South Caucasus Conflict

10/2020

Georgia’s political “debates” prior to the country’s parliamentary elections heated up to the extent that some opponents attacked each other physically. However, the main threat comes from the country’s neighbors: Armenia and Azerbaijan, as two states started large-scale military operations.

Georgia: Opposition Unites ahead of Elections

09/2020

Both the authorities and the opposition are mobilizing all their forces before the elections since the stakes are high. Whether the all-against-one plan will work out is not yet clear.

Georgia: First Parliamentarian Candidates are Registered

08/2020

Georgia is entering an active phase of the parliamentary election campaign. While the ruling party has already presented some of the candidates, the opposition failed to unite.

Georgia: New System Elections to Come

07/2020

The Parliament was finally able to adopt the long-awaited constitutional amendments and establish new game rules for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Meanwhile, Georgia was included in the list of few countries whose citizens are allowed to enter the EU.

Georgia: Searching for a Way Out of the Deadlock

06/2020

If country’s ruling party and opposition do not reach an agreement in the near future, the parliament will not have enough time to adopt constitutional amendments and the parliamentary elections in October will be held under the old system.

Georgia Gradually Comes out of Quarantine

05/2020

Georgia removes quarantine restrictions step by step but getting back to normal life is still a long way to go.

Clouds Gather over Georgian Dream

04/2020

For the ruling party of Georgia the year began with several strikes

Georgia: Who is behind digging up dirt?

11/2019

Georgian Church has the highest credit of trust among Georgian citizens. That is why the scandal with preparing a plot to overthrow a 86-year-old Patriarch Ilia II sent shockwaves across the entire country. 

Georgia: Government reshuffle before elections

10/2019

Summer protests in Tbilisi resulted in changes within the government of the country, however, they were in fact just a simple reshuffling. The main economic issue is lowering the country’s dependency on Russia. As for number one development in the country’s  foreign policy, it was the meeting with the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. 

Georgia: Freedom with barbed wire

09/2019

This summer in Georgia saw aggravated tensions with Russia. The address to the Georgian Parliament made by a Russian MP spawned series of violent protests. In response Moscow banned passenger airline service to Georgia, challenging the tourist season, and accused Tbilisi of genocide of Ossetian people in 1920. 

Georgia: Political perspective through a prism of elections in one district

06/2019

Mtatsminda district elections proved to be a rehearsal for the upcoming parliamentary elections and demonstrated what political battles are to come. “Project of the century” is under threat due to competition. A joint commission on border demarcation between Georgia and Azerbaijan resumed its work.

Georgia: 55 injured in clashes against hydroelectric power plant

05/2019

In Georgia this April was marked by the violent clashes between the residents of the Pankisi Gorge and the police, the beginning of the tourist season, and the verbal exchanges of the presidents.

Georgia: the Venice Commission is to get involved in the judicial reform

04/2019

Georgia’s judicial reform is still stirring the pot, and there is no compromise in the foreseeable future. Yet cooperation with NATO appeared on the country’s foreign policy agenda in March.

Georgia: $17 mn banking scandal

03/2019

The scandal around the judiciary reform dramatically undermined the positions of the ruling party.  Meanwhile, the largest bank in the country found itself in the middle of a new high-profile investigation. As for Russia, unambiguous threats are voiced regarding the planned joint Georgia-NATO drills.

Georgia: Naked truth under the cover of justice

02/2019

The Chair of Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee Eka Beselia faced large-caliber political weapons aimed at her after announcing the resignation from the post.

Georgia: Opposition declares a boycott

01/2019

The President Salome Zurabishvili has already been inaugurated; however, opposition still rejects the election results.

Georgia: New president with new problems

12/2018

Salome Zurabishvili was the first candidate to have crossed the finish line of the exhausting electoral marathon. Zurabishvili is the first female president of Georgia and the last president elected by direct vote.

Georgia: The last “people’s” president

11/2018

This election is the first time in Georgia’s history that a presidential vote has gone to a second round. Both candidates in the run-off are former ministers of foreign affairs. Both began their diplomatic careers outside the country when they were citizens of other states.

Georgia: Lugar Labs in Putin’s sights

11/2018

The latest direct election of a president in Georgia eclipsed all other news, in both domestic and foreign policy. Even the economy went into suspended animation waiting for the results, as business decided to play safe.

Georgia: Cannabis smells like politics

10/2018

(Українська) Неожиданно в центре предвыборных баталий в Грузии оказался вопрос легализации марихуаны. Экономика демонстрирует позитивные тренды. А во внешней политике обострилось противостояние с Россией.

Georgia’s future in NATO and EU

09/2018

Georgia and Ukraine have the most promising European prospects following the Balkans.

Georgia: Horses in the presidential Team

08/2018

Who will become an “independent” candidate supported by the head of the ruling party Ivanishvili?

Georgia: The new government is looking for a way out

07/2018

The first six months of 2018 turned out to be rather difficult for Georgia. The situation in the country was heated to the brink by the series of protests leading to the resignation of the Prime Minister.

Georgia: Thriller with terrorists in Tbilisi

12/2017

In Tbilisi, terrorists fired back at special forces for 20 hours.

Georgia: Local rise for Georgian Dream

11/2017

Kakha Kaladze with his considerable financial, administrative and domestic party support secured his victory in Tbilici mayor elections already in the first round

Georgia: Waiting for president’s veto

10/2017

The president is expected to veto a new Constitution, but the parliament will overcome veto

Fiery summer in Georgia

09/2017

Wildfires in the Borjomi Gorge reached disastrous scale unseen before

Georgia: Seven years waiting for democracy

07/2017

Georgia completed the construction of the largest hydro power plant

Georgia: Way to NATO

06/2017

Media protest in Tbilisi after the kidnapping of Azerbaijanian journalist

Georgia: Fighting for new Constitution

05/2017

Constitutional Commission votes for the new project of Constitution

Georgia: Dancing with wolves to tune of visa free regime

04/2017

Citizens of unrecognized South Ossetia will serve in Russian army

Realities and challenges of anti-corruption policy in Georgia

04/2017

Today Georgia is a leader in fighting corruption in the region, and this is confirmed by the international researches.

Georgia: Cyanide and mystical stories

04/2017

A detective story with a medieval twist including intrigues, poison and an attack on the most important institution of Georgian society, the Church, has become the hottest news of the month. It overshadowed even the long-awaited visa-free regime granted by the European Union.

Georgia: Gas issues with Russia heat up the political landscape

03/2017

Georgia’s financial loss from the deal with Gazprom is nearly fourfold.

Georgia: Pro-Western Powers Lose Supporters though EU Membership Has No Alternative

01/2017

Newly elected parliament passed a resolution stating the foreign policy priority is Georgia’s EU membership, without an alternative