Day: October 31, 2023

In an interview with CBS, President Salome Zurabishvili claimed that Russia is using “hybrid warfare” tactics to “test the ground” in Georgia, adding that the EU denial of Georgia’s EU membership bid would be a great victory for Russia.  In an interview, she also spoke of Russian immigrants in Georgia, urging about “the incidents in the future that would allow Russia to use its favorite doctrine of protecting Russian-speaking citizens.”

According to Abkhaz media reports, a “government delegation” of occupied Abkhazia headed by de facto foreign minister Inal Ardzinba arrived in Minsk for bilateral consultations. The Abkhaz delegation, which includes the de facto ministers of interior, health, emergency situations, and culture, met with the Belarusian government’s chief of staff and is set to hold other meetings as well to boost sectorial cooperation between occupied Abkhazia and Belarus.

De-facto authorities in occupied Abkhazia and Russian Infrastructure Development LLC sealed a deal on “comprehensive reconstruction” of Sokhumi Airport. According to Abkhaz de-facto leader Aslan Bzhania’s office, an investor for airport reconstruction was selected in a competition organized by Russia’s economy ministry and Abkhaz de-facto authorities. Russian Infrastructure Development LLC, selected in a “highly contested and open competition,” is owned and managed by the son of Russia’s Security Council Deputy Secretary, Rashid Nurgalyiev.

CSOs issued a joint statement, saying that the authorities are failing to address the sanctioning of judges and former prosecutor general.” The statement, signed by more than 50 CSOs, slammed the authorities for “defending the interests of those sanctioned, disregarding the legislation and trying to downplay the negative consequences caused by the sanctions by conducting anti-Western propaganda.” The CSOs called on the government to stop protecting the interests of sanctioned individuals and distancing the country from the West.   

According to the government decision, the treatment of oncological diseases will be equally accessible to all beneficiaries, regardless of their income, within the framework of the universal healthcare program. The government announced that planned and emergency oncological surgeries will now be fully financed for all oncology patients nationwide. This includes veterans and patients with an annual income of more than GEL 40,000 and does not apply to those insured through budgetary funds (as they already benefit from it).

The Foreign Ministry confirmed to Civil.ge that one more Georgian fighter, Levan Lobzhanidze, was killed in Ukraine. According to the foreign ministry, the Georgian Embassy in Kyiv is fully aware of this casualty, and all the necessary procedures to repatriate the body to Georgia are already underway. This latest casualty brings the unofficial death toll of Georgian citizens since the Russian invasion of Ukraine to 40.  

The Fereydan Georgians (an ethnic subgroup of the Georgian people who live mostly in the city of Fereydunshahr and the Fereydan region of Iran) living in Georgia gathered at the Justice House, demanding the resumption of issuance of compatriot status and residence permits. They claim that over the past 5-6 months, the Justice Ministry stopped issuing the status of compatriots and residence permits, rejecting up to 30 applications.