Esmail Ghaani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has warned that continued Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon could create new risks for maritime transport in the region, AzerNEWS reports.
Day: June 2, 2026
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has presented his annual report to parliament, outlining the government’s key foreign policy and economic priorities. The report places particular emphasis on restoring relations with the United States, advancing European integration, supporting Ukraine and assessing the country’s economic performance.
● The government says restoring its strategic partnership with the United States remains one of its key foreign policy priorities. According to the report, Tbilisi is engaged in active political dialogue with Washington aimed at reviving the strategic partnership that was suspended under the previous US administration. The authorities argue that a new bilateral agenda should reflect the interests of both countries and pave the way for the full resumption of cooperation.
● The report also highlights cooperation with the European Union. According to the government, Georgia continued implementing commitments related to its EU integration agenda during the reporting period. In August 2025, the Commission on European Integration approved both the action plan for the current year and the previous year’s progress report. The government also prepared new reports and action plans, including documents detailing Georgia’s implementation of commitments undertaken in cooperation with the European Commission.
The report’s authors argue that, despite ongoing security challenges, Georgia continued to cooperate with the EU in the areas of foreign and security policy. The government presents this process as part of the country’s broader path towards European integration.
● Ukraine also features prominently in the foreign policy section of the report. According to the government, Georgia continued to provide political and diplomatic support to Ukraine, as well as humanitarian assistance. The report states that Georgia supported or co-sponsored around 850 resolutions, decisions and declarations related to international efforts opposing Russian aggression. It also says Georgian representatives made more than 380 national statements on various international platforms.
The government further highlights its participation in activating the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism, its accession to the founding convention of the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, and its involvement in a range of international initiatives. According to the report, Georgia continued supporting Ukrainian citizens residing in the country through social and educational programmes, while humanitarian assistance to Ukraine included the delivery of generators.
● In the section on regional policy, the report focuses on strengthening Georgia’s role in the Black Sea region. The government argues that the country’s strategic location has become increasingly important for the EU’s connectivity agenda. According to the report, this role is also reflected in a number of EU strategic documents.
● On the economic front, the government says Georgia maintained macroeconomic stability despite geopolitical tensions and external economic challenges. According to the report, the country’s economy grew by 7.5% in 2025, which the authorities describe as one of the strongest performances internationally.
The report also states that, following Georgia’s acquisition of EU candidate status, the government’s main economic objective is to prepare the economy for eventual EU membership. The authorities argue that economic policy in the coming years should serve that goal. For now, the annual report has been submitted to parliament in written form. Kobakhidze is also expected to present it in person, although the date of the parliamentary hearing has not yet been announced.
Georgian PM’s annual report
On June 2, 2026, British Chamber of Commerce Azerbaijan (BCCA) Sustainability and Energy Committee in partnership with PwC Azerbaijan hosted an event dedicated to renewable energy transition in Azerbaijan. The event gathered representatives from government agencies, leading energy companies, and international financial institutions to discuss the current state and prospects of Azerbaijan’s renewable energy sector, AzerNEWS reports.
Fourteen employees, including journalists, have been dismissed from Adjara public broadcaster as part of the reorganization process launched earlier in the spring, in what the dismissed workers describe as a move to silence critical voices.
“On June 2, 14 employees of Adjara Public Broadcaster were notified by management via email that their employment contracts had been terminated,” Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics, a media self-regulation watchdog, said on June 2, calling the move “unfair and unfounded.” According to the watchdog, among those dismissed are Irina Kurua, the host of the program “Satskmeli,” radio news program editor Maia Merkviladze, and journalists Teona Kharabadze, Levan Uridia, and Salome Gegeshidze.
Irakli Kikvadze, who was elected as the broadcaster director in January, told MediaChecker, a Georgian press platform, that the broadcaster “had to bid farewell to several employees” as part of the reorganization process.
“At this stage, due to infrastructural and other reasons, we had to cancel many programs. We also have future plans in this direction, and people will be given the opportunity to use airtime when conditions allow for it,” Kikvadze told MediaChecker.
The dismissals follow years of concerns expressed by current and former staffers about a restrictive editorial environment at Adjara TV, and come amid a reorganization and relocation process, launched earlier this spring by the broadcaster’s management, which cited engineering assessments finding the broadcaster’s headquarters to be structurally unsafe. As part of the process, management announced the temporary suspension of all programs except news digests, prompting uncertainty and fears that the move could be used to shut down critical programs and sideline journalists.
Irina Kurua, one of the dismissed journalists, described the decision as expected, arguing that critical voices within the broadcaster had increasingly come under pressure.
“I knew exactly that such a decision would be made,” Kurua told Formula TV. She said that the program she hosted “was one of the very few remaining spaces […] where different opinions, critical views, and critical questions could still be expressed,” and called the process “a continuation of the wave that Adjara TV has experienced, when critically minded journalists and authors of critical questions were gradually restricted in their workspace, demoted as a form of punishment, or dismissed altogether.”
Also Read:
- 27/04/2023 – Court Finds Dismissal of Adjara TV Host Illegal
- 25/07/2022 – Court Partly Satisfies Former Adjara TV Head in Dismissal Case
- 02/09/2020 – Public Defender Addresses UN, OSCE Representatives Regarding Adjara TV
- 06/08/2020 – Three Dismissed Employees Reinstated in Adjara TV, Albeit on Other Positions