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Georgia’s Queer Propaganda Law

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Nene Kvinikadze, a Georgian scriptwriter, at a ‘teach-out’ on 21 November. Photo: Shota Kincha/OC Media. 
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Georgia’s students take their lectures to the streets 

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A group of students at Ilia State University (ISU) in Tbilisi have spontaneously come together to form a new student group in protest against the rigged parliamentary elections — with one form of protest including organising their lectures on the streets.  On 19 November, the  Iliauni Student Movement at Tbilisi’s most progressive university organised their first publicly visible initiative, taking the lead from Georgian writers Lasha Bughadze and Ana Kordzaia-Samadashvili, who delivered a ser

Irakli Kobakhidze. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Georgian Dream to keep Kobakhidze as PM

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Georgian Dream’s political council has approved party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili’s recommendation to keep Irakli Kobakhidze as prime minister. The political council convened on Thursday to nominate Georgian Dream members for the several posts. The official results of 26 October’s elections gave the ruling Georgian Dream party a large majority, with 54% of the vote. However, local media and observer groups have documented widespread vote rigging by the ruling party. The party’s executiv

Weimar Triangle: Georgia’s EU bid to remain stalled unless problematic laws are repealed
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Weimar Triangle: Georgia’s EU bid to remain stalled unless problematic laws are repealed

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France, Germany, and Poland, known as the Weimar Triangle, have expressed their concern regarding voting irregularities in Georgia’s elections, noting that they cannot support the start of EU accession negotiations unless Georgian Dream’s controversial foreign agent and anti-queer laws are repealed.  On Thursday, Weimar Triangle leaders French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a joint statement on Georgia’s post-election situ

The European Parliament. Photo: Dato Parulava/OC Media.
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

EU suspends over €120 million in aid to Georgia

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The European Union delegation in Georgia has stated that the country will lose €121 million ($130 million) in EU funding ‘as a result of democratic backsliding’. On Tuesday, an EU representative explained that ‘annual allocations are not all spent in the same year, hence remaining funds from 2022 and 2023 directly benefiting the authorities will be lost’. According to a post on Facebook by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for EU Neighbourhood and Enlargement, the money was ‘w

Bidzina Ivanishvili. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Georgian officials brace for further sanctions

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The threat of further Western sanctions against Georgian officials over democratic backsliding in the country has led to reports of alarm within the ruling Georgian Dream party, weeks ahead of parliamentary elections. On Wednesday, TV channel Formula reported  citing confidential sources that bank accounts abroad belonging to the children of Georgian Dream founder and billionaire, Bidzina Ivanishvili, had been limited. TV station Mtavari Arkhi also reported on Wednesday that Ivanishvili h

Salome Zurabishvili. Photo: via Facebook.
2024 Georgian Parliamentary Elections

Zourabichvili refuses to sign Georgian queer propaganda law

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Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has refused to sign the queer propaganda law passed by parliament, nor has she used her presidential powers to veto it. On Wednesday, the presidential administration confirmed to OC Media that the president did not sign the law ‘on protection of family values and minors’. The legislation, passed by parliament on 17 September, would be far-ranging, affecting education, healthcare, media, business, and public gatherings, and would demonstratively prohib

Kesaria Abramidze. Image: Erti ambavi merikostan/Facebook.
Crime

Heartbreak in Georgia after murder of prominent trans woman

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The high-profile murder of trans media personality and model Kesaria Abramidze has led to an outpouring of grief and anger in Georgia, with many linking her murder to the ruling party’s transphobic rhetoric and legislation. Hours after the initial news broke on Wednesday evening, the Interior Ministry confirmed 37-year-old Abramidze was killed after receiving multiple knife wounds following an altercation in her home in Didi Dighomi.  They also confirmed that they had detained a primary susp

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