Three Members Quit Public TV Board

Three members of the public broadcaster’s board of trustees, Irma Sokhadze; Marina Vekua and Giorgi Anchabadze announced on April 23, that they have quit the nine-member board.

Read more...


Opposition Launches Public TV ‘Picketing’

Few thousand protesters gathered for the fifteenth day of rallies outside the Parliament under the rainy sky on April 23.

Read more...


Sides Meet at S.Ossetian Administrative Border

First meeting in frames of incident prevention mechanisms, tentatively agreed during the recent round of talks in Geneva, was held between the representatives of the Georgian side, the South Ossetian sides, the Russian forces and OSCE and EU monitors on April 23.

Read more...


EU’s report on Georgia’s ENP Action Plan

Georgia managed to advance the implementation of European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) action plan in some of key areas, but “less progress” was made in others, including in media freedom, according to an annual progress report released by the European Commission on April 23.

Read more...

Saakashvili: We will Maintain Stability

“We will do our best to maintain stability both in internal and external politics” to help overcome economic difficulties, President Saakashvili said on April 23. He also said that the authorities were ready to cooperate even with “the smallest” and “the most radical” political groups.

Read more...


Shooting Reported at S.Ossetia Border

Both the Georgian and South Ossetian sides have reported that a shooting took place at an administrative border in south-east from Tskhinvali on April 22.

Read more...


Opposition Says More Supporters to Join Rally from Provinces

More opposition supporters will arrive from the provinces later this week to join the protest rallies in Tbilisi, Tina Khidasheli of the Republican Party, part of Alliance for Georgia, said on April 22.

Read more...


Opposition Brings Supporters from Provinces

Several thousand protesters reconvened outside the Parliament for fourteenth day of protests, joined later on April 22 with opposition supporters and activists.

Read more...

Georgian, S.Ossetian, Russian Sides, Int’l Observers to Meet in Ergneti

The Georgian and South Ossetian sides, as well as representatives from the Russian forces will meet under the facilitation of EU and OSCE monitors on April 23, EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said on Wednesday.

Read more...


Saakashvili Focuses on Economy in a Meeting with Ministers

President Saakashvili chaired on April 22 a weekly session of the government and told the ministers to fully focus on overcoming economic difficulties.

Read more...


Ruling Party MP on Current Political Standoff

All the issues, except of demand for President Saakashvili’s resignation, can be negotiated and agreed, Davit Darchiashvili, a lawmaker from the ruling party, wrote in his opinion piece published in the Georgian daily, 24 Saati (24 Hours) on April 22.

Read more...


U.S. Says NATO Georgia Exercises ‘not Provocative’

NATO’s planned multinational exercises in Georgia are “not provocative” and “we believe that they’re important to go forward, and we’re going to do so,” Robert Wood, an acting spokesman for the U.S. Department of State, said on April 21.

Read more...

Alasania: Protest Momentum Increases

Momentum of the ongoing protests will increase further and will not wane unless real changes take place in the country, Irakli Alasania said, while speaking in the Tbilisi-based Kavkasia TV’s program late on Tuesday evening.

Read more...


Opposition Launches ‘Town of Cells’

Opposition leaders told thousands of supporters at the rally on April 21 that they would not step back in their drive to force President Saakashvili to resign.

Read more...


Two OSCE Monitors Released

Two OSCE monitors were released by the authorities in breakaway South Ossetia two and a half hours after their detention on April 21.

Read more...


Bakradze: ‘Opposition’s Ultimatum will not Lead to Results’

Demand of those opposition parties, which are behind the ongoing protest rallies, to hold talks on terms of President Saakashvili’s resignation is “an ultimatum” and can not serve as a basis for a dialogue, Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman, said on April 21.

Read more...

Rustavi 2 TV Co-Owner Applies for GNCC Seat

Irakli Chikovani, who has served as director general of Rustavi 2 TV station, has applied for a vacant seat in Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC).

Read more...


Georgia FM Downplays Russia’s Reaction on NATO Drills

Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin’s remarks on planned NATO exercises were not worth commenting on.

Read more...


Opposition Gears Up for ‘Decisive Stage’ of Protests

Protesters will reconvene outside the Parliament at 3pm on Tuesday for, as the opposition says, decisive stage of its campaign to force President Saakashvili to resign.

Read more...


Saakashvili: ‘Peaceful Struggle Continues for De-Occupation’

President Saakashvili said international recognition of the fact that Georgia’s two breakaway regions were under Russia’s occupation was stronger now than it was before the August war and from this point of view Georgia was “in much better condition” than before the war.

Read more...


Saakashvili on Army’s ‘Combative Spirit’

President Saakashvili said April 20 that more people were willing to join the army, than it was before the August war.

Read more...


Alasania Reiterates Readiness to Meet Saakashvili

The authorities’ refusal on Alliance for Georgia’s proposal to hold a referendum on whether the voters wanted or not early presidential elections “has increased mistrust between the society and the authorities,” Irakli Alasania, the leader of Alliance for Georgia, said.

Read more...


Women’s Prison Emptied after Riot

Penitentiary system officials said they had decided to empty women’s prison in Tbilisi and transfer inmates to a jail in Rustavi at dawn of April 19, after twelve hours of rioting.

Read more...


Orthodox Christians Mark Easter

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi was the main site for Easter services in Georgia, where the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, delivered a prayer attended by the Georgian leadership.

Read more...


Opposition Reaffirms its Sole Demand

Opposition leaders behind the ongoing protest rallies reiterated in a joint written statement on April 18, that they would not step back from their demand of President Saakashvili’s resignation.

Read more...


Abkhaz Leader Says to Run for Second Term

Sergey Bagapsh, de facto president of Abkhazia, said he was willing to run for the second term in office in elections scheduled for December, 2009, in the breakaway region.

Read more...


EU Envoy Speaks of Need of Concessions from Both Sides

Opposition should “put aside,” not necessarily “give up,” the demand for President Saakashvili’s immediate resignation and the authorities should not use a dialogue for marginalizing the opposition, Peter Semneby, the EU’s special representative for South Caucasus, said.

Read more...