TOL Georgia

Russian lawmakers almost unanimously voted to grant recognition to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Although the ruling is merely a recommendation to the Russian authorities, it is also a concrete sign that Russia might move to recognize these breakaway states. Both breakaway leaders — Kokoiti (South Ossetia) and Bagapsh (Abkhazia) — were in Duma gleefully applauding their [...]

Russia’s invasion of Georgia has finally brought out to light processes that have been taking place for 2 decades now. 17 years ago, when Georgia was at war with the same Abkhazian and South Ossetian regions, Russia secretly supported the breakaway leadership with military, economic and human resources. Since then, Russia has repeatedly tried to [...]

Georgia is openly invaded by Russian military forces. Cities and villages of the entire country are bombed. Hundreds of civilians are being killed, thousands of people are homeless, material loss for the country infrastructure is vast. Georgia never wanted the war. We are punished for our aspiration to become part of democratic world. Today our choice [...]

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A big question hangs over the quality of democracy in Georgia. On the paper all looks good: the country is governed by the champion of the democratic revolution and an erudite western educated lawyer Mikheil Saakashvili. There are institutions that are supposed to safeguard collective decision making and ensure justice in the society. There is [...]

Nino Burjanadze, the former Saakashvili’s frontline guru and the parliament speaker is back into the Georgian politics after a brief retirement motivated by a power sharing bust up with the ex-boss Saakashvili. Burjanadze established a foundation that in theory aims to help the Georgian democracy develop, thrive, prosper, propel and vive. In short, she seeks [...]

Romen Theatre is the oldest and the most famous of Romani theatres in the world. The theatre is a key object of Romani culture in Russia, and from the moment of its foundation in 1931, it has been a centre of attraction for Romani artists in Russia. Forerunners of Romen Theatre In the 18th and 19th centuries, [...]

The conflict zones continue to heat up as incidents and “provocations” take place on weekly basis. Abkhazia and South Ossetia fear war. There is suspicion in Georgia that Russia is annexing those territories though carrying out its plan of “providing social assistance to its citizens”. Russia has many other things on mind. A few days ago, [...]

Georgia’s public defender evaluated the recent parliamentarian elections in Georgia as the “worst in the country’s history”. Unlike previous falsifications, this time the state resources were directed at intimidating, blackmailing or bribing the voters — says Sozar Subari in an interview with the Georgian newspaper Asaval-dasavali. The international organizations observing the elections, of course, noticed [...]

“Prime-time” is a popular political talk show hosted by the former Imedi TV journalist Inga Grigolia. This is the only TV program in Georgia that broadcasts live debates between the opposition and authorities. Some call it Georgia’s “only island of free speech”. Needless to say, the bi-weekly evening show attracts a lot of interest. Recently it [...]

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I went to see the documentary The Lost Colony today by the Dutch film-maker Astrid Bussink. It is about the Sukhumi Primate Centre, which is the oldest in the world, which was the site of major research in the Soviet period but which has had to cease most activities since the war. The documentary covers [...]

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The election period in Georgia was marred by media reports and speculations of external threats and aggression coming from Russia/Abkhazia. On the election day, two busses carrying ethnic Georgians from the Abkhaz side were hit by grenades - an incident widely covered by the Georgian media. Human Right Center in Georgia ran a report on [...]

What does President Saakashvili eat for lunch? What does he do before his dinner? And what he plans to do after he retires? Financial Times got answers to these questions and provided insight into the “well-over 6 feet charismatic” leader’s views. – salads, olives, two varieties of caviar – one black, one a lurid orange. Throughout [...]

If there are elections in Georgia, you may bet some major scandal will take place with Russia — most probably over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia or South Ossetia. There was a spy scandal before the elections in 2006; then there was President Saakashvili’s brave intervention in a brawl in Gunmukhuri camp and finally now [...]

TOL is searching for participants for an online course on covering education issues, developed in cooperation with the Guardian Foundation and BBC World Trust. The course is open to journalists from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Caucasus. Applicants should be covering education or have a strong interest in the topic. Application deadline: [...]

Saakashvili’s party “National Movement” will win the parliamentary elections with a 52-53% of votes in their favor. This is a prediction of course, but any other result is simply hard to imagine. Although it is not because the Presidents’ team is popular at the moment — on the contrary, they aren’t having the best of [...]

Georgia’s former Defense Minister and Saakashvili’s outspoken critic Irakli Okruashvili was granted asylum by the French authorities. Last month, Okruashvili was jailed in absentia for 11 years by the Georgian court on charges of extortion and large scale bribery. To remind, the criminal case was brought against Okruashvili in September 2007 after he publicly accused [...]

In a surprise twist, the parliament speaker and the leader of the ruling National Movement Nino Burjanadze left the Georgian politics. She was going to top the National movement party list for the upcoming parliamentary elections, but because “it was not possible to reach consensus in the compilation of the National Movement’s party list”, she [...]