Salome Zourabichvili has largely been seen as a ruling party-managed figurehead. But she is lately charting a more independent path, particularly on Ukraine, cheering many of her former detractors.
More than 20,000 Russians have already fled to Georgia in the days since their country launched the invasion of Ukraine. Many Georgians say they are not welcome.
Tbilisi was previously planning to apply in 2024, after further reforms. But domestic political pressure, and apparent positive signals from Brussels, has sped up the process.
The government appears wary of provoking Russia’s ire, but to many Georgians their government’s caution amounts to a cowardly abandonment of their Ukrainian allies.
Every country in the region has its own relationship with self-proclaimed breakaway republics, forcing them to reckon in their own ways with Russia’s moves in Ukraine.
A disengagement from the world medical community combined with conservative societal norms have led to many doctors shunning COVID jabs even as the wave of infections reaches new heights.
There are many parallels between what is happening today in Ukraine and what happened in Georgia in 2008. But overstating them leads to misunderstanding both conflicts.
The suicide of a man who was forced to flee Abkhazia 30 years ago has put the spotlight on the emotional and economic plight of hundreds of thousands of Georgian IDPs.
Russia usually stays out of the Caucasus information wars, but the crisis in Ukraine is re-igniting disputes over who is to blame for Georgia’s frozen conflicts.
A massive rise in online gambling has led to widespread social costs, like addiction. But some sectors, like the media, have become dependent on the revenue it creates.
