Issue no: 1389
• MARCH 10 - 16, 2023 • PUBLISHED WEEKLY
PRICE: GEL 2.50
In this week’s issue... Ukraine Latest: Decisive Battles for Bakhmut in the Spotlight POLITICS PAGE 3
OP-ED: Let’s Keep a Low Profile for a Change! POLITICS PAGE 4
CSCE Senior Policy Advisor Michael Hikari Cecire on Georgian Dream’s Chance to Turn It Around POLITICS PAGE 5
FOCUS ON THE PROTESTS
Parliament’s discussion of the draft laws on ‘agents of foreign influence’ sparked a wave of protests among PAGE 2 Georgian society this week Image source: Radio Liberty
Georgia’s Maidan: The First Clashes of a Larger “War” BY MICHAEL GODWIN
T
he situation in the country has become more volatile than ever, following the introduction of the planned and controversial “foreign agents” bill. Reactions of criticism from the United States, various European Union leaders, and an overwhelming number of public and private figureheads in Georgia itself have demanded its withdrawal. Despite this, the ruling party and the bill’s authors have stood their ground, until now. After two nights of some of the most violent protests to rock the capital in over a decade, multiple reported arrests, injuries on both sides of the line, and damaged property, the bill now seems dead in the water. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 133 people were arrested between the two nights. “The employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as a result of operational measures and investigative actions carried out on March 7-8 of this year, on the facts of law violations that occurred during the protest action held in the vicinity of the Parliament, in particular, on the fact of the attack on the policemen, under Article 353 Prima of the Criminal Code of Georgia, one person In accordance with Articles 166 and 173 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, a total of 133 persons have been arrested,” the ministry reports. Continued on page 2 Source: AFP via Getty Images
"Something Delicious" Carrefour Congratulates Mothers on March 3 with a Unique Book of Recipes BUSINESS PAGE 9
Georgia: Still Struggling to Shake off the Memory of Josef Stalin SOCIETY PAGE 10
The Expat Lifestyle: Judoka Tania Morgenstern, Cancer Survivor and Inspiration to Many, on her Journey to Self-Mastery SOCIETY PAGE 11 Prepared for Georgia Today Business by
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