Actually, Kartozia is mostly known in Germany for having been a Minister of Education at a time of rampant & pervasive corruption, which he did nothing to stop. In 2003, before elections, Kartozia aggressively tried to impress on me that Saakashvili was like Hitler.

Even, to use a hackneyed phrase, you usually don't cry for #Argentina, you'll likely laugh or at least be entertained to read this analysis of what's going on in its turbulent economy right now, and the colorful personalities. Great read by @maiamindel.bsky.social h/t @nateschenkkan.bsky.social

You see this across places with authoritarian assaults -- perhaps people should also recalibrate expectations, not to contribute to a loop?

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s... Article doesn't have much that's new for people following #Georgia & reading @willneal.bsky.social coverage of Imedi and Hunnewell but at least brings the malfeasance to an even wider audience.

Event on Thomas Mann's 150th birthday, with Maia Panjikidze & Giga Zedania. Tells you something about how valued German literature is, on Saturday evening at 20:30. [Zedania: "also must be said, one of our best translators from German, Zviad Ratiani, is in jail."] #literature

OSCE Chairperson in Office visits #Tbilisi. Key sentence: "I regret that the repression against civil society actors, peaceful protesters and independent journalists continues despite earlier calls on the Georgian authorities to make alternative choices." #Georgia www.osce.org/chairpersons...

Today at the #Literature Festival -- including celebrating 150 years of Thomas Mann, 20:00 at Goethe Institute. #Tbilisi #Georgia

Curious if they "convert" more fines into 10-15 days of jail. If they do, a lot of people might take that, as the 5000 GEL is more than most people than double what most people earn in a month. #Georgia.

Duinese Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by the (now jailed) Zviad Ratiani. Poignant. Sold at the Literature Festival, on today.

Very telling -- spontaneous greeting by a UNDP acquaintance I run into by the Rustaveli Metro, dusk. "Still here?!?" he asks.

Indirect challenge to inner circle. Timely, nice to disrupt the weekend of people involved in bad stuff. Bonus: some of the GD & GD adjacent millionaires have flats in London so they're not as indifferent to this as they may pretend.

Meet Haley, who has her first trip from her home into the city today & isn't yet entirely convinced that novelty (first time I met her) is good. It's a lot to take in. Also a D.O.G. dog. #dogs

interesting how Gemini analyses the photos that Georgian Dream itself (!) posts. It's not flattering - but plausible enough. Summary: "The audience's faces convey a sense of being unimpressed and possibly burdened. There is a complete absence of energy & enthusiasm [...]." #Georgia

#Georgia seems to have lost a case against a Russian company -- this translation is from Roman Gotsiridze's FB post. (Gotsiridze was head of the National Bank, later with UNM in opposition as MP, widely respected.) Haven't yet seen it in media.

lots of great culture in #Tbilisi these days. This weekend: #Tbilisi #Literature Festival, starting Friday. So much going on, easiest is just to go rather than pick in advance! www.facebook.com/events/13882...

The ghostly return of stories we heard before.

On EU visa liberalization & #Georgia, here seems obvious solution that imposes consequences without hitting wider society: there now is a (little-known) mechanism that allows targeted suspension of visa liberalization for perpetrators. 1/ www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/pre...

these are extraordinary sums to (supposedly) been laundering -- if you consider that you need to declare every €10k or so that crosses borders. Hard to imagine that this case will not widen. Follow @annagvarish.bsky.social for constant coverage if you don't yet

Ivanishvili has created "an illiberal and anti-European system which leaves no political space for either party opponents or civil society activists. Currently, almost all of Georgia’s major opposition party leaders are in prison. We call it a quasi-dictatorship."

Some details to quibble with but the main points are very solid -- GD has the bayonets but in the end will struggle to sit on them. Stephen Jones & Gabriel Chubinidze on why Ivanishvili's rule may well crumble. cacianalyst.org/publications...

Georgian CSOs have released a letter of solidarity in support of Germany’s Ambassador to Georgia, Peter Fischer, amid increasing attacks and insults from GD. Full letter below 👇 1/3

"Fight for Freedom" - new book in #Georgia in German by @dornblueth.bsky.social (who has done great reporting on region for ages) out this week, presentation in Berlin tomorrow. Haven't seen it yet, curious. Signup link here. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

The German word for this process of subjugating all institutions is "Gleichschaltung" and it's really from the same reprehensible playbook. This was expected, that they'd go for a criminal probe with a range of bizarro assertions intended to appeal to BI, that's the new bit.

As people point out -- oppo campaign material widely targeted, citizens attacked, torture in vans, no consequences. Protest with a graffiti, as opposition person? You'll be detained.

Update: Khoshtaria was detained on September 15, with Droa party releasing a video showing a group of plainclothed men – presumably police officers – escorting her in a car from her home.

#Tbilisi night view. (I wonder how many people have been at this great spot?) #Georgia #today

First cabinet level GD recent minister in detention -- who is next? The problem is not a handful of individuals, it's the corrosion of statehood under GD's rule, and if there had been proper oversight, this stuff would have been much less likely. Instead, dozens or hundreds such cases.

This cute stray (with a collar, so someone pays extra attention to her) just cheerfully boarded the 388 bus for a ride. #Tbilisi #Georgia #dogs

Tbilisi Sea today. I can really recommend going there when it's very windy -- it's almost entirely empty.

Great way of pitching history! (And what leadership to give staff permission to do this, too. Just imagine such stuff was possible across the Caucasus archives...)

Still puzzled how GD is undermining a key pillar of its own power/ appeal -- the license it gave its cronies to plunder, as long as they didn't overdo it. Tonight, there will be dozens of mayors & governors, police chiefs, dep ministers & their families, wondering whether they might be next.

Said hello to one cat on Ingorovka around midnight last night, and within a few seconds another three materialized, with varying degrees of curiosity! #Tbilisi #cats

(1/3) NATO’s response to Russia’s violation of Polish airspace with multiple drones should be more than stern words. NATO should declare a no-fly zone over western Ukraine, with NATO assets deployed on the ground in Ukraine to enforce it.

I was honored to appear on @cnn.com today to discuss Russia sending drones into Poland and Israel attacking Hamas leaders in Qatar. video.snapstream.net/Play/6pbCSYG...

I think the best stunt would be to have one *single* opposition MP in parliament, this might rub it in even more & use public platform also to continuously challenge government. (Would concede nothing on legitimacy either, if done right, reading prisoners names in allotted speaking time, etc.)

📢 Honoring courageous investigative journalism under extreme conditions, the @frittord.bsky.social & ZEIT Stiftung announce #FreeMediaAwards2025 winners: jailed Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli and journalists/media from #Ukraine, #Hungary, #Russia, #Belarus & #Azerbaijan. #JournalismIsNotACrime

Ketevan Khutsishvili made our day after all. Moments earlier, she had been assaulted by a police officer; yet she fearlessly confronted this titushka and demanded he return her colleague’s 📱. And she got it back! ‘Return the phone! Quickly! It belongs to a journalist!’ she demanded! @netgazeti.org

Convenient that GD people are publicly & in writing confirming their intent to hurt & attack people. (I don't think Viktor Orban's guys will be overly pleased that this violence makes it a Hungarian issue also. Small, but still.)

if you are interested in #Georgia & the opposition party spectrum, do read this (truly excellent) piece by Sergi Kapanadze, with rather direct recommendations to the oppo & to partners. Sober, critical, and constructive. Really essential for the conversation. politicsgeo.com/a-sink-or-sw...

That is the country, not the state!

Georgian streetdogs made it into American literature! "A Dog in Georgia" by @laurengrodstein.bsky.social "After a lifetime of looking away from her own needs and appetites, Amy is forced to confront what she really wants and how to finally find herself - And a dog." bookshop.org/p/books/a-do...

Debate on #Georgia in HoC in UK a few days ago. @blairmcdougall.com: 'over summer situation has dramatically worsened: opposition leaders jailed, young democracy activists given life-changing prison sentences & civil society organisations trying to protect democracy threatened with prosecution.'

If you're interested in policy anywhere, not just in UK or connected to rail, this is a good read. Key point: major improvements more likely through consistent improvements rather than one-off mega projects. #HS2 #policy

Can't entirely believe my eyes -- Georgian police in Mercedes AMG GT sports car, list price of which starts at €100.000. Much of the country in poverty, police go out of their way to display ultra luxury vehicles on Freedom Square.

More coverage of remarkable failure of @daadworldwide.bsky.social & @uniregensburg.bsky.social to ensure basic integrity in the scholarships awarded. Evasive answers cast a truly poor light on the governance of key German institutions. @efdavies.bsky.social www.idowa.de/seite-3/umst...

Very tricky terrain -- I think the boycott made a lot of sense to make the point in first few months. Then, it was right thing. When AID funding evaporated & resources became an issue, in my mind a case for pivoting back in. Yes, hard etc, but I'm hearing so many stories of resources

"when Brussels shows the political will to take action, it can do so." More of this, please. Good reporting by @canbackrasmus.bsky.social in @ocmedia.bsky.social on attempted sanctions circumvention.

Opposition spectrum remains in disarray but being a GD's patsy isn't a happy ride either. #whonext #Georgia

Had that, reset VPN, fixed it.

amidst all that is going on - why does Tbilisi need a Science Museum? Inspiring ideas are needed more than ever. This is one, connects to education & jobs, we need political leaders that run with them, too. More in this post. Look forward to comments. hansgutbrod.substack.com/p/a-great-sc...