The Georgian government, ruled by an informal leader (recently branded a “Puppet Master” by the Financial Times), adopted the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence. The Georgian Dream party claims that the country is facing a threat from agents of foreign influence, particularly from a “Global War Party” that includes local non-government and international organizations (including the New Economic School, which was founded in 2001).
Georgia decided to be a member of the European Union that would be accepted by both the EU as a whole and its members. What can attract Georgians to the EU is life protected by means of civil, political and economic rights, better quality of life, medical services, or education.
Current global developments are prompting many nations to define their political paths and select their future strategic partners. Some have already applied to join BRICS and it expanded from 5 to 11 nations, while others are in line. The European Union, recently hesitant about its enlargement, has accelerated membership discussions with nations in the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe.
On March 9, the Georgian parliament revoked a draft of a bill on Foreign Influence Agents supported by its majority. The purpose of the bill was to oblige any media or civil society organization to register as a foreign agent if they use foreign money.
Everyone should understand the meaning of the word “cost”. You can try avoiding expenses, but costs will still come, one day. What is happening in Georgia now is very much about neglecting the meaning of the word “cost” by politicians, mainly in the West. However, costs cannot disappear through wishful thinking. Current decision makers may try to hide from them, but they may return at a higher rate.
In its 2021 survey, the NESG found several misunderstandings and issues as to why would Georgian producers or importers prefer Russia to the EU. The reasons are mostly emotional and not based on factual realities (like cheaper prices in Russia or language-related problems).
Georgia’s goal should not be to fool Russian consumers to sell them Georgian low–quality products, but to improve their quality, so that we can find more demanding, but reliable, customers.
Every Soviet citizen was dreaming about buying a car. There were obvious problems: cars were in deficit in the Soviet Union (SU) and the salaries of the workers were hardly enough to buy such basics as food and clothing.
There are two camps of the former Soviets: one of the happy people because they are now free, and the second one of the unhappy, who still think everything back then was basically okay. I belong to the former and I am proud that I also took part in all possible types of anti-Soviet/communist activities.
First of all, it was an overstatement to call the apartment yours. There was no private ownership of apartments in the Soviet Union. There existed only personal possession of small land parcels with small (or not, depending on the size of a bribe) houses.
