Bad things happen everywhere, but even more likely if you disable accountability, attack the opposition and try to shut down investigative journalism.

Civil.ge @civil.ge · yesterday

Georgia’s State Security Service said it arrested two people after they allegedly supplied horse meat instead of beef to kindergartens in Kareli and Marneuli municipalities and obtained money from the state budget.

very evocative piece, on why the academic and teacher Rusiko Kobakhidze (no direct relation to PM...) refuses to give up in the face of the nihilistic totalitarianism of the Georgian Dream. One key motivation: the larger arc of history. ganatleba.substack.com/p/we-were-so...

"We Were Soviet Products": Rusiko Kobakhidze on Memory, Protest, and Why She Still Stands on Rustaveli

Teacher, researcher, and mother of nine, Rusiko Kobakhidze reflects on the Soviet past, today's resistance, and the convictions that keep her on Rustaveli Avenue.

ganatleba.substack.com

Georgia's new Ambassador to Germany is not a diplomat, first & foremost, but figure that oversaw the darkest chapters of effective collapse of education in the late 1990s and early 2000s. A suggested "10 questions to Kartozia" raises these issues. ganatleba.substack.com/p/ten-questi...

Took seven years to figure out a new role for that building but at least it's being used.

Civil.ge @civil.ge · 2w ago

Georgian officials inaugurated a technology hub in the former parliament building in Kutaisi, repurposing the contemporary glass-and-steel structure that had remained largely unused after the legislature moved back to Tbilisi in 2019.

interesting -- might there soon be clashes between ultrapatriotic movements and the Georgian police? They certainly seem to be committed to taking a stand on Krtsanisi Forest. A fierce post, from a group with little prominence, garnered 9.000 Likes. unaccountedfor.substack.com/p/consecrate...

“Consecrated to Sacrifice” -- Radical Commitments from Ultra-Patriotic Movement

Will we soon see clashes between police and Georgian ultra-patriots?

unaccountedfor.substack.com

has not hit international media yet, but strong resistance across political spectrum against Eagle Hills project. 12.000 Likes is really remarkable for Georgia. #realestate unaccountedfor.substack.com/p/shalva-nat...

Shalva Natelashvili: "Every illegally granted permit will be canceled & everyone involved in this deal will be held fully accountable under the law"

The veteran leader of Georgia's Labour Party gets extensive engagement when announcing resistance against the Eagle Hills Project.

unaccountedfor.substack.com

Alright, all other aspects & symbolism aside, this is fabulous for cyclists to crisscross the earthworks. Rehab of Chavchavadze was great also, with mountainbike, while they were working.

Civil.ge @civil.ge · 2w ago

Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s central thoroughfare and the main site of protests in Georgia, will undergo full rehabilitation beginning on July 23, with traffic closed for the duration of the works, which are expected to be completed by the end of November.

With the upcoming 89th anniversary of Paolo Iashvili setting an end to his life, on July 22, here my article on why this act matters. (Some will visit his grave, there also will be a reading of his poetry on that evening in Sololaki.) @rrgould.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/hansgutb...

Paolo Iashvili and the Writer’s House of Georgia

Reupping an article on one of Georgia's most important poets that has only become more relevant since it first came out. Mark July 22 on your calendars.

open.substack.com

I tell myself that once every three months I should post this, in solidarity with #FreeBahruz who is in jail in #Azerbaijan on trumped up charges. Sometimes I forget. Today remembered & one can write to him in jail, too... @cavid.info @molenasreddin.bsky.social oc-media.org/opinion-soli...

Opinion | Solidarity without borders: For Bahruz, for Georgia, for all of us

The South Caucasus is standing at a crossroads — yet our struggles are connected and none of us can afford to stand alone.

oc-media.org

this little critter -- smart as Einstein if you ask me -- has an adoption meeting in #Tbilisi tomorrow. All paws crossed. #dogs

A sweet act of patriotism in #Georgia -- buying #blueberry to support local production, total steal at 12 GEL at local fruit sellers. (In some EU countries it's more than three times as much!!)

After sunset on Bollywood Beach #Tbilisi #windsurfing

the great Giorgi Lomsadze on the "Scrolling Police" in #Georgia Follow him on Substack. tamadatales.substack.com/p/crackdown-...

Crackdown on the fundamental freedom to swear on Facebook

Georgia’s new “scrolling police” chase after profanities on social media

tamadatales.substack.com

on what Temur Ugulava leaves for #Georgia, in various dimensions. hansgutbrod.substack.com/p/bringing-r...

Bringing Real Magic to Georgia – What Temur Ugulava Leaves Behind

1970–2026. A proper biography would tell the story of our time.

hansgutbrod.substack.com

Withering report by @hrw.org on the scale of repression in #Georgia. GD likes to claim critique is political. This report provides grounded evidence on the facts, listing the repressive provisions. www.hrw.org/news/2026/07...

Georgia: New Laws Devastate Independent Civic Groups

Georgian authorities’ use of increasingly repressive laws and politically motivated criminal investigations is decimating independent civil society and silencing critical voices, Human Rights Watch sa...

hrw.org

Summer fully arrived in Tbilisi... #Vera

Low key-ish but happy & social July 4 event by AmCham at US Embassy, 1500+ people, families, food, music in #Tbilisi #Georgia Whatever else you make of the day today & this year, here it brought nice people together.

at a precarious time, higher education should still think internationally, argues my friend/colleague Oliver Reisner but this should be done to protect and safeguard "reliable knowledge" -- what this means & much more, on #Ganatleba. ganatleba.substack.com/p/oliver-rei...

Oliver Reisner – From Internationalisation to Epistemic Autonomy

In a more precarious world, we need to work together to strengthen the capacity of universities to protect the integrity of knowledge, as the case of Georgia illustrates.

ganatleba.substack.com

In Georgien wiederum erinnert man sich daran, dass @ralfmichaels.bsky.social durchaus vor einem Jahr mit Zerstörern einer Demokratie eine gemeinsame Konferenz (samt Galadinner) veranstaltet hat & nicht gerade klare Worte gefunden hat. Oder haben wir diese Abgrenzung irgendwo übersehen? 1/

Ralf Michaels@ralfmichaels.bsky.social · last mo.

Da ich jetzt Morddrohungen bekomme für diesen Artikel (nachdem bild ihn skandalisiert) hier nochmal zur Klarstellung: gewaltfreier Widerstand hat eine lange prodemokratische und verfassungsschützende Tradition, und das befürworte ich. Gewalt ist antidemokratisch und hilft der AfD, ich lehne sie ab.

Great gift, handmade in Tbilisi -- "materials that touched the clouds", bags, totes, pouches from paragliders, signed, and the origin story, too! (Turns out I brought one of the paragliders 20 years ago, so it's coming full cycle...) @forag.studio on Instagram. #Tbilisi #Georgia

How Georgia's surveillance system has grown -- detailed & compelling piece by George Beridze. The tech comes from #Russia. algorithmwatch.org/en/russian-s...

Nino Doborjginidze on how & why universities are a comparatively recent arrival in Georgia. While Eastern Christianity was a millenium ahead in integrating religion into their own langauge, the scholastic practice of disputation (in Latin) did not take hold open.substack.com/pub/ganatleb...

Nino Doborjginidze on Georgia’s Unfinished European Journey

Historical background to the history of universities in Georgia and the Caucasus, explained by the Rector of Ilia State University.

open.substack.com

Right now in the great French bistrot Backstage 76 in Sololaki, Thursday night in #Tbilisi #Georgia

Right now in the great French bistrot Backstage 76 in Sololaki, Thursday night in #Tbilisi #Georgia

Looks like a great exhibition that I'll check out in next days Marcello Mastroianni in Georgia in Museum of Fine Arts on Rustaveli #Tbilisi #Georgia #Italy

Special shout out to driver of Bus 388 who is making life a bit more fun for kids & everyone by having spiderman ride up front. #Tbilisi #Georgia

More @zegfest.bsky.social , already discussed what we can learn from winning over authoritarians in #Hungary, now on #philosophy with Volodomyr Yermolenko -- "all culture starts with meeting the horror", even more needed in these times.

Kickoff of @zegfest.bsky.social today!! #Tbilisi #Georgia #storytelling

Fines apparently imposed even when there is no complaint. It seems that if you say "I'm a total idiot" -- they could also fine you over hate speech.

OC Media@ocmedia.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Following the establishment of a ‘hate speech’ department in Georgia, local courts have fined several individuals over comments targeting opposition politicians. oc-media.org/georgia-fine...

How @jamesbarr.bsky.social and some of his friends discover that there is an Illuminati conspiracy to undermine world order, after all.

Giles Wilkes@gilesyb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

there is a trumpeter playing near the Mall in SW1 who appears to know only four notes. Fortunately this has not prevented him from greatly enlivening the morning with his repertoire