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2024 in Georgia (country)

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2024
in
Georgia (country)

Decades:
See also:Other events of 2024
List of years in Georgia (country)

Events in the year 2024 in Georgia.

Incumbents[edit]

Rankings[edit]

Georgia's ranking in international ratings
Ranking Organization 2024 Rank 2023 Rank Note
Global Passport Index Henley & Partners 50/104 50/109 Based on the number of destinations accessible without a visa.

Events[edit]

January[edit]

February[edit]

  • 1 February: Irakli Kobakhidze, Chairman of Georgian Dream, is nominated as Prime Ministerial candidate, while his predecessor Irakli Gharibashvili becomes the new Chairman of GD. The new Kobakhidze cabinet replaces only the Minister of Defense, switching Juansher Burchuladze with MP Irakli Chikovani, while Burchuladze is appointed Ambassador to NATO.[28]
  • 2 February: The Georgian court sentences an activist accused of defacing the icon of Saint Matrona of Moscow, which featured her blessing Joseph Stalin, to five days in prison on petty hooliganism charges.[29]
  • 5 February:
    • The State Security Service of Georgia announces seizing C-4 explosives reportedly bound for Russia and Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. The SSSG reports the involvement of Ukrainian politician of Georgian descent, Andrei Sharashidze, and suggests that the operation might have been part of Ukrainian efforts to draw Georgia into a war with Russia.[30]
    • The Council of Doctors under the Public Defender's Office reports improvement in the health of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, though noting no progress in his psychoneurological pathologies.[31]
  • 6 February: President Salome Zourabichvili delivers her final annual address to Parliament, speaking about security issues and challenges to Georgian democracy and sharply criticizing the ruling Georgian Dream party.[32]
  • 6-7 February: Poor weather conditions cause a series of landslides hit several areas in western Georgia, killing two in Adjara and nine in Nergeti village, Baghdati Municipality.[33][34] A hot air balloon crashes in Kvemo Kartli, killing all three on board, including two aviators and an Imedi TV cameraman.[35][36]
  • 8 February: The Parliament of Georgia approves the ruling Georgian Party's chairman Irakli Kobakhidze as the country's new prime minister and his cabinet of 12 ministers, with 84 votes to 10.[37]
  • 9 February: Rustavi market shooting: Four people are killed and one is injured during a mass shooting at a market in Rustavi. The gunman is arrested.[38]
  • 12 February: New Defense Minister Irakli Chikovani is appointed Vice-Prime Minister in the Kobakhidze Cabinet.[39]
  • 13 February: Abkhaz de facto authorities drop consideration of an agreement with Russia that would have granted Russia's National Guard to "ensure public order" within Abkhazia after serious opposition from local civil society groups.[40]
  • 14 February: Deacon Giorgi Mamaladze, in prison since 2017 over an alleged attempt on the life of a high-ranking official within the Georgian Orthodox Church, is released two years before the end of his sentence after reports of his health's degradation in prison.[41]
  • 16 February: The National Bank of Georgia eases liquidity requirements for Russian citizens, lowering the share of their deposits in foreign currency that cannot be immediately withdrawn from 80% to 40%.[42]
  • 19 February: The National Democratic Institute launches its long-term election observation mission (LTO) ahead of the 2024 parliamentary election. The launch of LTOs by Western institutions had been a demand by the opposition to guarantee free elections.[43]
  • 20 February:
    • PM Kobakhidze visits Brussels to meet with European Union and NATO leaders and co-chair the 8th session of the EU-Georgia Association Council.[44]
    • Parliament passes a bill abolishing the post of Deputy Chair of the Central Election Commission, an office traditionally held by the Parliamentary Opposition.[45]
  • 21 February: Businessman Giorgi Barvenishvili becomes MP, taking the seat of newly-appointed PM Irakli Kobakhidze.[46]
  • 23 February: Liberty Bank, the private financial institution holding a state-granted monopoly on pension-guaranteed loans, agrees to reduce the interest rate for the loans of 150,000 pensioners following consultations with the Government. This comes as many fear a retiree debt crisis, with debt far outpacing retirement savings.[47]
  • 24 February:
    • Ukraine request engineering equipment from the Georgian Government, rejected by Tbilisi.[48]
    • The Government halts plans to demolish the Central Republican Hospital of Tbilisi after protests by local medical staff.[49]
  • 26 February:
    • China grants a visa-free regime to Georgian citizens, a sign of deepening bilateral relations since the signing of a strategic partnership in 2023.[50]
    • Russian anti-war activist Maks Ivantsov is denied entry political asylum and entry into Georgia.[51]
  • 27 February: President Zourabichvili warns about Russian interference in the October parliamentary election.[52]
  • 28 February:
    • One Georgian civilian is abducted by Russian forces in the village of Takhtisdziri, near the South Ossetian occupation line.[53]
    • The European Parliament adopts a report calling for the immediate release of imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.[54]
  • 29 February: Abkhaz de facto authorities call on the United Nations Development Programme to either refute its cooperation with the USAID or face "a timely and adequate response". Sokhumi accuses USAID of funding pro-Georgian programs in Abkhazia.[55]

March[edit]

  • 1 March: Health Minister Zurab Azarashvili resigns following a series of corruption scandals linked with the planned destruction of the Republican Hospital of Tbilisi.[56] He will be replaced by MP Mikheil Sarjveladze.
  • 4 March: In Elibashvili v. Georgia, the European Court of Human Rights finds Georgian law enforcement responsible for the 2016 death during a police chase of a suspect. The Court orders the Georgian Government of paying the mother of the deceased 16,000 euros.[57]
  • 5 March:
    • President Zourabichvili vetoes the Election Code Amendment of 2024 that abolishes the position of Deputy Chairman of the Central Election Commission, a role reserved to the Opposition since 2021.[58] The veto is overridden by Parliament on March 19.
    • Georgian special forces take part in the Trojan Footprint military exercises, along with special forces from the US, UK, Romania, Poland, and Spain. The exercises are hosted simultaneously by Greece, Romania, and Georgia.[59]
    • President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson of Iceland visits Georgia, becoming the first Icelandic head of state to hold an official visit to the country.[60]
  • 7 March: Opposition MP and Girchi chairman Iago Khvichia is physically assaulted by someone allegedly opposing his pro-secular views.
  • 11 March: Former UNM leader Nika Melia and former Mtavari TV director Nika Gvaramia announce the creation of a new opposition political party, Ahali, meant to challenge UNM's lead of the opposition.[61]
  • 12 March: David Arakhamia, a leading figure in the Zelenskyy administration, lists three conditions to "normalize relations" between Georgia and Ukraine, including the release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili from Georgian prison, the suspension of direct flights between Georgia and Russia, and an end to Georgia's role in the evasion of sanctions by Russia.[62]
  • 18 March: Far-right and pro-Russian members of the People's Power caucus in Parliament formally launch a political party ahead of the parliamentary elections.[63]
  • 19 March: The Georgian Government increases funding for the Georgian Orthodox Church from 25 million to 60 million lari, a move largely viewed as an attempt to consolidate the Church's support for Georgian Dream ahead of the parliamentary election.[64]
  • 21 March:
  • 22 March: The European Commission calls on Georgia to adopt a judicial reform including vetting sitting judges based on anti-corruption standards and using both domestic and international experts, a proposal largely rejected by Georgian Dream.[67]
  • 25 March: Georgian Dream proposes a constitutional amendment to "protect family values and minors" and to allow marriage only of "a union of a single genetic male and a single genetic female." It would prohibit "gender transition", same-sex marriages and the adoption of children by same-sex couples.[68][69][70]

April[edit]

May[edit]

  • 1 May:
    • Parliament votes in favor of the foreign agents bill on its second reading, with 83 votes to 23.[78]
    • Police in Tbilisi utilize a water cannon, tear gas, and stun grenades as part of a crackdown on protests against the foreign agents bill.[79]
  • 2 May: Protests occur in Batumi against the foreign agents bill.[80]
  • 14 May: Parliament votes in favor of the foreign agents bill on its third and final reading with 84 votes against 30.[81][82][83] Riot police subsequently clash with protesters on the streets of Tbilisi following the bill's passage.[84]
  • 18 May: President Salome Zurabishvili vetoes the foreign agents bill.[85]
  • 28 May: Parliament overrides President Zurabishvili's veto of the foreign agents bill.[86]

June[edit]

Predicted and scheduled events[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "სრულიად საქართველოს კათოლიკოს-პატრიარქის საშობაო ეპისტოლე (2024)". Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. 2024-01-07. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
  2. ^ "ამოქმედებულია ცხელი ხაზი, პარტნიორები საქმის კურსში არიან - სუს გრემისხევთან ოკუპანტების სამუშაოებზე". Mtavari Arkhi. 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
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