EU Delegation and USAID officials visited a range of initiatives devoted to education, social and civic issues, and economic growth and job creation. A key highlight included meeting with civil society representatives and local civic leaders. It underscored the critical role of grassroots involvement in delivering assistance, particularly to the most vulnerable Georgians, and at a moment when some have been victims of increasing acts of harassment in an increasingly difficult operational environment. This engagement not only showcased the tangible outcomes of EU and USAID investments but also provided a valuable opportunity to connect directly with programme participants, hear their stories, and better understand the lasting impact of development programmes.The visit also highlighted the strategic importance of Georgia's regions, for EU and USAID development efforts. By focusing on projects that promote social inclusion, education, innovation, environmental sustainability, the initiative demonstrates how Georgia's partners are helping to build stronger, more resilient communities in Georgia's regions."The EU remains deeply committed to supporting the people of Georgia, where our partnerships with local communities in all the regions of Georgia are making a real difference," said Nicholas Cendrowicz, Head of Cooperation at the EU Delegation to Georgia. "This joint visit to Kakheti offers a first-hand view of the outcomes of our work, ensuring that the projects we support are both sustainable and impactful for Georgian citizens in these regions. We are proud to stand with our partners at USAID as we contribute together to the growth and prosperity of the people of Georgia."I was pleased to join our EU colleagues in visiting local partners across Kakheti – business owners, youth, civic leaders, and citizens – seeing firsthand how USAID and EU programmes are helping them make a positive impact in their communities," said USAID/Georgia Mission Director John A. Pennell. "USAID, on behalf of the American people, has partnered with Georgia and its people since 1992, supporting this country to become more secure, democratic, and prosperous as it moves closer to Europe. USAID is dedicated to continuing to work hand-in-hand with Georgians to build a stable democracy where all citizens have a voice in how their society is governed, and a stronger economy that delivers prosperity and opportunity to workers, families, and communities. This visit follows a first round of visits in Shida Kartli and Imereti regions in July. Both visits demonstrated the significant impact of collaborative efforts by the EU and USAID. This joint visit serves as a powerful reminder of the shared values and goals that underpin the EU's and USAID's efforts in Georgia. It is a compelling demonstration of how coordinated, long-term support can drive meaningful change in the lives of Georgia's citizens, ensuring inclusive and sustainable development across the country.

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Kobakhidze noted that the registration process for NGOs under the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” law recently concluded. “Over 450 non-governmental organizations, many of which receive foreign funding, have applied to the Ministry of Justice. I want to thank these organizations for their civic responsibility. This proves that receiving foreign funding does not necessarily indicate negative foreign influence,” he remarked.He also pointed out that the government has decided to create a grant program to support non-governmental organizations.The necessary institutional and financial frameworks for the grant fund will be established over the next two months, with the first grants being distributed in January 2025.

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This cable will connect Georgia and Romania, with the project expected to be operational by 2030. The joint venture, which will be headquartered in Romania, was formalized by the transmission system operators of the four countries, with the agreement signed by Giorgi Gigineishvili, the General Director of JSC Georgian State Electric System. Georgian Minister of Economy Levan Davitashvili participated in the event.The project aims to facilitate the supply of electricity from Romania to Hungary and subsequently to Western European countries, strengthening energy ties between these nations and contributing to the development of green energy infrastructure in the region.

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“The Georgian Government's anti-democratic actions and false statements are incompatible with membership norms in the EU and NATO”, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on the decision.Blinken noted Washington would continue assistance that would “benefit the people of Georgia”.“While we are pausing our assistance to the Government of Georgia due to those actions, the United States will continue assistance to programs and activities that benefit the people of Georgia by strengthening democracy, rule of law, independent media, and economic development”, he said.The law, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, comes into effect in Georgia starting today.It does not impose restrictions on operations of organisations registered under its provisions but requires the organisations to register in a public database under the status and declare their annual revenue.

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The law, as stated in the country’s Legislative Herald, does not impose restrictions on operations of organisations registered under its provisions. It requires the organisations to register in a public database under the status and declare their annual revenue.The country’s Ministry of Justice is authorised to carry out research and monitoring to identify the organisations, with the possibility of monitoring every six months.Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili formally signed the law in June after the legislative body overrode a veto of the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili on the bill, placed on the legislative initiative after it was approved by the Parliament in its third reading.

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Kobakhidze also said the delegations were “notably represented”, with prime ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia serving as a “high-level” representation of the South Caucasus region.The PM claimed Lomjaria had been “personally instructed to raise this topic, although it was not a great success”, and added representatives of the Armenian domestic opposition and opposition-leaning media had in contrast not condemned the Armenian PM's attendance at the event “because they did not have this objective”.The Government head was asked whether his visit to Iran was a “political statement” of distancing the Government from the West, and called the topic “shameful speculation”, while again drawing parallels with the Armenian Government and saying the country’s PM had been present at the inauguration while also making reciprocal messages of deepening relations with the West.

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According to the PM, Megobari Act will not help to reboot the relationship between Georgia and US.“This Act contains direct blackmail. This in itself is not a step that will help to reboot the relationship. We need real reciprocal steps to reboot relations. We are waiting for pragmatic and friendly steps. Instead of blackmail and threats, we should have a healthy conversation about improving relations, restarting them.Especially in light of the fact that during 3-4 years too many things have gone wrong in these relationships. You remember the actions of the previous ambassador who messed up a lot of things in the relationship. As for sanctions, speaking in such a tone is counterproductive, which cannot be considered a counter-measure under any circumstances. Instead of blackmail and threats, we should have a healthy conversation about improving relations, restarting them," said Irakli Kobakhidze.

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In the program, he also spoke about the opposition, non-governmental organizations and the President of Georgia.As the Prime Minister pointed out, the war directly means not only the interruption of economic growth, but also the worst economic crisis."You saw the same thing that the war brought to Ukraine. It is not only the 10 thousand dead people, not only the other severe humanitarian problems that the country faced, it is not only the 10 million displaced persons and refugees that Ukraine received, it is, along with everything else, the most severe economic problems," said the Prime MinisterAccording to him, the reason why Georgia manages to maintain a high economic growth rate is that we have a 12-year period of continuous peace."Although we went through 2 crises, a global crisis, a regional crisis during this period. The first was the crisis related to the first war in Ukraine in 2015-2016, the economy decreased in dollar terms, at least in practically all countries around us, the second crisis was related to Covid. However, we managed to increase our country's economy from 28 billion to 90 billion. Accordingly, the country's budget has increased by three times," said Kobakhidze.Kobakhidze promised that the next year's budget will be 3 times more than the country had in 2012. According to him, continuous peace is one of the main factors that lead to economic growth.Kobakhidze also spoke about the opposition and said, "If we had followed the scenario proposed by the opposition, of course, it would have led to an economic crisis and a serious economic decline, in addition to other serious problems. Those who understand the concept of EU enlargement must first reach a certain level of prosperity and Only then will you be accepted into the European Union. This is the policy of the European Union. First there is prosperity and then European integration, not the other way around," said the head of the government.Kobakhidze did not spare a word or two about the President of Georgia and noted that in his opinion, Salome Zourabichvili is an ordinary puppet of the collective "National Movement", a small, simple puppet, she has no more role to play.The Prime Minister also drew attention to non-governmental organizations and said that NGOs, together with political parties, are directly involved in election campaigning with the opaque money they receive from donors. Georgian politics cannot be financed from outside the country with opaque money, because in his opinion, this is a violation of constitutional principles."I can tell you with full responsibility that elections are held on October 26 and no organization will be closed by October 26," – Kobakhidze told TV "Imedi ".

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It should be noted that during the course of the project, a survey was also conducted on whether it was easier for voters to participate in voting using technology. 27,684 voters participated in the survey, of which 27,360 (98%) said that using technology made it easier for them to vote.The project started on July 6 and its goal was to inform voters about the introduction of election technologies and to develop practical skills for voting procedures. Voters were personally informed about the operation of verification and vote counting machines. The project was implemented in 64 municipalities throughout the country, at 89 predetermined locations located in the administrative centers of municipalities in Tbilisi and regions. 

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Kobakhidze mentioned "liberal fascism" 5 times in his 3-minute speech.He mentioned this phrase for the first time when he said that the election process will take place in a peaceful situation, if we do not count "a few liberal fascist attacks".Liberal fascism was mentioned by the Prime Minister for the second time when he said that "Parliamentarian Dachi Beraia was attacked by one of the active followers of liberal fascism, named Anania."For the third time, when he stated that these acts of liberal fascism were unfortunately actively supported and circulated by televisions and media outlets belonging to the collective "national movement".Fourthly, when he said: "Given many years of experience, we expect that the provocations will continue in the future as well. In the conditions when the collective "national movement", i.e. all their parties together, cannot gather even 30 percent, they are doubly motivated to organize this type of provocations of liberal fascism. Using technology, they will try to create an aggressive election environment. However, we will do everything in order for the elections to take place in a peaceful situation."For the fifth time, he said that the upcoming parliamentary elections, scheduled for October 26, would be a “referendum” between “war and peace” and between “dark past and bright, European future”.He said the latter could only be achieved through implementation of “decent policy”, “maintenance of peace” and strengthening of the country's economy.

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