GEORGIA: First Lady’s viral speech & more – 26th Mar 2026

Gamarjobat from Sant Gervasi! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 12th of March twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Sunday, the 22nd, Georgia bid farewell to Patriarch Ilia II at the Sioni Cathedral in the old town of Tbilisi. Church officials confirmed the Patriarch personally chose this smaller church for his final resting place years ago. The burial concluded five days of national mourning.

Leaders of the ruling party attended the ceremony at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who financed the construction of the cathedral (Georgia’s largest church), addressed the nation. He described Illia II as a symbol of spiritual unity who restored the Georgian Church.

Following the speech, a military escort moved the coffin to Sioni for a private burial beside the altar while hundreds of thousands of mourners lined a two kilometer corridor to watch the funeral procession move through the city.

In related news, on Sunday, the 22nd, two anonymous bomb threats disrupted the funeral ceremonies for Patriarch Ilia II. Around 2:30 PM, as the funeral procession prepared to move, a caller told the police he had planted explosives at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. He demanded an immediate evacuation, threatening an explosion within twenty minutes. At the time, thousands of people remained at the cathedral, including foreign dignitaries and top government officials. Even though the caller used voice-altering software and a virtual foreign number to hide his identity, investigators tracked him down that same evening. The State Security Service identified the suspect as a minor and seized several phones and laptops from his home.

Next Up. On Tuesday, the 24th, a Tbilisi court sentenced opposition politician Elene Khoshtaria to eighteen months in prison for writing Russian Dream with a marker on a campaign banner of Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze. Khoshtaria did this in September to show solidarity with a young activist arrested for a similar act. Throughout her months in pretrial detention, she refused to attend hearings or recognize the court's authority.

She has also forbidden anyone from paying her bail, stating she would not give any legitimacy to the current regime. Just two weeks ago, the European Parliament passed a resolution officially recognizing her as a political prisoner and demanding her immediate release.

In similar news. On the same day, Aleko Elisashvili, a prominent member of the Lelo party who is currently in pre-trial detention on terrorism charges, released a statement refusing to be included in any negotiations for the release of political prisoners. In a letter shared on social media, he requested that Georgian and international organizations officially exclude his name from such lists to prioritize freeing of other wrongfully imprisoned individuals.

Elisashvili says the ruling party is using his terrorist label to stall the broader release process by debating his specific case. He says his November attempt to burn down the Tbilisi City Court was a symbolic protest against a violent regime. By removing himself from negotiations, he wants to prevent the ruling party from using his actions to delegitimize the status of other political prisoners.

On Thursday, the 19th, Freedom House released its twenty twenty-five report, which scores individual countries on a 100-point scale based on political rights and civil liberties. Georgia’s score dropped by four points to fifty-one, the sharpest decline in Eurasia, leaving it in the partly free category. For the first time, Georgia now ranks below neighboring Armenia, which holds a score of fifty-four.

Changing topics. On Wednesday, the 18th, the U.S. State Department added Georgia to its expanded Visa Bond pilot program to curb high rates of illegal overstays. Starting April 2nd, Georgians applying for business or tourist visas must pay a refundable cash deposit if a consul identifies them as a high-risk traveler. These individual bonds range from 5,000 to 15,000 dollars depending on the specific case. The U.S. government returns the full amount only after the visitor leaves the country within their authorized timeframe.

Speaking of the US. On Wednesday, the 25th, US First Lady Melania Trump hosted the inaugural Fostering the Future Together summit in Washington, D.C. The event gathered first spouses from forty-five nations to discuss child welfare and AI in education.

Tamar Bagrationi, wife of Kotsebi President Misha Kavelashvili, also attended and went viral for all the wrong reasons. Her thirty second speech quickly spread on Georgian social media, causing ridicule, criticism and confusion, due to how much Bagrationi struggled to deliver a few sentences in English. Many were confused why she chose to speak the language, when she could’ve just spoken in Georgian and used a translator. Link to the video in Show notes.

On Monday, the 23rd, the drama at the Vaso Abashidze State New Theatre took a petty turn. A few weeks ago, we covered the news about several actors resigning to protest management taking down a solidarity banner for their colleague, Andro Chichinadze, who was jailed for participating in pro-European protests. Now, the theatre is ordering two famous actors, Nanka Kalatozishvili and Eka Demetradze to return part of their February salary.

Because the theatre pays for the full month in advance, management claims the actors owe back the money for the five days they didn't work after resigning. The actors have until March 31st to pay back 240 Lari, which is about ninety dollars.

On Wednesday, the 25th, Israel’s National Security Council raised the travel warning for Georgia and Azerbaijan to Level three, which translates to a Moderate Threat. This official advisory urges Israeli citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to these countries. Officials cite a high risk of Iran-backed terrorism targeting Israelis and Jews during the upcoming Passover holiday. The council recommends that travelers currently in these regions avoid large gatherings and hide any Israeli identifiers.

On Monday, the 23rd, Forbes Georgia released its first-ever list of the country’s 100 wealthiest entrepreneurs, who control over 22 billion dollars. This represents nearly 60% of the national economy, with the top five individuals holding half of that wealth.

Mikheil Lomtadze leads the list with six billion dollars from his Kazakh-based fintech giant, Kaspi. He is followed by Bidzina Ivanishvili with 2.5 billion dollars, and Giorgi Jokhtaberidze, founder of Georgia’s largest mobile operator, Magticom, with over billion dollars. To measure net worth Forbes only used information they could verify, so these numbers are all less than what we usually hear.

Commenting on the list experts describe the economy as stagnant because wealth remains locked in traditional sectors like finance and real estate. Only 3% of the list is under age forty showing lack of new, self-made wealth or innovation. Political ties also remain deep, twelve people have overt links to the government, including current Parliament members. Women make up just 12% of the list.

On Tuesday, the 24th, Euronews published a study from the HR company Moorepay showing that Georgia’s state pension is the lowest among thirty-nine European countries. The data confirms that the average Georgian pension covers only 22% of a single person's basic monthly costs, such as food, utilities, and transport. This figure does not include rent, meaning the payment fails to meet even a quarter of a pensioner's essential daily needs. Even compared to other struggling nations in the region like Moldova at 42% or Ukraine at 29%, Georgia’s coverage remains the worst.

OC Media published an investigation into the rise of sexual extortion in Georgia. The report reveals that criminal cases for these crimes nearly doubled since twenty-twenty, though many victims stay silent due to social stigma. It tells the harrowing story of a teenager targeted by an older man and shows how attackers use private photos to blackmail activists and citizens. The article highlights major gaps in the law, such as the lack of protection for children and the failure to address AI-generated fake images. This investigation shows the digital threats facing Georgians today and gives clear steps for victims to get help. The link to the full English article is in the Show Notes.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Nakhvamdis!