GEORGIA: National Unity Day & more – 16th Apr 2026

Gamarjobat from Sant Gervasi! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 16 of April twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia. Very sorry we missed last week, this is combined from the past two weeks.

The biggest news in Georgia this week was the Hungarian elections. On Sunday, the 12th, Hungary’s long-standing leader Viktor Orbán lost power in a landslide defeat. This news rattled the ruling Georgian Dream or the Kotsebi party, as Orbán served as their last major ally in the EU. They were so invested in his success that they even sent their own politicians to Hungary as election observers. Once the results became clear, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze quickly pivoted. He congratulated the winner, Péter Magyar, while simultaneously thanking Orbán for his years of support. Meanwhile, the Georgian opposition celebrated. They see Orbán’s downfall as a hopeful sign in their own battle against an autocratic and corrupt regime.

Next Up. On Thursday, the 9th, Georgia marked National Unity Day. This day honors twenty-one peaceful protesters murdered by Soviet troops in ninety eighty-nine while they demanded independence from the USSR. Their memorial stands right in front of parliament, where pro-European demonstrators have been gathering for over five hundred days now to protest the current pro-Russian regime.

Early in the morning, a scuffle broke out between demonstrators and an unidentified group of people, most likely ruling party-affiliated thugs otherwise known as titushkebi. Later, when Prime Minister Kobakhidze and President Kavelashvili arrived to lay flowers in front of the memorial, demonstrators called them Russian slaves.

On the same day police detained a person in front of parliament who was wearing a t-shirt with strong language involving Bidzina Ivanishvili. A court sentenced him to ten days in prison.

In other news. On Sunday, the 5th, Georgia forcibly deported Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadiqov, ignoring a European Court order that forbade his removal due to risk of torture in Azerbaijan. Sadiqov, a vocal critic who faced politically motivated fraud charges in Baku, was also active in Georgia’s pro-European protests.

Police raided his home late Saturday, and a court held an emergency hearing, ordering his deportation at 4:00 AM Sunday. He was found guilty of administrative offence for insulting police in a Facebook post. Authorities say that the European Court's ruling was no longer applicable, since Azerbaijan dropped charges against Sadiqov several days before. The deportation happened just a day before Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev visited Georgia and met with Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of the ruling party, and Oligarch in Chief.

On Friday, the 10th, Fox News published an article reporting that the Iranian regime is using Georgia as a primary hub to bypass international sanctions and fund its military operations. The piece mentions that while Georgia has traditionally been a U.S. ally, its recent shift toward Tehran is becoming problematic for American interests in the region.

The article details how Iran has built an extensive influence infrastructure in Georgia, including religious and educational institutions that the U.S. Treasury identifies as fronts for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Additionally, dozens of Georgian companies, some linked to ruling party donors, are importing Iranian oil and paying in cash to avoid international banking restrictions. When Fox News reached out to the Georgian government for a response to these statements, officials did not return the calls or emails.

On Monday, the 13th, a woman and her eighteen-year-old son were expelled from Abkhazia to Russia after taking photos with a Georgian flag at the entrance to Sokhumi, the capital of Georgia's breakaway region. Nina Bronik and her son, Timur Ugurov, arrived from Sochi, Russia to visit relatives when they stopped at the city's welcome sign for the pictures. Locals saw the flag and reported them to police.

Later the Security service released a video of the two apologizing, saying they did not intend to offend anyone or question the region's sovereignty.

On Thursday, the 9th, Economy Minister Mariam Kvrivishvili signed an order to seize property from five families in Tbilisi’s historic Abanotubani district. The government uses expropriation to clear land for a new cultural center named after the late Azerbaijani President, Heydar Aliyev. While thirteen neighbors accepted buyout offers, these five families refused to sell their homes.

Officials justify the forced takeover by labeling the project a necessary public need. This decision coincided with the visit of Ilham Alyev, current president and son of Heydar.

On Monday, the 6th, Georgia’s State Security Service arrested five people for defrauding Tbilisi’s budget out of 3.5 million lari (over 1.3 million dollars). These funds were intended to provide free meals to the capital’s most vulnerable residents.

Authorities detained current and former district officials and catering company representatives for systematically falsifying beneficiary numbers to embezzle these funds. Since the program falls under municipal jurisdiction, reporters asked Mayor Kakha Kaladze if he felt any responsibility for the oversight failure. Kaladze said that he is only responsible for his own actions and he would not even take responsibility for the actions of his own children.

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Last week Tsalka municipality in southern Georgia had been quarantined due to a case of rabies discovered in stray dogs. This week, the same thing happened in Martvili municipality, western Georgia.

On Tuesday, the 14th, the National Food Agency confirmed a laboratory-verified case of rabies in village Bandza. Authorities immediately declared a quarantine in the area and vaccinated local animals. Officials are urging anyone who had contact with a stray dog near the Ori Nabiji supermarket in village Bandza to seek medical attention for immediate vaccination.

On Monday, the 13th, a police officer fired several shots during a dispute at a car wash in Koda, southern Georgia. The conflict began earlier that night during an Easter feast, where the officer and twenty-five-year-old Erekle Dalakishvili first argued. The confrontation escalated at the car wash when the officer pulled his weapon and fired at the concrete floor. Bullet fragments ricocheted off the ground and lightly injured Dalakishvili. The prosecutor’s office launched an investigation for making threats and causing intentional bodily harm, but authorities have not yet made any arrests.

On Tuesday, the 7th, police arrested Kenan Ismailov, the brother of Marneuli’s mayor, following a brutal group assault in the southern Georgian city. This arrest comes after a week of reported chaos in the region, where the mayor’s family allegedly used muscle to protect their business interests.

According to civil activist Samira Bayramova, the trouble started over bread prices. She reported that the mayor’s relatives artificially hiked prices and tried to force other local shopkeepers to do the same. When one businessman refused to comply, the mayor’s brother and a group of associates reportedly beat him up. Bayramova went public with the story on Monday, the 6th, urging the victim and his family to speak to the media so that officials couldn't sweep the violence under the rug. Police have now officially charged Ismailov with group violence.

In similar news. On Wednesday, the 15th, nine people attacked civil activist Nuradin Nabiev in Bolnisi, in southern Georgia. The attackers beat Nabiev after confirming his identity, causing facial injuries that required several stitches. Nabiev links the assault to his recent activism regarding local issues. He recently posted videos criticizing the high cost of medication and the lack of essential supplies in local pharmacies. He said that local authorities sent the group to silence his complaints.

On Tuesday, the 14th, the National Bank of Georgia introduced new rules to protect senior citizens from financial fraud. Starting this September, banks will temporarily block high-risk transfers exceeding 500 Lari, which is just below 200 dollars, made by customers over the age of sixty. These restrictions specifically target payments to gambling sites, investment platforms, and virtual assets. If a bank flags a transaction as suspicious or unusual, they must contact the customer to explain the risks. This creates a forty-eight hour waiting period, giving the person time to reconsider before confirming the payment. Officials designed this policy to prevent scammers from manipulating vulnerable people into losing their savings through digital schemes.

On Wednesday, the 15th, parents of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy held a demonstration outside the government administration building. These families have demanded a meeting with the Prime Minister for days, yet officials continue to ignore them. During the latest rally, police blocked them from entering the building. The group announced a continuous 24-hour protest starting next Monday. They seek immediate funding for specialized medication to treat this fatal genetic disorder. Without these essential treatments, people with this disease rarely survive past the age of twenty.

On Wednesday, the 8th, Ukraine appointed Zurab Adeishvili—Georgia's former Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General—to lead its Department of International Police Cooperation. This role places him in charge of the country’s Interpol operations.

This is ironic, since Kotsebi sought his arrest through international channels immediately after taking power. While Interpol issued a Red Notice for Adeishvili in twenty-thirteen, the agency canceled the search in twenty-fifteen because of his refugee status. Although Tbilisi still wants him for multiple criminal convictions, he has spent years advising the Ukrainian government. Now, the man the Georgian authorities consider a fugitive will oversee the systems used to track and extradite international criminals. Adeishvili was the one who designed and built Georgia’s system of, what they called “plea bargaining” but which was really ransoming civilians using the language of the judiciary. It was this system of human rights abuse that led to the Kotsebi winning electoral power in twenty-twelve and twenty-thirteen.

On Monday, the 6th, the Defense Ministry submitted a bill to Parliament to prevent citizens from using their absence from Georgia to avoid military service. The new rules state that a summons will be counted as legally delivered seven days after appearing on the Ministry’s official website. This change will force Georgians currently abroad to return to the country within ten days of receiving summons to report for duty. By removing the requirement for a physical, hand-delivered document, the Ministry ensures that being outside Georgia no longer stalls the process or exempts a citizen from obligatory military service.

On Tuesday, the 7th, the opposition party Lelo proposed renaming the yet unfinished Anaklia Deep Sea Port after Donald Trump. Party leader Irakli Kupradze said that Georgia must secure its spot on the hilariously named Trump Road, a strategic transit route connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan that emerged from the U.S.-brokered peace deal.

Lelo wants the port to become the country's top priority, run specifically by American and transatlantic financial institutions rather than Chinese or Russian state companies. They think that tying Anaklia to Trump’s signature regional project provides the political guarantees Georgia needs for real security. They are deluded.

On Tuesday, the 14th, Helena Bedwell published an article for OC Media detailing a sharp decline in Georgia’s tourism industry. Local businesses now report a 30% to 70% drop in customers, a slump Bedwell attributes to the ongoing war in Iran. The conflict has disrupted Middle Eastern flight paths and scared off high-spending travelers who typically drive a significant portion of the country's revenue. Financial analysts already cut tourism forecasts by 100 million dollars, warning that a prolonged war could cause even deeper losses. Although the government actively markets to Chinese tourists to fill the gap, struggling hotel and restaurant owners fear the economic impact could soon mirror the pandemic. Link to the full English language article in show notes.

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

Anything to tell us, info@rorshok.com.

Nakhvamdis!