GEORGIA: Opposition Forms an Alliance & more– 5th Mar 2026

Gamarjobat from Gracia! This is the Rorshok Georgia Update from the 5th of March twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Georgia.

On Monday, the 2nd, the government issued a statement expressing deep concern over the escalating military actions in the Middle East. Careful not to choose sides or offend anyone, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze offered condolences to the Iranian people and the Islamic Republic for the loss of their Supreme Leader and other political figures, as well as to the people of Israel for the deaths of civilians and also expressed full solidarity with the Arab Gulf states, citing their strong partnership with the country. While Georgia needs to be careful navigating the complexities of middle eastern geopolitics, declaring solidarity with all sides of the conflict in a single statement did seem a bit comical.

On the same day Georgian police arrested an Iranian man for smashing a window at the Iranian Embassy in Tbilisi. This happened during nightly gatherings where Iranians living in Georgia celebrate recent military strikes against the Iranian regime. The Iranian Ambassador thanked Georgian authorities for the arrest and wrote on facebook the man would face six months in jail before being deported and banned from re-entering the country.

However, the only thing we know for sure is that the Interior Ministry charged the offender with property damage, a crime that carries a wide range of penalties, including fines and up to five years of imprisonment.

In other news. On Monday, the 2nd, nine opposition parties announced a new political alliance to coordinate their strategy against the ruling party. This alliance consists of Akhali, Girchi – More Freedom, Droa, the United National Movement, Strategy Agmashenebeli, European Georgia, the Federalists, Freedom Square, and the National Democratic Party.

Official goals of the alliance is to protect national sovereignty and end the current government's rule through peaceful means. Their joint plan focuses on expanding public resistance, responding to government narratives, and working with international partners to free political prisoners. The group aims to establish a democratic coalition government after new and fair elections. Two other major opposition parties, Lelo and Gakharia For Georgia chose not to join, saying they want to offer an alternative choice to voters.

Next up. It’s been a week since the UK sanctioned Imedi TV, the main propaganda channel of the ruling party. During this time a lot of changes happened on the channel. First, the employees started to receive their salaries in cash to bypass banking restrictions. Imedi also announces the plan to create its own bank and invest 50 million Lari, about 18 million Dollars, to get the license and keep the holding running. The channel also switched its website hosting to a company that provides services to the Russian Defense Ministry and Hamas. And last, but not least, four members of the Imedi’s Supervisory Council including the chairman decided to leave their positions.

Changing topics. On Monday, the 2nd, ruling party registered a bill to restrict international election observer status exclusively to foreign citizens. This law would effectively ban Georgian citizens from working within international monitoring missions.

Co-author of the bill MP Davit Matikashvili said the goal is to prevent local political bias from influencing international reports, suggesting that missions should instead bring in people detached from internal politics. However, NGOs like Transparency International Georgia say this move is designed to make election monitoring more difficult by stripping international missions of the local expertise and year-round insight provided by their Georgian staff.

On Monday, the 2nd, Tbilisi City Hall confirmed that Mayor Kakha Kaladze got stranded in Abu Dhabi. He traveled to the United Arab Emirates with family and friends to celebrate his birthday, just before US-Israel began strikes against Iran. Because Iran responded by bombing gulf state countries, including UAE, getting flights out of there became increasingly difficult. So, for now, Tbilisi remains without its mayor.

On Monday, the 2nd, a Georgian national of Azerbaijani descent was arrested at Athens International Airport for allegedly spying for Iran. The Greek intelligence agency was tracking him in Crete, where he photographed the strategic Souda Bay naval base, a vital NATO hub. Just recently the world's largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R. Ford, which participates in strikes against Iran, was docked there.

Authorities found encrypted communications and base photos on the suspect's phone. This incident mirrors several twenty twenty-five cases involving Georgian and Azerbaijani citizens linked to Iranian or Russian intelligence targeting Greek military sites.

On Thursday, the 26th, Labor Party member Lasha Chkhartishvili was sentenced to five days in prison for a Facebook comment, in which he called one of the regime’s judges a bastard. Chkhartishvili told reporters he did not remember writing It but shared its sentiment.

Last year the ruling party passed a bill which criminalizes abuse or harassment of public officials and civil servants. This is not the first instance of such a sentence. In July twenty twenty-five, an opposition activist also received five days in prison for calling a municipal employee names on social media.

On Wednesday, the 4th, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze signed a decree to launch a three-year moratorium on breeding several dog breeds. This step was taken to reduce the number of stray dogs, which number from 300 to 350 thousand.

The ban targets high-risk breeds like the American Pit Bull Terrier, Cane Corso, and Dogo Argentino, but also includes popular breeds like Huskies and Malamutes. The National Food Agency and local municipalities will enforce these new rules across the country. This move comes as part of the broader Law on Domestic Animals to bring more order to pet ownership in Georgia.

In sports. Georgia has decided not to join eleven other nations in boycotting the opening ceremony of the 14th Winter Paralympic Games in Verona, Italy. The boycott, led by Ukraine and supported by countries like Poland and the Baltic states, protests the International Paralympic Committee's decision to allow six Russian and four Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags.

In a new opinion piece for OC Media titled Saving Georgia’s judiciary requires an examination of the past, Giorgi Meladze discusses why the country's courts fail to check government power. Meladze challenges the idea that Georgia’s judiciary was more free in the ninety-nineties, arguing that earlier independence actually stemmed from a weak, corrupt state rather than true institutional strength.

The piece explains how the system simply moved from disorganized corruption to the centralized political control seen today. Meladze says that judges now actively help weaken democratic spaces instead of remaining neutral. By debunking the myth of a golden age, the author says that Georgia must stop looking backward and instead build a brand-new system of enforceable rules that finally binds those in power.

Read the article in English with the link in the show notes.

In Helena Bedwell’s OC Media article titled Iranian find refuge in Georgia, despite mirky ties with Tehran, author examines the Iranian community’s life in Georgia amid a deepening regional crisis. While Iranian living in Georgia seem to be happy with the liberty the country provides them for now, they feel unease with ever closer alignment between two countries, with the Georgian Prime minister attending funerals of Iranian officials and Tbilisi TV Tower being lit in colors of Iran in celebration of Islamic revolution.

Iranians who spoke with Bedwell say it is unlikely the current conflict will cause a mass wave of refugees from Iran, similar to the Russian influx in twenty twenty-two, after the Invasion of Ukraine. They say current US-Israel Strikes are against the regime and not Iranian people and hope that when the regime changes, they can return to their country.

Read the article in English with the link in the show notes.

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

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Nakhvamdis!