⚡️Ukraine and Moldova - yes, Georgia - not yet.
The European Commission today will make a recommendation to grant the status of candidates for EU accession to Ukraine and Moldova, reports Bloomberg.
At the same time, the EU plans to announce that it advises granting candidate status to Georgia, but only after it fulfills a number of preconditions to improve democratic processes in the country.
ℹ️ The final decision of the country will be made on June 24th.

🇬🇪 Residence permit in Georgia since the beginning of the war, for citizens of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
Between 01.02. By May 20, 1866 citizens applied for a residence permit (a document that gives a foreigner the right to freely stay in the country, regardless of the duration of the visa and stay), 1184 of them were satisfied (63%). At the same time, 77 people who submitted documents are former citizens of Georgia.
📍In particular, the following citizens received a residence permit:
Russia - 824
Belarus - 192
Ukraine -168
📌To obtain a residence permit, foreign citizens can collect and submit documents to the House of Justice for the following reasons: labor (an agreement with a local organization and certain conditions), investment (purchase of real estate for $ 100 thousand), for the purpose of family reunification, etc.

👮🏻‍♂ Daring robbery in Western Georgia.
In the municipality of Chkhorotsku, the entrance to the local community center was blown up. Robbers stole an ATM located there.

⚡️🇬🇪🚫🇪🇺 Georgia has been denied the status of a candidate for joining the European Union, it can get it only if a number of conditions are met.
The European Commission announced the decision.
❗️Ukraine and Moldova are recommended for candidate status. It almost never happens that the European Council reviews the decision of the Commission.

🇪🇺🚫🇬🇪 The European Commission recommends not yet granting the status of an EU candidate country to Georgia until a number of conditions are met.
What are the main claims of the EU (this range of problems has been noted by most experts lately):
📍 internal political polarization, violation of the agreement between the ruling party and the opposition of April 19, 2021 (Charles Michel agreement)
📍 Defective functioning of some state institutions, lack of their independence and accountability
📍 problems with the openness of elections
📍 lack of independence in the judiciary and the prosecutor's office
📍 insufficient fight against corruption and organized crime
📍 significant influence of oligarchs on politics
📍 threats to the independence of the media and journalists
📍 insufficient involvement of civil society in government processes at all levels
📍 insufficient work to strengthen gender equality and combat violence against women

🇬🇪🇪🇺The decision of the European Commission not to recommend the status of an EU candidate for Georgia is being commented on by local politicians.
📍Ruling party:
Kobakhidze is the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
"The EU requires de-oligarchization. We have well-known oligarchs in Georgia. These are people who have been robbing the people for 9 years. For example, one of them is Saakashvili. Today he is in prison, and a concrete step towards de-oligarchization has already been taken"
Mdinaradze - Georgian Dream Party.
"It would be wrong to say that the result of the government's work can change today's decision. It was more political, not expert"
📍Opposition:
Melia from the National Movement party.
"The will of the people is unshakable and will act. I am sure that June 20 (the day of the rally - approx.) will be the day that will give the necessary impetus to the next period of political life."
Khazaradze - Lelo Party
"We must wait until June 24, and if this result remains, we must peacefully remove this power. Early parliamentary elections must be scheduled in Georgia."

🇬🇪🛒 President of Georgia in an ordinary Tbilisi store.
In the video, activist ask her what she thinks about the rally on June 20 and whether she will join it, but the question was left unanswered (Zurabishvili would later say that she would not support the rally).
☺️ This is an internal Georgian story, but after Russia and Belarus, where entire blocks are blocked for the passage of presidents, it is nice to see such a high-ranking official with an ordinary grocery basket choosing milk or bread in a store. This is not a one-time story, she is often seen in ordinary cafes, shops and on the streets.

🇰🇿🇬🇪 President of Kazakhstan Tokayev said at an economic forum in Russia that his country never recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
He added, while Putin was sitting near him, that "this principle is likely to be applied to quasi-state territories, which, in our opinion, are Luhansk and Donetsk."

🚂🥦 Agricultural market on the railway tracks in Adjara.
"This is not Bangladesh, this is Batumi" - the authors of the shooting write.

👮🏻‍♂ The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia opened a criminal case on the fact of a mass brawl in one of the bars in Tbilisi.
More than 30 people staged a scuffle with the use of edged weapons on Agmashenebeli Avenue.
Four people sought medical attention. Two people have been arrested, and another one has been put on the wanted list. All defendants have previous convictions.
❗️According to those living in that area, fights and showdowns occur there with regularity.
👮‍♂Over the past few days, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has reported many cases of grievous bodily harm or murder in the country.
📹 TV Pirveli video

🎾🇬🇧➡️🇬🇪 Tennis player Dzalamidze changed her citizenship and will perform at Wimbledon 2022 for Georgia.
The 44th racket of the world in doubles, Russian tennis player Natela Dzalamidze will perform under the Georgian flag. Dzalamidze is the champion of two tournaments at the WTA level in doubles. At Wimbledon 2022, she will play in tandem with Alexandra Krunic from Serbia.
⛸ Let me remind you that in 2021, the Russian figure skater Gubanova, who took 4th place at the last Olympics, participated under the Georgian flag.

🇷🇺👅🚫 The Georgian Copyright Association launches a public campaign “Turn off the Russian language”.
“We are launching a new action in support of Ukraine. Russian music is still widely used in our country, which, on the one hand, brings up a sense of false unity with Russia, and on the other, is a seemingly harmless, but powerful weapon in the hands of the enemy. Moreover, to abandon it during the ongoing war in Ukraine is the moral duty of every citizen of Georgia. Please join the campaign and contribute to the important work to reduce Russian influence," the association said in a statement.
🇺🇦 The Ukrainian Rada adopted a law banning Russian music on radio, television and public places. It is forbidden to use authors and compositions written after 1991. Musicians who do not publicly support the war may apply to the Ministry of Culture and may be granted a permit.

😷🚌🚫 As of today, the penultimate covid restriction has been lifted in Georgia: wearing masks in public transport has ceased to be mandatory.
There is only one rule left: the mask in medical institutions is still required.
❗️ Let me remind you that from 15.06. when arriving in Georgia, foreign citizens and local residents no longer need vaccines and tests.

👮🏻‍♂️ The Gori City Court issued an indictment against the men who killed 28-year-old British citizen Thomas Kennedy last October.
Then five local residents of Gori forcibly took away a mobile phone and a bank card from a foreigner, beating the victim until he lost consciousness. In order to hide the traces, they dumped the body in Kura (Mtkvari). Two of them received 20 years in prison today, the third - 21, and for a minor, the court will choose a sentence within seven days. The fifth defendant received 6 years in prison for failure to report.
❗️ Let me remind you that in March, Rafael Mursakulov was sentenced to 20 years for killing an Australian Shani Brook on Mount Mtatsminda.

❗️Giorgi Tabagari, the founder of the Tbilisi Pride NGO, announced today the start of the Maidan in Tbilisi.
“Tbilisi Maidan begins today! It will be the largest anti-government demonstration in 10 years. Hopefully this will lead to some changes. Government of Georgia, your time is up! Take responsibility for the failure and walk away,” Tabagari tweeted.

🇬🇪❤️🇪🇺 Action "Home to Europe" on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi.
There are a lot of people. If we count the rallies of past years and compare them, then the Parliament now clearly has more than 10,000 participants. The participants unfurled a large banner of the European Union, many Georgian flags. The mood is, on the whole, benevolent, although sometimes slogans of dissatisfaction with the current government are heard.
❤️ Most often, the audience shouts "Sa-kart-ve-lo!".

🇬🇪❤️🇪🇺 The number of participants in yesterday’s action in Tbilisi, according to preliminary estimates, was from 50 thousand people.
Incredible spectacle.
As a result of the action, a people's committee will be created. It will put forward demands to the government, and in case of non-compliance, it will do counteraction.
❗️A new rally has been scheduled after the decision of the European Union on June 24th.
📹 video "News of the Caucasus"

❗️The strike of Borjomi employees is over: in the near future the plants will be fully operational.
Details of the talks between the parties have not yet been disclosed.
The striking Borjomi employees made the following demands:
📍Return 50 illegally fired workers.
📍 return to the old contractual terms;
📍replacement of 3-6-month and 1-year contracts with open-ended contracts
ℹ️ The strike lasted 20 days and was accompanied by protests and blocking of entrances to the enterprise.

🦠 Coronavirus statistics for the past (from 14.06 to 20.06) week:
616 new cases (+101 in a week)
482 recovered
1 died
ℹ️ This week, the government abolished the rule of wearing masks in public transport and there is only one covid-restriction left in Georgia: the mandatory wearing of a mask in medical institutions.
❗️ Let me remind you that from June 15, everyone can fly into the country and come without tests and vaccines.

🚀 According to the Communications Commission, SpaceX plans to provide Internet in Georgia via Starlink satellite systems.
A meeting of the company's representatives and members of the communications commission took place in Tbilisi.
“We had a very interesting and important dialogue with SpaceX representatives who arrived in Georgia to get acquainted with the Georgian telecommunications situation. Currently, SpaceX is working on studying niches of interest to it in the Georgian market and is preparing for the commercial launch of Starlink in Georgia,” Ekaterina Imedadze, a member of the communications commission, told reporters.
ℹ️ At the moment in Georgia, the maximum Internet speed is 100Mb and a rather weak regional coverage.

🇬🇧🏦🚫🇬🇪 The Russian bank "VTB" is completely leaving Georgia.
This statement was made by the head of the bank Andrey Kostin. When asked about representative offices on international markets in the CIS countries and Asia, he said that they remained in all other countries except Georgia:
"With the exception of one country, we do not sell business to our subsidiaries anywhere. We have a principled position and we have remained everywhere. We only left Georgia, but the situation there is a little different."
ℹ️ VTB Bank sold the loan and deposit portfolio of its daughter-company in Georgia a few days after the introduction of international sanctions. The assets were acquired by Liberty and Basisbank. Previously, the bank was one of the leading financial institutions in the country and very famous. For example, VTB was the general sponsor of the Georgian national football team.