🇬🇪🤾🏻 The Georgian national handball team will perform at the European Championship for the first time in history.

The team won a sensational victory in the final match of the qualifying tournament, beating the team of Hungary. The result of the meeting was decided at the last minute: after an accurate seven-meter throw by Georgy Glevanadze, the score was 31:30, in favor of the Georgian team. Giorgi Tskhovrebadze became the hero of the match, scoring 8 goals in the game.
ℹ️ The European Handball Championship will be held in Germany in January 2024.

🇲🇩🛫❌ The Air Moldova airline, which operated flights on the Chisinau-Tbilisi and Chisinau-Batumi routes, announced that it was suspending all flights from May 2 due to financial difficulties.
The organization is undergoing restructuring aimed at avoiding bankruptcy. Until the decision of the court ticket sales stopped.

🇬🇪❌🏳️‍🌈 Georgia is initiating a law to ban LGBT propaganda.

The initiative was taken by several deputies of the country's Parliament, in particular, those elected from the pro-Russian Alliance of Patriots party. Experts note that, unlike the law on “foreign agents”, the adoption of which was canceled after thousands of protests, the law on the ban on LGBT propaganda will be received positively by most of the Georgian society. It will definitely be supported by the church and the patriarch, whose opinion is listened to by 91% of the population. And in the event of protests, the pro-government media can easily show the marginality of the opposition.
ℹ️ The ruling Georgian Dream party has already made it clear that they will not oppose this bill: “We should seriously think about it,” Mamuka Mdinaradze said and recalled that they have always opposed holding a pride week in the country.
❗️It also became known earlier that the Prime Minister of Georgia intends to make a speech on May 4 at the "anti-LGBT conference" in Hungary - a conference of conservative political actions.

🇬🇪❤️ In Georgia, Giorgoba is celebrated - one of two holidays dedicated to the patron saint of the country.

It is celebrated twice: on May 6 - in memory of the beheading of the saint and on November 23 - in memory of his wheeling. Today is a working day, but in November it is declared a day off.
ℹ️ Giorgi is the most popular name in Georgia (about 200 thousand people), and the most common female name is Nino (135 thousand).

🇬🇪🇷🇺 Kakha Kaladze, secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, answered journalists' questions about sanctions against Russia.

The former footballer and energy minister, and now the current mayor of Tbilisi, noted that sanctions against the Russian Federation would be harmful to the country.
“Is it possible that if Georgian wine and Georgian agricultural products do not reach the Russian market, then we will destroy the Russian economy? This is complete absurdity!”
ℹ️ After the start of a full-scale war in Ukraine, trade between the Russian Federation and Georgia increased by 40%. Among the goods that enter the country from Russia: fuel (58%), wheat (95%), flour (90%), liquefied gas (85%).

🧐⚰️ During the reconstruction of the capital's Tsereteli Avenue, the builders discovered ancient burials.

The place where 12 graves were found, tentatively dating back to the 19th century, is historically significant. Didube Pantheon, located nearby, was founded in 1939, many of the famous writers, artists, scientists and national heroes of the country are buried there.
❗️Archaeologists and historians have been called to the site. An assessment and study of the found burials is underway.

🇬🇪 May 9 - Victory Day - an official holiday in Georgia and a day off.

Today, state institutions and agencies, the House of Justice, departments and most banks do not work. In Tbilisi, due to the renovation of Vake Park (there are the Eternal Flame and the Monument to the Unknown Soldier), a traditional place where veterans usually gather and those who want to honor their memory, the laying of wreaths and flowers, as well as a small concert program, has been moved to the capital park Kikvidze (164 Tsotne Dadiani St).
ℹ️ Many people ask how this day is celebrated in Georgia? First of all, May 9 is a day of memory and sorrow in the country. For all the dead and those involved in that great war and trouble. They lay wreaths, carry flowers to cemeteries, set tables in families, celebrate calmly and quietly, remembering the departed.

🇦🇿🚧🇬🇪 Ten citizens of Nepal have been detained for attempting to illegally cross the Azerbaijani-Georgian border.

Together with the Nepalese, whose purpose to get to Georgia is still unknown, two Azerbaijani citizens were arrested, who offered their services to foreigners and coordinated this crime.
ℹ️ The land border between the countries is closed. The special quarantine regime introduced in connection with the coronavirus pandemic has been extended by the Azerbaijani side at least until 01.07.

⚡️ Putin lifted the ban on direct flights from Russia to Georgia and Russia cancels the visa regime for Georgian citizens from May 15, 2023.

Flights can be resumed at any time after the approval of the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia.
ℹ️ Direct flights have been closed by the Russian side since July 2019 after anti-Kremlin protests in Tbilisi.

🇬🇪🛫🇷🇺 Russian airlines will fly from Moscow to Tbilisi seven times a week.

“Currently, carriers are preparing to resume flights. Russian airlines will operate 7 direct flights weekly from Moscow to Tbilisi and back. Flights will be operated on domestically produced aircraft," the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation reports.
❗️ The Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia has not yet commented on the news about the return of direct flights.

🎉🎸🇬🇪 The sale of tickets for the concert of the Imagine Dragons in Tbilisi begins.

The performance will take place on August 31 as part of the Starring Georgia project at the Mikhail Meskhi stadium in Tbilisi. It will become one of the most high-profile musical events in the country over the past few years. This vibrant Las Vegas band continues to write music history.
🇺🇦 By the way, yesterday the band posted a video for the song Crushed on their YouTube channel. It is based on the story of 14-year-old Ukrainian Sasha, whose village was occupied for 5 months.
🎫 Tickets for the concert are available on 11.05.2023 from 16.00 on the TKT.GE website at this link, the queue is already waiting for the start of sales.
💰 Tickets cost from 100 to 1000 lari ($40-$400)

🇬🇪 May 12 in Georgia is a public holiday (even two) and a day off.

In addition to the long-standing and traditional Memorial Day of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, since 2019 the country has been celebrating the Day of Georgia (Day of Hope).
According to legend, Georgia went by lot to the inheritance of the Mother of God. But the Mother of God, by the will of Christ, remained in Jerusalem - instead of her, Andrew the First-Called went to Georgia. He brought with him the miraculous image of the Mother of God. Since that time, Georgia has been considered the country of the Mother of God.
ℹ️ On this day, festive services are held in churches. State institutions, departments, most banks and the House of Justice do not work.

❗️📜 Seven opposition parties in Georgia accused the ruling party of changing the country's foreign policy.
In a joint appeal, they write about the threat of international isolation.
“We will do everything to democratically change this regime to protect Georgia from international isolation and Russian encroachments on freedom and state sovereignty, so that our country, located at the crossroads of history, irreversibly embarks on the path of de-occupation, integration into the EU and NATO. The Georgian government lies that together with the Putin regime, it made this decision to strengthen the economy and ties with the Motherland of our compatriots living there. The fact is that the “Russian Dream” has entered the final stage of changing Georgia's foreign policy and establishing Russian authoritarianism. Society must once again together, clearly and loudly say: no cooperation with the enemy, no to the Russian government, together to Europe!"
ℹ️ The joint statement was signed by: "United National Movement"; "Lelo for Georgia"; "Strategy Agmashenebeli"; "Girchi - more freedom"; "European Georgia"; "Elene Khoshtaria - Droa"; "Law and Justice". (53 out of 150 MPs).

🇷🇺🛫🇬🇪 Georgia has issued permission to the Russian airline Azimuth to operate flights to the country from May 17.

This is the first Russian airline approved to fly to Georgia since 2019. On May 11, Vladimir Putin lifted the ban on direct flights to Georgia and canceled visas for its citizens.