Luka Pertaia is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Georgian Service.
At a Europe Day celebration in Tbilisi, EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski told a crowd of Georgians to "keep the course toward the EU." His comments come amid an ongoing crackdown on demonstrations against a so-called "foreign agent" bill, which critics say will hurt the country's bid to join the EU.
Georgia has been slammed for trying to pass a Russian-style “foreign agent” law, while recent tax changes that critics warn will attract dirty money and offer the ruling Georgian Dream party’s founder and the country’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a way to repatriate his offshore wealth.
Rising tensions between China and Taiwan have pushed Europe closer to the island nation, which holds crucial elections on January 13. But Georgia -- an EU hopeful -- is an outlier, deepening ties with Beijing. What does this stance mean for Tbilisi's future with the West?
As Georgia's government deepens ties with Beijing, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili's past work with controversial Chinese firm CEFC China Energy is being reexamined at home and by Tbilisi’s partners in Brussels.
