Latest news in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, summary May 6-10, 2024

● Police raided the home of well-known military blogger Ucha Abashidze overnight. The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that he was detained as part of a cyberattack investigation targeting various government websites, releasing a video showing a significant amount of seized weapons and ammunition. However, Abashidze’s relatives and friends claim that everything shown in the video is airsoft weapons, as Abashidze leads the Georgian Airsoft Federation. “The police video only shows two real pistols, both of which are officially registered in my son’s name,” the blogger’s mother wrote. More details here 

● Ucha Abashidze is an active participant in protests against the foreign agents law. During his arrest and the search of his apartment on Chavchavadze Avenue, thousands of protest participants gathered. Clashes with police occurred, and several people were detained, including director Levan Abdushelishvili, who hosts the program “Your Morning” on the “Mtavari Arkhi” channel.

● Overnight in Tbilisi, there were further attacks on activists protesting against the foreign agents law. Nodar Chachanidze, a member of the opposition party “Akhali,” fought back against the attackers. Boris Kurua, a member of the “Girchi-More Freedom” party, was also beaten. “I tried to fight back too, but they had some objects in their hands,” Kurua wrote on social media.

● Unknown individuals damaged the car of influencer Sally Tsvirava, an active participant in protests against the foreign agents law. In many videos, she is seen distributing coffee to other participants. The car’s windows were smashed, tires slashed, and the license plate stolen. The window of her apartment was also broken.

● US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller: “Our successful partnership with Georgia has been ongoing for over 30 years, and we want it to continue. But for that to happen, the Georgian government must change its current course.”

● The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement in support of the protesters against the foreign agents law. “We are shocked by the ruthless attacks on activists, ordinary citizens, and civil society in Georgia, including threats by phone and posters promoting the agent label. Norway supports those in Georgia defending their democracy, including protesting against the law on foreign influence,” the statement said. More about the phone threats and offensive posters here

● President of the European Council Charles Michel addressed a message to Georgia and the Georgian people on the occasion of Europe Day: “On Europe Day, my message to Georgia and the Georgian people is clear. The EU fully supports your desire for a democratic and free society based on the rule of law. This is the path to the EU and our shared future. This is the path the EU will support your country on.”

● EU Ambassador Pavel Goginsky at an event marking Europe Day in Tbilisi: “It is important for leaders to hear the voice of the people, just as it was heard in the EU last year.”

● Online media and the Charter of Journalistic Ethics of Georgia issued a joint statement holding the authorities responsible for crimes against journalists.

● Nodar Meladze, head of the information service of the “Pirveli” channel, reported live overnight that two cars with masked individuals were parked outside the television company’s building.

● Mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze: “We don’t want this Russia! We want a European future for the country. But with dignity. Let’s stand firm, defend our sovereignty. And we are talking directly about this law, that we only want to reduce foreign influence. We say, ‘Let’s reduce American influence, European influence, the influence of other countries.'”

● Today in Almaty, the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan are meeting.

● Yesterday, a large rally against the demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan took place in downtown Yerevan, led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan. He twice gave Nikol Pashinyan time to resign, but his demand went unanswered. Galstanyan stated that they would initiate the impeachment process in parliament and launch acts of disobedience.

● Members of the ruling party stated that Nikol Pashinyan did not resign because he is the legitimately elected Prime Minister of the country.

● The group “Ladaniva,” representing Armenia at “Eurovision 2024,” has advanced to the final of the competition in Sweden.

● Today, a meeting of the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will take place in Almaty.

● Human bone fragments were found in Khojaly, reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Azerbaijan. They were discovered during construction and earthworks in the village of Malybeyli.

● Joint military exercises involving Turkey and Georgia will be held in Azerbaijan. Maneuvers related to search and rescue operations during natural disasters will be conducted, announced the Turkish Ministry of Defense. The exercises will take place from May 13th to 18th.

● A Scandinavian Airlines liner flying from Copenhagen to Tokyo made an emergency landing in Baku. The reason was the sudden deterioration of a passenger’s health. Immediately after landing, the passenger was handed over to an ambulance crew.

● Azerbaijani Greco-Roman wrestler Sabah Shariati secured a spot for the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. The number of Azerbaijani athletes obtaining a spot increased to 23.

? President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the grave of Aziz Aslanov, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, on the occasion of Victory Day over fascism.

● In Tbilisi and other cities, brutal attacks on activists participating in protests against the “foreign agents bill” continue. Several new incidents occurred yesterday evening. Dimitri Chikovani, a representative of the United National Movement, was assaulted by five people lurking near his home late yesterday evening (video). Also severely beaten was biker Lasha Gvinianidze, one of the organizers of the impressive scooter and motorcycle marches that occur nightly at the protests. Among those assaulted were also Professor Gia Japaridze, the brother of the leader of the “Girchi More Freedom” party, and Transparency International Georgia employee Giorgi Oniani.

● Social media is flooded with reports that dozens, if not hundreds, of civil activists, journalists, opposition politicians, and representatives of non-governmental organizations opposing the “foreign agents bill” are receiving threatening and insulting phone calls. Read more here

● The Young Lawyers Association of Georgia released a statement regarding these phone calls: “We have noticed the frequency and narrowed circle of recipients of these calls, united by certain specific characteristics. And we concluded that the calls are organized systematically, with the illegal use of databases of relevant government agencies.”

● Massive protests against the “foreign agents bill” have been ongoing for over a month. Yesterday, participants brought life-size effigies of ruling party leaders to the rally (pictured). The effigies were adorned with slogans such as “No to the Russian law!” and “Yes to Europe!” This is a response to new claims on social media by the Prime Minister, the Mayor of Tbilisi, the leader of the parliamentary majority, and other government representatives stating that they too are for Europe and against the Russian law – to which, according to their claims, the “foreign agents bill” they initiated is unrelated.

● Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced the creation of a “public database” where individuals “involved in violence, illegal actions, threats, and blackmail or publicly endorsing such actions” are being listed. Read more here

● Former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia remarked that the ruling “Georgian Dream” plans to declare citizens opposing it as enemies. The weak and corrupt government is now playing the role of a “useful idiot” for Moscow.

● Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that he “met with the President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and explained to him the content of the draft law ‘On the Transparency of Foreign Influence.’ “I expressed readiness to carefully listen to and consider all specific legal remarks,” Kobakhidze said.

● “Revolution does not happen in a vacuum; it is provoked by the government. And now it depends on them whether they will even reach the elections or not” – Aleko Elisashvili, Citizens’ Party.

● “Georgia’s integration into Europe will stop and may even begin to degrade if the country’s government does not come to its senses” – President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda.

● Two local residents, Tristan Mushkiashvili and Valeri Tetruashvili, who were detained by Russian military personnel in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, have been released. The State Security Service reported that efforts are underway to release another detainee.

● German Ambassador Peter Fischer reported on the results of the visit to Tbilisi by the Secretary of State of the German Ministry of Economics Sven Gigold and a German business delegation. “We discussed the prospects for Georgia in the European Union. The lack of progress in implementing the recommendations presented by the European Commission and the inconsistency of the ‘foreign agents bill’ with European Union values were noted. All this hinders the country’s Eurointegration and causes great concern to Germany,” wrote the ambassador on social media.

● A group of prominent Georgian musicians has launched the movement “Georgian Musicians for a European Future.” They will hold concerts, and the funds raised from ticket sales will go towards paying fines and bails for detained activists.

● Today marks May 9th – Victory Day over fascism. The day is officially a non-working day.

● Presidents of Azerbaijan and Bulgaria signed a joint declaration on strengthening strategic partnership, as well as several other documents following talks in Baku.

● “Baku and Yerevan should sign a peace agreement as soon as possible,” said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Ali Asadov in Ankara.

● “The opening of the Zangezur corridor (a road through Armenia that will connect Azerbaijan with its autonomous region of Nakhchivan by land) would improve Armenia’s relations with Turkey and bring additional transit revenue,” said the president’s special envoy Elchin Amirbekov in an interview with the German newspaper Zeit. He noted that if Yerevan refuses this route, Azerbaijan will build a similar route through Iran: “We can build a road and a railway further south through Iran, and it would be only 10 km longer.”

● Azerbaijan is implementing a color-coded system to warn about weather conditions. Citizens will receive messages according to the level of wind danger, which will be indicated by three colors: yellow, orange, and red. In the future, the system is planned to be applied during extreme heat, floods, and other weather phenomena.

? In the photo: the wife of the President of Bulgaria, Desislava Radeva, familiarizes herself with Azerbaijani national cuisine.

● In the morning, representatives of the Armenian authorities, parliamentarians, military personnel, and veterans laid flowers at the foot of the “Mother Armenia” monument in Victory Park in Yerevan. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan congratulated the people on Victory Day in the Second World War. He said that the role of the Armenian people in the victory over fascism is invaluable; over half a million Armenians fought in the ranks of the Soviet Army: 300 thousand perished, and 107 individuals were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.

● Yesterday, within the framework of the EAEU summit, the Prime Minister of Armenia met with the President of Russia. The negotiations lasted just over an hour. Putin, among other things, mentioned that he “has questions regarding security in the region, but these issues will not be addressed openly. There is an opportunity to discuss everything comprehensively, including security.”

● “A peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan must be signed as soon as possible; the region must achieve stability,” stated President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

● Armenia has refused to participate in both the approval of the annual budget of the CSTO (a bloc under Russian leadership) and in financing this organization. Meanwhile, Yerevan does not object to the adoption of a decision on the budget of the structure in a limited format, adopted on November 23, 2023.

● Armenia plans to build the longest tunnel in the country as part of the “North-South” project.

● The Europe March will commence in Tbilisi at 7:00 PM on 11 May. Participants are designated three assembly points: Republic Square, Marjanishvili Square, and near the 300 Aragveli metro station.

● Yesterday saw a protest march against the foreign agents law. After marching along Rustaveli Avenue, participants headed to the ruling party’s office and later staged a demonstration on the Bridge of Peace in the Old Town.

● 34 Members of the European Parliament have urged the European Commission to suspend Georgia’s candidate status for EU membership due to the government’s intention to adopt a foreign agents law similar to Russia’s.

● A large concert dedicated to Europe Day, initiated by President Salome Zurabishvili, will take place on the night of May 9-10 in front of the presidential office. Notable performers confirmed their participation, including the National Ballet “Sukhishvilebi,” the ensemble “Shavnabada,” violinist Lisa Batiashvili, pianist Giorgi Gigashvili, and others.

● The EU Delegation to Georgia will commemorate Europe Day with a series of exhibitions at Expo Georgia.

● Former Swedish Ambassador to Georgia Diana Janse posted a video on her X page showing an attack on the director of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Giorgi Kldiashvili, right in front of the Swedish Embassy. The incident occurred during an interview with the Formula channel, where a local resident assaulted them with punches and insults. Diana Janse is part of a delegation that visited Georgia and held meetings with civil society representatives at the Swedish Embassy. Sweden’s Minister of State Johan Forsell also attended the meeting. “It is significant that an attack occurred on one of the participants of our meeting, a representative of civil society in front of the embassy, while he was giving comments to journalists. Much is at stake in Georgia, which is faced with a choice of direction,” Diana Janse wrote.

● Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration Maka Bochorishvili accused Members of the European Parliament of “trying to help the protest core create additional news in Georgia.”

● The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Georgian authorities must pay €153,600 to those injured during the violent dispersal of the June 20-21, 2019, protests, known as the “Gavrilov’s Night” incident. The protests, triggered by the presence of Russian State Duma MP Sergey Gavrilov, who was sitting in the speaker’s chair in the Georgian Parliament, resulted in around 250 injuries from rubber bullets and tear gas, with three people losing an eye. Read and watch more here

● “I will soon come to the real capital of Europe, the city of freedom and democracy: Tbilisi!” wrote Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, on his X page. He will visit Georgia from May 13-15 as part of a delegation of EU representatives. In his previous posts, Roth stated that the foreign agents law is incompatible with the values of the European Union.

● Two more Georgian fighters, Beso Lomidze and Dato Gogadze, were killed in battles near Avdiivka in Ukraine. Two days ago, news came of the death of fighter Soso Gugutishvili in the same area. Since Russia’s aggression in Ukraine began, at least 65 Georgians, citizens of Georgia and Ukraine fighting alongside Ukrainians, have died.

Photo: A poster announcing the Europe March

● The nest of a black stork (pictured) has been discovered for the first time in Armenia’s Lori Province. It was found as part of joint research with the German Nature Conservation Union. This bird species is considered rare for Armenia and is listed in the country’s Red Book.

● “I received an invitation from Erdogan to the inauguration, but I haven’t received one from Putin,” said Nikol Pashinyan in response to why he declined to participate in the inauguration of the Russian president. Read all the details of Pashinyan’s hours-long press conference on JAMnews here

● “The opposition parliamentary faction ‘Hayastan’ will resign and go to snap elections on the condition that Pashinyan does not become acting prime minister during this period,” said opposition MP Arthur Hachatryan.

● The prosecutor is seeking 11 years of imprisonment for former Armenian police chief Vladimir Gasparyan. He is accused of embezzlement and official forgery. The investigation into his case was recently completed.

● Yesterday, the tenth media conference ‘Tvapatum’ was held in Yerevan. This year, international and local speakers discussed the implementation of artificial intelligence in media work and issues of financial independence.

● As of April 1, 2024, Armenia’s population exceeded 3 million people, reaching 3,039,700 individuals, according to the Statistical Committee.

● Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has arrived in Baku. The signing of a joint declaration to strengthen strategic partnership is expected.

● Baku and Bratislava will collaborate on weapon production. Azerbaijan will finance the project, while Slovakia will provide the technology, stated Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in an interview with Azertag. The produced arms will either be exported or remain in Azerbaijan, he noted.

● US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mark Libby, met with family members of imprisoned civil society representatives to discuss their situation. “The United States strongly believes that an independent civil society is an integral part of an active and responsible society, and that those wrongfully imprisoned must be released so that they can continue their important work in society,” the embassy’s statement said.

● Prime Minister Ali Asadov inspected the restoration work underway in Kahramanmaras, Turkey, which suffered from a severe earthquake in 2023.

● Artificial land plots will be created in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The bill was passed in the Milli Majlis in the third reading.

● The seventh meeting of the working group on Caspian Sea issues was held in Baku. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Iran discussed the methodology for delineating the Caspian Sea.

● Four men were poisoned at a hotel in Baku — two died, and the other two are in a coma. Drug poisoning has been identified, but the exact cause remains unknown.

● In the Zagatala region, 40 people suffered from food poisoning after consuming doner kebabs. They sought medical help suspecting food poisoning.

● On the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, 40 border markers have been installed, as announced by the government. Expert groups from both countries continue their work.

● US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, Mark Libby, and his spouse visited the cities of Shusha and Fizuli in Karabakh.

● The Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will meet in Almaty on May 10th. The talks, proposed by the Kazakh side, will be bilateral without intermediaries, according to Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

● Ilham Aliyev will not attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9th.

● Today, the burial of four previously missing martyrs from the first Karabakh war, whose identities have been established, will take place.

● Human remains were discovered during demining operations in the villages of Khanlyg in Gubadli and Agdere.

● Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico is in Baku. Today, he will meet with Ilham Aliyev to discuss Azerbaijani gas supplies to Slovakia. Baku and Bratislava will sign a declaration on strategic partnership, including an agreement on defense industry cooperation.

● The process of normalizing relations between Baku and Yerevan was discussed by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister with the acting OSCE Chairperson. Jeyhun Bayramov and Jan Borg touched upon the organization’s agenda and the regional situation in their phone call.

● Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology discussed preparations for COP29. Alexey Overchuk and Mukhtar Babayev also discussed current environmental cooperation issues between the two countries during their meeting in Moscow.

● Excalibur Army will supply Azerbaijan with over 70 units of self-propelled howitzers 155mm/L45 DITA, as reported by Defence Turk on social media.

● The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will reopen on May 20th after renovation, announced the head of Azerbaijan Railways, Rovshan Rustamov. Renovation work on the BTK started last year. Initially, the freight volume will be 6.5 million tons per year, with plans to transport up to 1 million passengers.

● The International Music Festival “Haribulbul” will take place in Shusha and Lachin from May 11th to 13th.

● Baku has been elected as the “World Sports Capital” for 2026, according to the European Capitals of Sports Federation.

● The Baku Olympic Stadium has been listed among the top 50 best arenas in the world. The stadium, with a capacity of 70,000 spectators and built-in 2015, ranked 41st according to the FourFourTwo portal.

● Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev will not attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9th. However, Pashinyan will meet with Vladimir Putin on May 8th in Moscow at the EAEU summit, which will be chaired by the Armenian Prime Minister.

● Armenia and Hungary will open embassies in Yerevan and Budapest. Previously, it was mentioned about opening consular representations, but considering the “atmosphere and results of joint work over the past one and a half years,” this progress should correspond to the highest level of diplomatic relations, said the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto at a briefing. Contacts between Yerevan and Budapest were frozen until recently. The reason was Hungary’s extradition of Azerbaijani Ramil Safarov in 2012, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan.

● Participants of the “Tavush for the Sake of the Motherland” march will spend the night in tents near the village of Solak in the Kotayk region. They claim that the Oran Hotel, with which there was a preliminary agreement for accommodation, refused it. Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan suggests that the owners were pressured. The march participants protest against the demarcation of the border with Azerbaijan. They intend to walk to Yerevan by May 9th.

● “A change of power in Armenia can only happen through parliamentary elections in 2026,” said the Speaker of Parliament, commenting on the actions of the “Tavush for the Sake of the Motherland” movement.

● The first Armenian-American staff negotiations have concluded in Yerevan, discussing cooperation prospects for the coming years. It is reported that such meetings will now be annual.

● Ivana Zivkovic, Assistant Secretary-General of the UN, Director of the Europe and CIS Regional Bureau, has arrived in Yerevan for a four-day visit. She visited Gegharkunik and Tavush, where local residents are protesting against the transfer of four villages to Azerbaijan during the demarcation process between the two countries.

● “The adoption of the ‘foreign agents law’ will undermine US-Georgia relations and jeopardize Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path,” reiterated the official spokesperson of the US State Department, Matthew Miller, during a briefing. “We will continue to report on this issue, leaving the decision to the country’s authorities.” When asked about potential sanctions against the honorary chairman of the ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, and members of the ‘Georgian Dream’ party, Miller replied, “I will not discuss what we intend or do not intend to do. We do not have a practice of announcing this in advance.” On May 1, the Georgian Parliament passed the draft law on foreign agents in the second reading. Mass protests against this law have been ongoing in Tbilisi for a month, with 100-150 thousand people gathering daily.

● “They simply staged a spectacle with candles and Easter cakes near the church to try to improve their relationship with the population. Once the holidays are over, they will again insult the Patriarch,” various representatives of the ruling party and media controlled by them describe the tens of thousands of protesters against the foreign agents law who gathered together for Easter near the parliament in Tbilisi and the nearby Kashveti Church. Numerous videos, filmed on the night of Easter, from May 4 to 5, and published on social media, show the atmosphere of joy, warmth, and unity that prevailed at Kashveti on the Easter night of May 4 to 5.

● Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili stated about Russia, “They are the so-called ‘co-religionists’ and supposed defenders of values, for whom Easter, the memory of departed family members, the family itself, and even the Motherland do not matter.” She commented on the latest arrest of a Georgian citizen by Russian military personnel in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone. Ramaz Begeluri went to his brother’s grave in a rural cemetery, which, due to borderization, now lies beyond the demarcation line controlled by Russian forces. “Yet, some in Georgia still equate these enemies with our friends,” the president said.

● “The Georgian authorities made every effort to prevent Georgia from obtaining candidate status for EU membership and remained silent when the European Union eventually granted the country this status,” believes Lewis Navarro, who headed the National Democratic Institute of the USA (NDI) in Georgia from 2009 to 2014. “And since the population is reacting to this with such large-scale protests, I would say that the government is in a difficult position. Ultimately, it is the mood and motivation of the people that determine the fate of elections. And no amount of money could ‘buy’ this mood and convince everyone.”

● In Lanchkhuti, western Georgia, a renowned local school teacher, Lado Apkhazava, was beaten. In 2019, he became a laureate of the international National Award and was among the top ten teachers in the world by the Global Teacher Prize. Several individuals attacked him and his adopted son. Apkhazava claims they were supporters of the ruling party, accusing him of supporting the opposition party “National Movement” (established by Mikhail Saakashvili) and seeking to punish him for dissent. Lado Apkhazava always emphasizes his main goal of instilling independent thinking and active civic engagement in children. In 2022, he raised $700,000 through social media to aid Ukraine.

● Another Georgian fighter died in battles in Ukraine against Russian aggressors. Soso Gugutishvili was killed in combat near Avdiivka. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, over 60 Georgian fighters have died fighting alongside Ukrainians, according to Georgian media reports.

● In 2023, a record number of Georgian citizens emigrated from the country, surpassing 163,000 individuals.

Photo: JAMnews/David Pipia

● Thousands of people are joining the “Tavush for the Sake of the Motherland” movement, which announced a march from the Tavush region to Yerevan. People are protesting against the transfer of four villages to Azerbaijan during the border demarcation process between the two countries. The march is led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the head of the Tavush Diocese. He says that the participants of the march should reach Yerevan by May 9th. Participants declare that the “spiritual Armenia will defeat the new Armenia.”

● “No to defeatist politics”: The Lebanese Youth Union of the ARF-D conducted a sit-in demonstration outside the Armenian Embassy in Beirut.

● Armenia is among the top three countries whose citizens visit Georgia more than others, according to the statistics service.

● Strong winds in Yerevan knocked down trees overnight, damaging roofs and balconies of buildings in the city center and the Erebuni district.

●  Today, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan is heading to Hungary on an official visit. He will meet with his counterpart, Peter Szijjarto, and a joint press conference is scheduled.

● Orthodox Christians in Azerbaijan celebrated Easter. There are many photos here

● “Azerbaijan may propose countries to declare a ceasefire during the COP29 in Baku,” said Presidential Assistant Hikmet Hajiyev in an interview with Observer.

● Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov spoke at the 15th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Gambia. He discussed the situation in the South Caucasus in the post-conflict period, normalization of relations between Baku and Yerevan, the mine threat, and reconstruction efforts in Karabakh.

● Azerbaijan and Morocco are abolishing the visa regime.

● Baku has been named the third fastest-growing investment destination in the world, according to a report by FDI Intelligence of the Financial Times. Last year’s agreements on foreign direct investment ($6.7 billion) in Azerbaijan are the largest projects since 2017. Leading investors include the United Kingdom – $1.9 billion, Turkey – $1.3 billion, Cyprus – $792 million, Russia – $617 million, and Iran – $396 million.

● A 17-year-old resident of the Gadabay district died from measles. She was being transported to a clinic in Baku, but she passed away on the way.

● A festival of national carpets took place in the Old City of Baku.

● The winner of the “Baku Marathon-2024” was a Turkish citizen, Ahmet Alkanoglu. 15,000 people participated in the run under the motto “Defeat the Wind.” The route length of the marathon was 21 km.

● A photo circulated on social media, taken in a store in Baku, where a kilogram of red cherries is being sold for 99 manats (about $58).

● Tens of thousands of Georgians and other Orthodox Christians, along with thousands of people from other denominations, celebrated Easter in Tbilisi altogether, in front of the parliament and the nearby Kashveti Cathedral. This event served as a continuation of protests against the foreign agents law, which has been ongoing for a month. However, on this night, the atmosphere was peaceful, joyful, and festive. People stood with lit candles, volunteers distributed Easter cakes and colored eggs to everyone. Many took to social media, describing the scene as beautiful and reminiscent of a fairytale.

● The main Easter service took place at the Sioni Cathedral in the “old city” of Tbilisi. All the country’s leaders were present – the president, prime minister, speaker of parliament, and ministers. The government’s website featured a large photo report from Sioni, but the ongoing feud with President Salome Zourabichvili continued: over 30 beautiful photographs were published, yet she was not in any of them.

● There was anticipation in Georgian society regarding what Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II would say in his Easter epistle against the backdrop of large-scale protests in the country, where tens of thousands of people are demonstrating against the government and demanding a return to the path of European integration. About a week ago, the Patriarchate issued a statement fully supporting the government and condemning non-governmental organizations, independent media, and the West, which funds them. Ilia II mentioned the protests in the country but refrained from giving a political assessment. “Love for our Homeland should unite us, and despite our different opinions, we should be able to peacefully coexist,” said the Patriarch. He also mentioned Georgia alongside Ukraine in his epistle: “Let us unite in Christ and ask Him for prosperity and peace for Georgia, Ukraine, the Middle East, and the whole world.”

● “Georgia has declared its desire to join the European Union and maintain relations with NATO. Therefore, we have such discussions with Georgia that we may not have with other countries. But if the country’s government does not intend to lead the country into the EU and wants something else, then the West will fundamentally change its approach. The United States finds it problematic to combine the desire for the EU with the adoption of a law to discriminate against, in particular, those local and international organizations that will have to monitor whether the parliamentary elections in October were free and fair,” said Jim O’Brien, head of the Office of Sanctions Coordination at the US Department of State, in an interview with “Voice of America.” Over the past few weeks, various representatives of the State Department have made a series of statements urging the Georgian authorities to withdraw the draft law “on foreign agents,” which the parliament adopted last week at the second hearing.

● In the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, Russian military personnel detained and took away towards South Ossetia a 40-year-old local resident, Ramaz Begeluri. Villagers say he was at the village cemetery during the arrest, clearing his brother’s grave.

Video @Aidan Yusif

Top stories in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia from April 29-May 3, 2024