The Kartuli Brief — 2026-09-15 | Sakartvelo Intelligence

საქართველო · ერთობა · ძალა · თავისუფლება

Sovereignty Threat Level

Elevated EU accession suspended · Protest cycle ongoing · Russian pressure steady

Lead

Sokhumi, Tskhinvali, Moscow Digest – September 1-10, 2026

Sokhumi plans “large-scale operational-tactical exercises” – Ergneti IPRM – Russian Interests Section promotes projects for Georgians Below is the weekly digest of key developments and discourses in and around the occupied regions of Abkhazia and  Tskhinvali/South Ossetia, as well as those concerning Tbilisi–Moscow relations…

Sources: Civil.ge

Russia Watch

Georgia’s PISA Scores Improve Since 2022 But Remain Below OECD Average

Georgia’s 15-year-old students improved their results in mathematics, reading and science compared to 2022 in the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), although their scores remain significantly below the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average in all three subjects amid a wider global decline in results. The results of PISA, a study …

Civil.ge

"A nation with a populace that is overwhelmingly pro-Western ruled by a government that has frozen that integration—the Sakartvelo Paradox defines the crisis."

— Sakartvelo Unveiled Analysis

GEL/USD

2.61

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GEL/EUR

3.01

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Mid. Corridor TEU

—

YoY

Tourism YTD

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FDI

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Protest Index

—

Active

Domestic Politics

Teenager allegedly killed by another teen ‘for not standing during toast’ in Tbilisi

The suspect was detained shortly after.

OC Media

Western Response

UNM’s Baramidze Detained on ‘Treason’ Charges Over Abkhazia War Remarks

Giorgi Baramidze, a member of the opposition United National Movement (UNM) and former Interior and Defense Minister, was detained at his apartment in Tbilisi on September 11 on “high treason” charges over remarks noting that Georgians were not taking prisoners during the 1992-1993 armed conflict in Abkhazia as they were “executing” them. The arrest comes …

Civil.ge

Economy

Russian MP claims improved trade, economic relations with Armenia unforeseeable under Pashinyan

Once close allies, relations between the countries have deteriorated in recent years.

OC Media

Regional Intelligence

Review | Early Winter’s Sorrow — a slow-paced Georgian tragedy

Georgian director Akaki (Kako) Shanshiashvili’s latest film traces the demise of a rural farming family amidst Russian encroachment.

OC Media

State Security Service Chief Geka Geladze Resigns

Georgia’s State Security Service Chief Geka Geladze announced his resignation on September 14, marking the fourth time the agency’s head has left the post in less than two years. It has yet to be announced who will replace him. Geladze, a former Interior Minister who assumed office in April, replacing Mamuka Mdinaradze as the fifth …

Civil.ge

Assessment & Data

Sovereignty Indicators

EU Accession Status Frozen

NATO MAP Progress Stalled

Press Freedom (RSF) Declining

Foreign Agent Law Enacted

Civil Society Space Narrowing

Public EU Support ~80%

Week Ahead

European Parliament plenary to debate Georgia resolution on Wednesday. Georgian National Bank inflation data due Thursday. Opposition rally planned Saturday in Tbilisi's Freedom Square. Bidzina Ivanishvili expected to address GD party congress. OSCE monitoring mission report on media freedom scheduled for release.

Compiled from multiple sources