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Georgia will lay Patriarch Ilia II to rest on Sunday, March 22, with an all-day event in Tbilisi expected to draw a large crowd and feature major officials and religious leaders, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople. civil.ge/archives/726136

Shalva Esartia, an anti-government protester in the western Georgian town of Zugdidi, has been sent to pretrial detention and faces up to one year in jail, as he is charged with repeated “disobeying a lawful police order." civil.ge/archives/726354

At CPAC in Budapest, Kobakhidze spoke of the late Patriarch Ilia II and the importance of Christianity for Georgia, discussed global and regional geopolitics, praised Hungary and PM Viktor Orbán, and slammed Brussels. civil.ge/archives/726333

Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is visiting Budapest, where he met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual gathering of conservative politicians from around the world. The visit comes as Georgia is mourning the late Patriarch Ilia II, who will be laid to rest tomorrow. Kobakhidze said Orbán extended condolences over the passing of Ilia II and thanked him for the visit to Budapest "in these difficult hours,” adding that he emphasized the Patriarch’s "epochal" role during the meeting. Kobakhidze also said his address to the conference would be “entirely” dedicated to the late Patriarch.

Religious leaders and officials across the world, including Pope Leo XIV and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have extended their condolences to Georgia following the passing of Patriarch Ilia II, head of the Georgian Orthodox Church. civil.ge/archives/725775

The 66th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID), a multilateral forum addressing the security and humanitarian consequences of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, was held March 18–19 in Geneva. civil.ge/archives/726210

Read our 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: civil.ge/archives/726192

Georgia’s nominal GDP reached $38.1 billion in 2025, a 12.4% increase from the previous year, while real GDP grew by 7.5%, according to official preliminary data. civil.ge/archives/726195

Reporters Without Borders said in a newly published report that China has been “gradually strengthening” its influence on Georgia’s information space, warning of what it described as a “subtle and widespread influence operation.” civil.ge/archives/726131

Georgia’s external trade totaled USD 3.51 billion in January-February 2026, marking a 6.9% year-on-year decrease, according to Geostat. China remained Georgia’s largest export destination, while Turkey remained Georgia’s largest importer. civil.ge/archives/726062

Leaders of U.S. Helsinki Commission have called on U.S. officials to use sanctions and “other available tools” to insist the Georgian Dream authorities comply with the recommendations of the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism report. civil.ge/archives/726006

Starting April 2, Georgia will be among 12 new countries whose nationals will be required to post a bond of up to $15,000 before receiving B1 or B2 visas for business and tourism in the U.S., as part of a pilot program launched last year: civil.ge/archives/725993

Large crowds joined a procession on March 18 to pay their respects to Ilia II, a day after he passed away at the age of 93. See the pictures here: civil.ge/archives/725924

Large crowds joined procession to pay their respects to Patriarch Ilia II as his body was transferred to rest at Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral. 🎥 Nini Gabritchidze/Civil.ge

Georgia has declared period of mourning following passing of Patriarch Ilia II, with politicians across the spectrum and representatives of various public groups coming together to extend condolences and reflect on legacy of influential religious leader. civil.ge/archives/725768

Foreign church leaders, diplomatic missions, and officials have extended condolences to Georgia following the passing of Patriarch Ilia II, head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who died late on March 17 at the age of 93: civil.ge/archives/725775

Patriarch Ilia II, whose nearly five decades of rule have marked the growing influence of the Georgian Orthodox Church, has died at the age of 93, nearly a day after he was hospitalized amid deteriorating health, Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, Patriarchal locum tenens, announced late on March 17. He died in the Caucasus Medical Center, a hospital in Tbilisi, where he had spent the past hours in intensive care after being admitted in the early hours with heavy stomach bleeding. Read more: civil.ge/archives/725614

The V-Dem Institute, a Sweden-based research organization, has again classified Georgia as an “electoral autocracy” in its Democracy Report 2026, saying the country’s period of democratization “lasted until 2016.” civil.ge/archives/725545

72 individuals were arrested in a major crackdown on the criminal underworld, the so-called “thieves’ world,” in Adjara, Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze announced on March 17: civil.ge/archives/725581

Ex-Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili said State Security Services summoned him over his “communication” with OSCE Moscow Mechanism expert, days after the publication of critical report that noted “marked democratic backsliding” in Georgia: civil.ge/archives/725520