PM Kobakhidze kicks off official visit to Azerbaijan

The inauguration of Donald Trump as the 47th President of the United States is set for today, with the ceremony taking place at noon local time at the U.S. Capitol. Vice President J.D. Vance will be sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh before President Trump takes the oath of office and delivers his inaugural address. Due to severe frost in Washington, a situation reminiscent of Ronald Reagan’s 1985 inauguration, the event will be held indoors. Former U.S. Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton will attend the historic ceremony. In a first, international leaders have been invited to the event. Among the attendees are Argentine President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele. Chinese President Xi Jinping declined his invitation, but the Chinese Vice President will represent the country at the ceremony. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán also received an invitation but will not attend due to a scheduling conflict.

In 2024, Georgia exported wine and spirits worth $565 million, marking a 24% increase compared to the same period in 2023. The National Wine Agency reported that Georgia exported nearly 95 million litres of wine valued at $276.1 million to 72 countries. This represents a 6% increase in volume and a 7% rise in revenue compared to 2023. Notable increases in wine exports were recorded in the following countries: Poland: 12% (6.7 million litres), Germany: 30% (1.28 million litres), USA: 32% (1.2 million litres), Lithuania: 11% (707 thousand litres), Great Britain: 42% (425.6 thousand litres), Turkey: 62% (538 thousand litres), Azerbaijan: 34% (237 thousand litres), Canada: 16% (198 thousand litres), Israel: 2% (314 thousand litres), United Arab Emirates: 80% (70 thousand litres), South Korea: 26% (72.5 thousand litres) Additionally, Georgia exported 48 million litres of other alcoholic beverages to 56 countries, a 53% increase compared to 2023. The revenue generated from these exports reached $289 million, reflecting a 47% rise.

The President of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili has pardoned 613 inmates on the occasion of Epiphany, according to the President’s Facebook post. “The exercise of the exclusive constitutional power by the President of Georgia is based on the principle of humanism and state interest. Through this demonstrated humane approach, the pardoned individuals have been given the opportunity to return to their families and once again become full members of society,” reads the statement.

Salome Zourabichvili is the opposition’s main mistake. All those, who trusted and followed her committed a mistake,” said Aleksandre Rakviashvili, a member of the Girchi party. According to Rakviashvili, the opposition has not decided what they want: elections should come first or reforms and who should implement the reforms. “All this looks even more immoral in the light of the fact that this part of the opposition seems confused, and on the other hand, people are imprisoned, and in fact, they are betraying the people who are rallying in the street demanding new elections,” he said. Rakviashvili believes that none of Salome Zourabichvili’s initiatives will be successful. “Sooner or later the Georgian people will realize that they committed a mistake but much energy will be spent and many more mistakes will be committed. I don’t expect that anything good will happen with the support of Salome Zourabichvili, on the contrary, things will get worse,” he said.

Congressman Joe Wilson, who chairs the Helsinki Commisssion and is the author of the MEGOBARI Act introduced Salome Zourabichvili to President Donald Trump’s son and two members of the future US administration. “I was grateful to introduce the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili to the President’s son Donald Trump Junior. Two amazing people who are working to do so much good in the world,” he wrote on the X Platform. According to Joe Wilson, Salome Zourabichvili met the US future Defense Secretaries Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth. “It was great to bring together President Salome Zourabichvili with future Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. Peace through Strength is back,” he said. “I am grateful to bring together two great patriots President Salome Zourabichvili and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to safeguard the strong US-Georgia relationship and defeat the tyrannical Ivanishvili regime,” Joe Wilson wrote following the meeting.