Civicidea

Tinatin Khidasheli, Chairperson of the Civic IDEA, participated in the Yabloko – ALDE Online Conference “Development Prospects for Russia and Europe in the New Conditions. Liberal Approach”

On September 23, Civic IDEA’s report “Who is in charge of the post cold war world? Chinese influence in Academia, Media & CSOs, The case of Georgia” was featured in the article “China’s footprint in Georgia causes anxiety” published by Eurasianet.

Below you can find an extract from the article mentioning Civic IDEA and its chairperson Ms. Tinatin Khidasheli:

A report last year by the Tbilisi-based think tank Civic IDEA detailed the expansion in Sino-Georgian educational ties over the last decade, listing numerous Chinese-language programs and the many opportunities, often with generous financial backing, for Georgian students to live in China.

“Year after year, Chinese interest in Georgia grows and so does the scope and size of educational programs and cooperation in academia,” said the report, authored by former defense minister Tinatin Khidasheli. It called this part of “a full-scale Chinese Communist Party ideological operation,” that includes influence over the media, civil society, telecommunications infrastructure, and business.

Khidasheli told Eurasianet that Georgia risks becoming economically dependent on China and a pawn in a great power competition emerging between China and the West. Already Chinese companies are breaking local labor and environmental laws with impunity. Yet most Georgian pundits are unaware of China’s inroads, she cautioned, “heavily preoccupied” as they are with Russia.

For the full article, please visit: ?

https://eurasianet.org/chinas-footprint-in-georgia-causes-anxiety?fbclid=IwAR1Yh47-2lMFm_4-5fTH4lyZZ8T82sA-994Qv9y7G4Gmv8c-iXQQCzMbvng

Civic IDEA joins the statement of the Georgian Non-governmental organization’s regarding the Georgian Dream’s disturbing trend of attacks on our western partners. Those statements aim to discredit our strategic partners and friends.

? “The unwavering will of the people of Georgia was and is the integration into European and Euro-Atlantic structures. We think that with such actions and statements, the Georgian government is further distancing us from our historic choice.”

The link of the statement of the Georgian Non-governmental organization’s ?

https://bit.ly/3wTS5tb

In the interview with Axios, the chairperson of Civic IDEA, Tinatin Khidasheli discusses the Georgian political elite’s shady dealings with the notorious Chinese companies. She brings up the examples and important details related to the reputation of these firms, their blacklisting history, and the threats they pose to national security, worker’s rights, the environment of Georgia.

link: ?

https://bit.ly/3Fvlhdf

How did the dissolution of the USSR impact the European Community, and later the EU? Join us for the scisussion THIRTY YEARS ON: PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS NEIGHBORS TO THE EAST Opening remarks: Prof. Philipp Ther, Professor of Central European History at the University of Vienna/ RECET – Research Center for the History ofHow did the dissolution of the USSR impact the European Community, and later the EU? Join us for the scisussion THIRTY YEARS ON: PROSPECTS FOR FUTURE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE EU AND ITS NEIGHBORS TO THE EAST

Opening remarks: Prof. Philipp Ther, Professor of Central European History at the University of Vienna/ RECET – Research Center for the History of Transformations.

Speaker: Vasily Astrov, Economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies Tinatin Khidasheli, Chair of Civic IDEA, former Georgian Defense Minister Kristi Raik (online), Director of the Estonian Foreign Policy Institute at the ICDS Tatiana Romanova, Associate Professor at St. Petersburg State University, Russia Sebastian Schäffer , Managing Director at the Institute for Danube Region and Central Europe.

Moderation: Swoboda Hannes, President of the IIP and former MEP This event is organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI) in cooperation with Multilateraler Dialog KAS Wien, IDM Institut für den Donauraum und Mitteleuropa/Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, and with the support of the Diplomatische Akademie Wien Akademie Wien.

Registration: https://lnkd.in/dbeHMafV

On Tuesday, Nov 9, during the Webinar on ‘Georgia’s Domestic Challenges: Implications for national security and Western integration’, the discussion was held about the ongoing Georgia’s crisis with authoritative experts and diplomats. Speakers included: Amb. Ian Kelly MEP Andrius Kubilius Civic IDEA Chair Tinatin Khidasheli MP Salome Samadashvili Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council Amb. Matthew Bryza, former deputy assistant Secretary of State.

On October 18-19, senior researcher of Civic IDEA, Ani Kintsurashvili presented work and the results of Civic IDEA’s research in Bratislava to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovakia, Ministry of Defense of Slovakia, Central European Institute of Asian Studies, Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies and other representatives of several Slovak CSOs.

Ms. Kintsurashvili introduced the findings related to Chinese malign influence and corruption schemes in Georgia and exchanged the experience with the Slovak colleagues.