Tag: Tbilisi

  • How to enter Russia by land as a tourist in 2023

    How to enter Russia by land as a tourist in 2023

    EU and US citizens must obtain a visa to travel to Russia. To obtain it, it is enough to make an appointment at your nearest Russian embassy or a Russian visa center in your country. The process of obtaining a visa takes about a week, but it is best to clarify the time frames on…

  • Wider Europe Briefing: How Georgia Could Still Squeak Into The EU

    Wider Europe Briefing: How Georgia Could Still Squeak Into The EU

    Welcome to Wider Europe, RFE/RL’s newsletter focusing on the key issues concerning the European Union, NATO, and other institutions and their relationships with the Western Balkans and Europe’s Eastern neighborhoods. I’m RFE/RL Europe Editor Rikard Jozwiak, and this week I’m drilling down on two major issues: Georgia’s chances of getting EU candidate status this year…

  • Georgia moves to ban booming surrogacy for foreigners

    Georgia moves to ban booming surrogacy for foreigners

    TBILISI – Georgia’s government wants to add to a booming business in international surrogacy. For more than two decades, the post-Soviet Caucasus nation has been on a short list of countries that allow both “altruistic” and consumer surrogacy, including for foreign biological parents, at costs a fraction of those in wealthier places. But Georgian Prime…

  • Georgia’s dream of Europe and the specter of inflation that refuses to die

    Georgia’s dream of Europe and the specter of inflation that refuses to die

    Clashes between police and protesters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi have involved firebombs, tear gas and water cannons. On the surface, the protests have been about a bill aimed at organizations and media that receive money from abroad, it has been called “the Russian law”. But beneath the surface, the strong images are about much…

  • Why did Stalin have 2 birthdays

    Why did Stalin have 2 birthdays

    Several versions claim to answer this question. We go through the most curious of them. Josef Stalin is probably the only 20th century head of state whose exact date of birth has not yet been determined. The official birthday, December 21, 1879, was, of course, known to every Soviet person. The date had become canon…

  • The Devil in the Details: Ukraine’s Tricky Bid for NATO Membership

    The Devil in the Details: Ukraine’s Tricky Bid for NATO Membership

    Ukraine’s move to apply for NATO membership on September 30 was met with a lot of surprise in Brussels. Very few saw it coming and while there is a lot of sympathy for Kyiv there, don’t expect the country to join the military alliance in an accelerated fashion, as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy promised when he…

  • Refugees from Afghanistan receive a four-year residence permit in Finland

    Refugees from Afghanistan receive a four-year residence permit in Finland

    “The government decided together that our task is to help people who have worked for Finland.” Jari Kähkönen, The Director General of Migrin clarified that residence permits are issued for humanitarian reasons under section 93 of the Aliens Act. A total of 102 people arrived in Finland from Kabul via Tbilisi in Georgia on Monday.…

  • Ohisalo: An Afghan evacuation flight lands in Helsinki

    Ohisalo: An Afghan evacuation flight lands in Helsinki

    Minister of the Interior Maria Ohisalo (Green) said that 102 evacuees from Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, arrived in Finland on Monday morning. The Finnish authorities organized a flight from the Georgian capital Tbilisi to Helsinki, Ohisalo said as part of an EU-coordinated evacuation operation from Afghanistan. Finland has also offered other EU countries the…

  • Another evacuation aircraft lands in Denmark on Thursday evening

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that another plane with evacuees is on its way to Denmark. According to the flight monitoring service Flightradar24, the plane lands at Copenhagen Airport shortly before 11 pm. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs can not state how many people are on the plane, or whether it is Afghans or…

  • SAS planes have taken off from evacuation airports in Pakistan

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not wish to comment on the information. SAS has previously refused to confirm or deny whether the two planes that arrived in Islamabad on Monday are part of an evacuation. However, the company was able to confirm that it is not part of the normal itinerary that two planes…

  • Pilot in evacuation aircraft: Has been a struggle to get in the air

    Pilot in evacuation aircraft: Has been a struggle to get in the air

    – The logistics are the big challenge in such a task. All countries require overflight permits, and it’s not something you just call and get. – Usually you have a long time to plan such a flight, but here it should go fast. – It has been a bit of a struggle for everyone involved…

  • No Danes are evacuated on the first flight to Denmark

    When someone is going home, they are flown here and then to Denmark. The person with legal residence in Denmark is not a Danish citizen. The agreement to rent the plane was about to expire. Therefore, it has been relieved around 9 pm Danish time, even though there are few passengers. When there are no…

  • Smith takes incredible victory at the Ski Cross World Cup

    TBILISI, February 27 (Xinhua) – Fanny Smith from Switzerland fought hard to take an incredible victory in the women’s competition at the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Bakuriani on Saturday, while German Florian Wilmsmann won her maiden title in the men’s competition. Smith had a terrible start, but showed his talents and perseverance to…

  • Malmö is a tough challenge for Granada’s Europa League ambitions

    MADRID, September 30 (Xinhua) – Spanish La Liga club Granada must put Sunday’s disastrous performance to Atletico Madrid behind them if they are to book a place in the group stage of the Europa League on Thursday night. The side coached by Diego Martinez had started their campaign with league wins at home against Athletic…

  • Granada enters the last Europa League qualifier

    MADRID, September 24 (Xinhua) – Granada are a victory away from the group stage of the Europa League after a 2-0 victory at home against the Georgian side Locomotive Tbilisi in the third qualifier on Thursday night. The win came thanks to goals from winger Darwin Machis and veteran Jorge Molina, and means that Granada…