Georgia
Bill Browder calls on EU to act on Georgia as Saakashvili’s health declines

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Billionaire businessman and Kremlin critic Invoice Browder is popping his focus to a brand new goal — Georgia — and is urging the EU to sanction these answerable for the situation of detained former President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose well being is deteriorating quickly.
In an interview with POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast, Browder stated it was time for the EU to increase the attain of its human rights sanctions to cowl individuals in Georgia.
Saakashvili is a private enemy of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his case is quickly turning into a barometer of whether or not the governing Georgian Dream occasion in Tbilisi is prepared to have interaction with the EU and the U.S. Georgian Dream’s critics complain that it’s intentionally sabotaging the nation’s EU aspirations to keep away from rocking the boat with Moscow.
Saakashvili is serving a six-year sentence for abuse of energy, and there’s rising concern for his wellbeing. Medical stories seen by POLITICO late final 12 months revealed traces of “mercury and arsenic” in Saakashvili’s hair and nails, and lacerations “all through his physique.”
“There must be faster motion on this case as a result of if nothing is completed, he’s going to die,” Browder stated.
“The Magnitsky sanctions will not be Russian sanctions. These are international … it applies globally. And if anyone is discovered to be a human rights violator, somebody is perpetrating gross human rights violations — which I believe is clear in his case — then the sanctions ought to apply.”
Browder, who by means of his Hermitage Capital Administration fund was as soon as the largest overseas investor in Russia however fell foul of the regime of Putin, led a worldwide marketing campaign to impose asset freezes and sanctions in opposition to human rights abusers. The outcome was the Magnitsky Act, handed in america in 2012.
The act was named after Browder’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died aged 37 in a Russian jail in 2009 after exposing a large fraud. On this case, Browder is looking for to collate info on those that he says are poisoning, torturing and witholding medical therapy from Saakashvili.
The European Union arrange its personal Magnitsky-style focused sanctions regime to penalize human rights offenders — moderately than geographical or sectoral sanctions — in 2020.
However Browder says the EU is dragging its heels on the subject of sanctions.
“The EU has the least variety of individuals sanctioned underneath the Magnitsky Act — severely trailing different main international locations. It’s a disgrace. The EU is considered being probably the most humane and ethical of all of the nation groupings, however they don’t wish to uphold human rights and so they’re not utilizing the Magnitsky Act. I believe it’s a full utter failure on their half not to do that, to not use this instrument.”
The plight of Saakashvili shot to the highest of the agenda after he posted photos on social media that confirmed him to be alarmingly gaunt and frail. The 55-year-old who served as president for nearly a decade has gone on starvation strike a number of occasions and says he has been poisoned. Georgian authorities say he’s misrepresenting his situation with a view to safe an early launch.
Earlier this week, Poland provided to ship medical doctors to Tbilisi to look at Saakashvili, however Georgia has not but complied with the request.
The sharp deterioration in Saakashvili’s well being is taking part in out in opposition to a dramatic political backdrop in Georgia, the place protesters took to the streets earlier this month to show in opposition to a proposed invoice that may drive sure media and civil society organizations to register as overseas brokers. The federal government in the end suspended the invoice, which was slammed by the EU and worldwide organizations.
Georgia’s Justice Minister Rati Bregadze argues Saakashvili’s “radical supporters” are deliberately making an attempt to worsen his well being situation to pave the way in which for his launch. On March 12, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated that the European Parliament’s decision, which calls on the Georgian authorities to launch Saakashvili to endure therapy, was a testomony that “Saakashvili is their agent” and that “they’re doing all the pieces to save lots of their agent and take him out of jail.”
“The European Parliament ought to moderately take care of itself. There are 100 MEPs concerned within the corruption scandal, why are they telling us what to do?” Garibashvili stated.
The EU is Georgia’s largest buying and selling companion, and provides over €100 million to Georgia yearly in technical and monetary help. However the bloc refused to grant the nation EU candidate standing at a summit final June, even because it gave the inexperienced mild to Moldova and Ukraine, arguing that Tbilisi needed to implement a number of reforms, together with strengthening the independence of the judiciary.
Dato Parulava contributed reporting.

Georgia
SNAP benefit cuts in ‘big, beautiful’ bill and impact on Georgia explained

‘Big, beautiful bill’ impact on SNAP benefits
President Donald Trump’s sweeping agenda bill now passed by Congress could leave thousands of Georgians without food benefits. Why Atlanta’s largest food bank says this should worry everyone and why Republican lawmakers say they concerns are overblown.
As President Donald Trump prepares to sign the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law, Atlanta’s largest food bank warns that cuts to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will dramatically increase the demand for food assistance in Georgia.
How many Georgians receive SNAP benefits?
Local perspective:
With 1.4 million Georgians receiving SNAP benefits, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Georgians will lose their primary way of buying food. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, which supplies hundreds of food pantries in the state, says that would harm a lot of families.
Kyle Waide, CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank, says the demand for food across metro Atlanta has increased significantly in just a short time.
“Our demand has increased by 60% over the last three years,” Waide said. “We have about 4-5 million pounds of food in inventory right now.”
‘Big, beautiful’ bill SNAP requirements
Dig deeper:
The bill requires parents of children 14 or older to meet work requirements. It also bumps up the work requirement age to 64. It cuts nutrition funding by nearly 200 billion dollars by 2034.
“To replace that food, we would essentially have to double our volume overnight,” Waide said. “And obviously, that’s not possible.”
He worries families will be forced to start making difficult decisions.
“People are going to stop buying medication so that they can afford food. They’re going to start putting their kids in childcare so that they can afford food. They’ll stop seeking medical treatment so they can afford food.”
What’s in the new ‘big, beautiful’ bill?
Big picture view:
The 940-page “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” as it is now formally titled, cuts spending on Medicaid, food stamps and other programs as a way to help cover the cost of extending tax cuts.
The spending bill’s priority is $4.5 trillion in tax breaks passed in President Donald Trump’s first term, in 2017, that would expire if Congress failed to act, along with new ones. This includes allowing workers to deduct tips and overtime pay, and a $6,000 deduction for most older adults earning less than $75,000 a year.
There’s also a $350-billion investment in national security and Trump’s deportation agenda and to help develop the “Golden Dome” defensive system over the U.S.
To neutralize the costs of lost tax revenue, the spending bill includes $1.2 trillion in cutbacks to Medicaid healthcare and food stamps, largely by imposing new work requirements, including for some parents and older people, and a massive rollback of green energy investments.
According to the Associated Press, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the spending package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the next decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.
Republicans aren’t concerned over SNAP cuts
What they’re saying:
Republican State Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-1) believes those who lose SNAP benefits under the bill will be the ones who didn’t need them.
“I’m not in the least way concerned that people who are deserving to be on the program aren’t going to be on the program,” Carter said.
He says the financial benefits, like no taxes on tips and overtime and a decrease in taxes on Social Security, from the bill will make up for any lost benefits to Georgians.
Who will lose SNAP benefits?
What’s next:
Carter says it’s going to be up to the state to make sure those losing the benefits can actually live without them.
“Only people who are eligible should be on those programs,” Carter said.
But Waide says in his experience they don’t see a lot of people using SNAP benefits who don’t really need them.
“The vast majority of people who receive SNAP benefits are kids and seniors and folks who have disabilities,” he said.
He worries especially that a lot of children will not get the nutrition they need.
Waide said the food bank is currently working on a plan to try and increase their inventory to help more people, but he says they likely will never be able to help everyone who loses their SNAP benefits.
The Source: Information for this story came from The Congressional Budget Office, The Georgia Department of Human Services, the Atlanta Community Food bank and from interviews conducted by Fox 5’s Eric Mock.
Georgia
Georgia Faces Possible EU Sanctions and Visa Review Over Democratic Backsliding

After months of simmering tensions in the country, Georgia is slowly moving up the EU’s agenda again, driven by a wave of arrests of opposition figures and new restrictive laws such as the Foreign Agents Registration Act and changes to broadcasting regulations.
For much of the past year, due to a lack of unanimity, the EU has struggled to form a clear strategy toward the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) government, particularly after it claimed victory in last year’s disputed parliamentary elections amid allegations of irregularities.
Earlier this year, Brussels imposed visa requirements on holders of Georgian diplomatic passports and refrained from holding high-level meetings while attempting to divert some funding away from the government and toward civil society instead.
However, stronger measures — like EU sanctions on GD leaders — were blocked, especially by Hungary and Slovakia, in early 2025.
Could things be different now?
EU foreign ministers briefly discussed the situation in Georgia when they assembled in Brussels on June 23 and they agreed to come back to the issue again when they meet on July 15 ahead of the monthlong Brussels recess when little of note occurs in terms of policymaking in the bloc.
Situation Continues To ‘Deteriorate Drastically’
Prompting the recent June discussion was a one-page paper drafted by Lithuania, one of the EU’s more hawkish voices regarding Georgia’s current leadership.
Seen by RFE/RL, it proposes several measures the club can enact as the situation in Georgia continues “to deteriorate drastically.”
While the discussion was rather short and came at the end of the meeting, several member states spoke out and seemed to agree that Brussels needs to do something more.
However, EU officials whom RFE/RL has spoken to under condition of anonymity did suggest it was very telling that Hungary argued that the bloc should pursue closer cooperation with Tbilisi.
Austria, while critical of the situation in the South Caucasus republic, also cautioned that it was important not to push it too much into Russia’s orbit.
So, what is Lithuania proposing?
One of the six points is, of course, personal sanctions on Georgian Dream’s leadership.
This will not fly due to Budapest’s objections, but EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas interestingly floated another sanctions idea when speaking to media after the meeting: to target judges that are responsible for sentencing the opposition and civil society members.
While it’s hard to envisage unanimity on this, it should be noted that EU sanctions on Russia and Belarus several years ago started with asset freezes and visa bans on lower-profile people, such as judges, instead of well-known political players.
Other suggestions in the paper allude to suspending all EU financial aid to Tbilisi, including “large-scale infrastructure projects.”
These sorts of investments are often hard to just stop, however, especially since other countries in the region could be involved and the projects are already under way.
Brussels is also exploring channeling more money to independent journalists, civil society groups, and dismissed Georgian diplomats and civil servants. But the reality is that the EU is trying to help a lot of organizations and countries worldwide in recent months after USAID scaled down its operations.
The bloc will start discussions this summer on a new long-term budget beyond the current one, which runs out in 2027. But, right now, there isn’t too much spare cash available.
Worth Looking Out For
Perhaps the two most interesting topics covered in the discussion paper are the suspension of visa liberalization and of the EU-Georgia association agreement.
None of this will be easy to do, but there are a few things worth looking out for here.
Removing visa liberalization for all Georgian citizens is something few want as it targets the general population. But the paper has floated the idea of setting a concrete deadline for Tbilisi to address shortcomings, notably around fundamental rights, as highlighted in a 2024 European Commission report on visa policies for third countries.
It could be that visa suspension for certain categories of travelers could be forthcoming, especially since this only requires a qualified majority of member states (55 percent of countries representing 65 percent of the total EU population). The EU itself has also enacted rules making it easier to issue suspensions.
Then there is the EU-Georgia association agreement, which has been in force since 2016.
This regulates political and trade relations between Brussels and Tbilisi via the so-called Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area agreement (DCFTA), which is part of the general association agreement.
The Lithuanian paper suggests the European Commission should examine whether Georgia is breaching the agreement, particularly Article 2, which covers fundamental principles like respect for human rights.
A similar review was recently conducted on the EU-Israel association agreement, and Brussels found several breaches. Given this emerging trend in EU foreign policy, don’t be surprised if some member states push for a Georgia review as soon as July.
Further down the line it is worth noting that unanimity is needed to suspend the entire association agreement, but suspending some areas could be easier. To put the trade aspects of the agreement on ice, for example, only requires a qualified majority.
Georgia
DOT’s HERO program to resume full service

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s Highway Emergency Response Operators (HERO) program will resume patrolling interstate highways across metro Atlanta during the overnight hours seven days a week effective July 1, the state agency announced Thursday.
HERO vehicles also will resume full coverage of the region’s nearly 400 miles of interstates.
The program cut back on its operating hours in 2023 due to a staffing shortage, patrolling only between 5 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. each day to ensure adequate coverage during peak traffic.
“HEROs are our first and best resource to keep traffic moving safely and efficiently in metro Atlanta,” Georgia Commissioner of Transportation Russell McMurry said. “The reinstatement of full service of HERO’s coverage area with 24/7 patrols is reflective of the department’s commitment to providing consistent and immediate assistance to everyone who uses our roadways.”
“Traffic incidents do not operate on a schedule,” added Tyrone McCord III, the DOT’s HERO unit manager. “Now that we are back to a full staff, thanks to effective recruitment strategies and intensive training, we are committed to patrolling the nearly 400 miles of metro Atlanta roads at all hours to improve public safety, reduce traffic delays, and be better prepared for emergencies.”
While HERO units are primarily responsible for roadway clearance after traffic incidents, the program also offers free roadside assistance, helping stranded motorists with flat tires or dead batteries, and providing fuel and coolant.
The HERO program was launched back in 1994. The DOT followed up in 2017 by creating the Coordinated Highway Assistance & Maintenance Program (CHAMP) to patrol Georgia’s interstate highways outside of metro Atlanta, except for interstates 59 and 24 in the northwestern corner of the state.
To request assistance from HERO or CHAMP, contact 511GA by dialing 511 hands-free on your mobile phone, downloading the 511GA app to your Apple or Google mobile device, or by visiting 511GA.org.
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