The News in Brief

Georgian Media Regulator Fines Formula TV

The Communications Commission (ComCom), Georgia's state media regulator, has fined the opposition-leaning broadcaster Formula TV GEL 2,500 934 over alleged breaches of legal requirements regarding impartiality, balance, and the expression of personal opinions by journalists.

The penalty marks the first financial sanction issued under the content-regulating provisions introduced through the April 2025 amendments to Georgia's broadcasting laws. The action follows recent verbal warnings issued to multiple broadcasters and comes amid a pledge by ComCom to enforce content regulations more proactively.

According to a May 21 statement by the regulator, a review of Formula TV's news programming from April identified violations of rules prohibiting anchors and reporters from broadcasting personal attitudes.

"The violations identified by the Commission included assessments and comments made by journalists and anchors in news programs, which constituted reporting ongoing political and social issues based on the broadcaster's personal attitude," ComCom stated.

The regulator specifically noted a balance violation in an April 22 report concerning patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. ComCom argued that the broadcast only presented the position of the patients' parents while failing to include alternative explanations or commentary from the Ministry of Health, thereby denying viewers access to all relevant viewpoints.

Because Formula TV had received a prior written warning for a similar infraction within the past year, the commission applied the minimum statutory fine under the Law on Broadcasting.

While ComCom did not specify the exact phrases in its public announcement, Formula TV disclosed on Facebook that the regulator flagged terminology used during its news coverage.

According to the broadcaster, the commission objected to phrases including "Georgian Dream's SSSG [State Security Service]," "[Bidzina] Ivanishvili's government," "pro-government Rustavi 2," and "the regime's court," ruling that these expressions reflected subjective bias rather than objective reporting.



Papuashvili Rejects Ukraine and Moldova Models for Georgia's EU Path

Speaker of the Georgian Dream-led Parliament Shalva Papuashvili has issued a sharp response to German Ambassador Peter Fischer, asserting that Georgia has no intention of following the integration paths chosen by Ukraine or Moldova.

Papuashvili's comments follow a statement by Fischer, who noted that "Georgia has separated itself from Ukraine and Moldova on the common path toward the EU." Writing on social media, the Speaker rejected Western pressure, arguing that the trajectories of the other two Eastern Partnership states carry unacceptable consequences for national sovereignty.

"Someone should explain to this person that Georgia does not intend to follow either Ukraine's or Moldova's chosen path toward the EU, onto which we were so cold-bloodedly being pushed in 2022," Papuashvili wrote.

"Today, it is already clear to everyone that Ukraine's path toward the EU goes through the surrender of its own territories (as stated by the German Chancellor), while Moldova's path goes through the abolition of its own statehood and accession to another state (as stated by the President of Moldova)," he added.

Papuashvuli concluded by accusing external actors of trying to force Georgia into compromising its core national interests to achieve integration. "They are pulling us in this direction and trying to make us accept it-to view territories as a burden and independence as an unnecessary responsibility, the removal of which would supposedly open the EU's gates to us. This is precisely the 21st-century 'Danse Macabre' gift," Papuashvili stated.