The arrest of Vano Merabishvili, Mikheil Saakashvili's most powerful ally, appears to tighten the noose around the weakened Georgian president, who has seen his support base crumble since Bidzina Ivanishvili's rise to power last October. But observers in Georgia say the arrest may also be a response to a vicious religious crackdown against gay-rights groups – and a sign that Ivanishvili's true rival is no longer Saakashvili but the church.

The Georgian government of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili is seeking to change the dynamic of Tbilisi's relationship with the breakaway region of Abkhazia. And the mostly ethnic-Georgian population of Abkhazia's Gali district is once again feeling the squeeze.

Georgia’s strict laws on marijuana have become the subject of a hot debate in the former Soviet republic as the government considers decriminalizing the use of cannabis.

Stefan Fuele, the European Union commissioner for enlargement and neighborhood policy, has called on the EU-hopeful countries of the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans to do more to prove their commitment to democratic values. Correspondent Daisy Sindelar spoke to Fuele during his visit to RFE/RL headquarters in Prague on May 9.