Important Update
Dear EUSEA Conference Participants,
You may have seen in the media the protests in Tbilisi surrounding the Government’s Foreign Agent Bill, which have escalated in recent days. A critical development in this Bill will be debated in the Georgian Parliament on 17 May, meaning that we may witness some unrest in areas of Tbilisi around the time of the EUSEA Conference.
While EUSEA shares many of the values being so openly expressed by thousands of citizens (including many researchers, students, staff and management from our hosting university who are filling the streets these days), our highest priority is the safety and wellbeing of our members and delegates.
Following discussion with our Tbilisi hosts at Ilia State University and reviewing individual countries’ travel advisories (which until today show no official travel warnings for Tbilisi), we have decided for the time being to proceed with the EUSEA conference, but with some changes driven by the desire to maximise the safety and wellbeing of everyone while in Tbilisi:
• We would like to highlight that the main conference venue is some distance from the current foci of demonstrations (around 3 km away). We are working closely with the local organisers to ensure this location presents a safe and secure environment for the duration of our event.
• Further to the above, we have asked our local hosts to provide a map giving clear information about the parts of the city currently affected by the demonstrations, so that you can assess your hotel locations and other plans in advance. You can see in the map below where the main protest areas have been so far.
If you have any questions regarding the location of your hotel, or any other questions related to specific organisational topics in Tbilisi, please get in touch with our colleagues at Ilia State University:
Ana Khundadze – ana.khundadze@iliauni.edu.ge
Salome Bilanishvili – salome.bilanishvili@iliauni.edu.ge
• Based on the situation in the city, we have taken the decision to cancel and change all social events which were due to take place in the city including the area around the Georgian Parliament. Sadly, these include the city walking tours and the rendezvous at the Georgian National Museum on the evening of Tue 14 May. Our hosts are planning an attractive alternative cultural and social event outside the city of Tbilisi for that afternoon and evening, which will include transportation from the conference venue.
• The conference dinner on Wednesday, May 15, will go ahead as planned. We will give
recommendations regarding the best means of transport to the conference.
We will review the local situation and communicate any change in our position as swiftly as possible so that we can provide a further update on May 7th.
Thank you for your understanding as we navigate this difficult situation with everyone’s interests in mind!
The EUSEA Board and Office