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| 31 Mar. '10
| EUMM
begrüßt die Freilassung von sechs Häftlingen durch Tbilisi
EU
Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) has welcomed release of four
residents of breakaway South Ossetia and two Russian citizens by Tbilisi
and called on Tskhinvali to reciprocate with release of Georgians held
in the breakaway region.
EUMM said in a statement on March 31, that
the move by the Georgian government was “an important step in resetting
the overall detainee issue.”
“In order to de-escalate the situation
on the ground and contribute to raising the confidence of the population
living along the administrative boundary lines, the EUMM calls upon the
de facto South Ossetian authorities to take similar action,” EUMM said.
The
mission also called on Tskhinvali to resume its participation in
Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, a body designed for regular
contacts between the sides. Tskhinvali is refusing to take part in
meetings in frames of IPRM since last October, citing lack of
information about several Ossetians, who are missing since the August,
2008 war.
|
| 31 Mar. '10
| Temur Iakobashvili, Staatsminister für
Reintegration, zu den Bemerkungen von Patrushev
"Die georgische
Regierung hat immer Terrorismus verurteilt ... sogar wenn er im Lager
unseres Gegners stattfindet. Wir hoffen, dass die Russen - anstatt mit
den Fingern auf andere zu zeigen - wirklich untersuchen und herausfinden
werden, wer hinter diesen terroristischen Taten steht. ... Wenn etwas
auf Georgien hinweist, laßt sie kommen und uns berichten und wir sind
bereit zu kooperieren."
Remarks by Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of
Russia’s National Security Council, suggesting on possible Georgian link
to Moscow metro bombings were made for internal consumption, Temur
Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said on
March 31.
“The Georgian authorities have always condemned, condemn
and will always condemn terrorism even if it takes place in our
adversary’s camp. We hope, that instead of pointing fingers, Russians
will really investigate and find out who stands behind these terrorist
acts [in Moscow],” he said.
“If something points on Georgia, let them
[Russians] come and tell us and we are ready to cooperate,” he told
Rustavi 2 television station. “North Caucasus is not a problem of only
Russia, it is a problem for us too, as we do not want reoccurrence of
Pankisi case or a large scale operation [in North Caucasus], which may
trigger influx of refugees into Georgia from North Caucasus.”
He said
that there was “nothing surprise” that Patrushev made such statement.
“Surprise
was that he was late to make such statement,” Iakobashvili said.
“Unfortunately,
it became a trend in Russia – Jewization of Georgians – wherein if
previously Jews were to blame for everything in Russia, now Georgians
are to be blamed for everything,” he added.
Iakobashvili also said
that while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested that
militants operating in Afghanistan might have helped organize the Moscow
attacks, Patrushev was speaking about possibility of Georgian link.
“Knowing
that Afghanistan is a problem for the West, Lavrov is making this
statement for the Western and in general for international
[consumption], while Patrushev’s statement is probably more for the
internal consumption; his [Patrushev’s] statement echoes anti-Georgian
hysteria in Russia,” Iakobashvili said.
|
| 31 Mar. '10
| Nikolai Patrushev, Sekretät des nationalen
Sicherheitsrates von Russland, sagt, dass die Ermittler in allen
Richtungen arbeiten, einschließlich einer möglichen Beteiligung
Georgiens
Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russia’s National
Security Council, said investigators into Moscow metro bombings were
working on all the possible versions, including on possible Georgia’s
involvement.
In an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax,
Patrushev was asked by the journalist: “There is an opinion that
terrorist acts in Moscow could have been organized from abroad. Do you
believe that?”
“All the versions need to be checked,” Patrushev
responded. “For example, there is Georgia and its leader Saakashvili,
whose actions are unpredictable.”
“Unfortunately, number of countries
provide him assistance, including military one. We state that it is
unacceptable. He has once already waged the war. It is not ruled out
that he will do that again.”
“We had information that individual
agents of Georgian special services were keeping contacts with terrorist
organizations in the Russian North Caucasus. We need to check this
version too in respect of the Moscow terrorist acts,” Patrushev added.
|
| 30 Mar. '10
| Zehnte Runde der Genfer Gespräche
Negotiators held
tenth round of Geneva talks on March 30 and agreed to meet for the next
round of talks on June 8.
"Against the background of a relatively
calm and stable general situation, it was noted that tensions continue
to exist," co-mediators, Antti Turunen of the UN, Pierre Morel of the EU
and Bolat Nurgaliyev, the special envoy of the Kazakh OSCE
chairmanship, said in a joint statement.
"It was highlighted that
provocative actions and rhetorics are not helpful for the ongoing
efforts to stabilize the situation on the ground and should therefore be
avoided," they said.
According to co-mediators, during the tenth
round of talks the participants continued discussion on different draft
proposals related to the non-use of force and international security
arrangements.
The issue of missing and detained persons was also
discussed. According to co-mediators the participants welcomed the
ongoing contribution by Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights
Thomas Hammarberg, who has mediated release of several Georgian and
South Ossetian detainees and has also sent two experts to oversee an
investigation by the Georgian authorities to find out whereabouts of
several Ossetians, who have been missing since late 2008.
"The
participants also reviewed the issue of release of all detainees, and
agreed that a solution leading to a release of all would be a further
positive development," co-mediators said.
On March 29 and March 30
Tbilisi released six persons - four residents of breakaway South Ossetia
and two Russian citizens from North Ossetia.
|
| 29 Mar. '10 | Watchdog legt einen Bericht "zum Gebrauch von
Verwaltungsressourcen für Wahlkampf" vor und berichtet über einen "nie
dagewesenen Anstieg" von Staatsausgaben vor den Wahlen
There has
been “an unprecedented increase” in the funding of local self-government
bodies ahead of the May local elections, Transparency
International-Georgia said in a report.
The report, Use of
Administrative Recourses for Election Campaign, released on March 29
says that there has been “a considerable increase” in the number of
employees in the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office and in the regional
administrative bodies ahead of the elections.
The report says that
the trend is at odds with the president’s proposed policy of “tightening
the belt” and reducing bureaucracy.
The number of the Tbilisi
Mayor’s Office employees increased by 410, while GEL 5.5 million was
added to the salary fund.
“Those who oppose this approach have
suggested that state money is being used to employ the people who are to
participate in the ruling party’s election campaign,” the report says
2010
state budget has allocated GEL 836.9 million for transfers to local
self-government entities, which is 34% more than in 2009. The
government has also doubled the funding for the Rural Aid Program up to
GEL 40 million this year.
“Self-government entities have never
received such large allocations before,” according to the report.
It
says that the transfer allocated to the city of Tbilisi from the state
budget, as well as the capital city’s budget itself “is also of
unprecedented size” – GEL 323 million and GEL 570.8 million,
respectively.
The report says that although pension policy is not
part of the local self-government, the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office is
sponsoring a GEL 10 pension raise for those pensioners who reside in the
capital city. This increase in monthly pension, which is in force since
March 1, 2010, does not apply to those pensioners living outside
Tbilisi – the approach described by the report as “discriminatory”.
The
Mayor’s Office is also sponsoring a GEL 4 million program, envisaging
issuing of medication vouchers worth GEL 25 to pensioners in the capital
city.
“Similar programmes were implemented before the 2006 local
elections and the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections but not
in 2007 or 2009 when no election was held,” the report says.
In
another program worth GEL 3.5 million, sponsored by the Tbilisi Mayor’s
Office, 167,271 pensioners from the capital city are to receive personal
transport cards, enabling them to use the public transport, metro and
bus, at a reduced fare.
The report says that introduction of this
type of aid programs for all pensioners contradicts the social security
reform implemented by the government in 2006, which envisaged
distribution of aid based on how poor any given family was and not on
such criterion as belonging of an individual to a certain category, such
as pensioners.
“This system of social aid is still in place and its
core principle of providing support according to needs rather than
categories has a lot of supporters both inside and outside the
government. However, the fact that the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office is
implementing social programmes that are not compliant with the state
system of social aid has not drawn any criticism from the central
government so far,” the report reads.
Incumbent Tbilisi Mayor, Gigi
Ugulava, has not yet been named by the ruling party as its candidate for
reelection. His opponents complain that Ugulava’s activities in recent
month are part of his undeclared election campaign with use of
administrative resources. Lawmakers from the ruling party, however, say
that the mayor is doing his job of addressing Tbilisites needs.
Deadline
for nominating candidates expires on April 30.
The law does not
stipulate an incumbent mayor to quit his post during the election
campaign.
|
| 29 Mar. '10 | Abgeordneter Giorgi Tsagareishvili schließt sich
Alasania’s Partei an
Er hatte in der Vergangenheit mehrfach die
Parteizugehörigkeit gewechselt.
A lawmaker, Giorgi Tsagareishvili,
said on March 29 that he had joined Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD),
an opposition party led by Tbilisi mayoral candidate Irakli Alasania.
As
a result of the decision, OGFD now has one representative in the
Parliament.
Tsagareishvili told Civil.Ge that he had become a member
of OGFD’s political council – party’s main decision-making body.
Tsagareishvili
has changed party affiliation for number of times in the past.
He
has been an independent lawmaker since April 2009, when he quit
Democratic Party of Georgia, led by MP Gia Tortladze.
Before setting
up Democratic Party of Georgia together with MP Tortladze – the both
were part of an opposition coalition and were elected in the Parliament
after running on the coalition’s party-list. But they quit the coalition
after refusing to follow other members of the coalition to renounce
their parliamentary seats following the May, 2008 elections.
From
2007 to 2008, for about nine months, Tsagareishvili was a member of
Movement for United Georgia, party established by ex-defense minister
Irakli Okruashvili.
Before joining Okruashvili’s party,
Tsagareishvili was a lawmaker from the Industrialist Party.
Zurab
Abashidze, a senior member of OGFD said on March 29, that Tsagareishvili
was a person “with huge experience” and “together with us he will play
an important role in change of the current government.”
OGFD is a
member of Alliance for Georgia, also uniting Republican and New Rights
parties, as well as ex-public defender Sozar Subari.
Tsagareishvili,
however, said that although he had joined OGFD, it did not automatically
mean that he was representing the Alliance for Georgia.
“From now on
I will be representing OGFD in the Parliament, but not the Alliance for
Georgia,” he told Civil.Ge.
Tsagareishvili, however, denied
speculation that New Rights and Republicans were against of this move by
OGFD to recruit him.
|
| 29 Mar. '10 | Georgien drückt sein Beileid aus zu den Familien der
Opfer der beiden Bombenanschanschlägen in der Moskauer Metro
Außenminister
Vashadze: "Georgien war immer gegen Terrorismus ... wir hoffen, dass
die Täter dieses schrecklichen Verbrechens festgenommen und bestraft
werden."
Georgian Foreign Minister, Girgol Vashadze, condemned
terrorism and expressed condolences following two separate explosions,
which hit Moscow subway on Monday morning.
Speaking at a joint news
conference after talks with Lithuanian counterpart in Tbilisi, Vashadze
said: “Georgia and Lithuania have always been against terrorism… We
express our condolences to the families of victims and hope that
culprits of this terrible crime will be arrested and punished.”
The
Russian authorities said two women suicide bombers blew themselves up on
the Moscow subway during rush hour killing at least 36 people and
wounding more than 60.
|
| 28 Mar. '10
| Russlands Außenministerium bezeichnet den Transfer von
ex-Guantanamo-Häftlingen nach Georgien als 'keine gute Idee'
Im
Gefolge von Vorwürfen an die georgische Regierung wird von dem Sprecher
Andrei Nesterenko darauf hingewiesen, dass es keine Garantien gebe, dass
diese Islamisten eines Tages nicht in den Nordkaukasus infiltrieren
würden. "Heute kann niemand sicher sein, dass die georgischen Behörden
eine angemessene Kontrolle über die ex-Guantanamo-Häftlinge
sicherstellen wolle oder dazu fähig sei."
Transfer of three detainees
from Guantanamo to Georgia "can hardly be called a good idea," Andrei
Nesterenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on March
26.
He said that former detainees had been sent "to unstable region,
where terrorism threat is quite real"; he suggested that there were no
guarantees that one day these "Islamists" would not infiltrate into
North Caucasus.
"[The former Guantanamo detainees] have been
transfered 'to custody' of the state, whose leadership has repeatedly
shown high level of irresponsibility and criminal adventurism in matters
related to the regional security," Nesterenko said.
"Today no one
can be sure, that the Georgian authorities want or are capable of
securing proper control over former Guantanamo detainees," he said.
Nesterenko
said Moscow thought the United States would "somberly assess risks
accompanying this decision" and undertake all the measures "to prevent
surprises".
The three individuals were transfered from Guantanamo to
Georgia on March 23. The U.S. Department of Justice said that the
transfer was coordinated with the Georgia to ensure that it "took place
under appropriate security measures and consultations regarding these
individuals will continue."
|
| 27 Mar. '10
| Litauischer Außenminister Audronius Ažubalis besucht
Georgien
Audronius Ažubalis, the Lithuanian foreign minister,
will pay an official visit to Georgia on March 27-30.
Foreign
Minister Ažubalis will meet with his Georgian counterpart Grigol
Vashadze, President Saakashvili, Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze
and other senior officials, as well as with opposition representatives,
according to the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry.
It said that bilateral
relations, including economic cooperation, as well as issues related
with Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration would be discussed during the
visit.
The Foreign Minister will also visit EU Monitoring Mission in
Georgia (EUMM). According to EUMM there are four Lithuanian monitors in
the 250-strong mission.
|
| 27 Mar. '10
| Georgien erhält US-Finanzmittel für Afghanistan-Operation
Georgia
is among those six countries, which will receive funding this year from
the U.S. Department of Defense to help their troops operate with
coalition forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said on March 26.
"Six
of the programs will build capacity for forces of Georgia, Croatia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to work alongside U.S. forces in
Afghanistan," the Pentagon said.
In the notification sent to the
Congress, the Pentagon said that total of USD 350 million is dedicated
to this program this fiscal year. Pentagon also said that apart of the
six nations, Yemen and the Philippines will also receive money from this
funding to strengthen their militaries inside their countries.
Details
of the programs, including descriptions, timelines and cost data, will
come into focus after the Department of Defense sends a second written
notification to Congress, the Pentagon said.
Georgia, which already
has 175 soldiers in Afghanistan serving under the French command, will
send in April an infantry battalion without national caveats, which will
be deployed alongside with the U.S. Marines in the province of Helmand.
After the deployment of the battalion Georgia will become the largest
per capital contributor to the Afghan operation.
Alexander Vershbow,
the U.S. assistant secretary of defense for international security
affairs, said last October after security talks in Tbilisi, that the
current focus of Washington's assistance to Georgian defense reforms was
on doctrine, education and training and preparing Georgian troops for
the Afghan deployment.
|
| 25 Mar. '10
| Präsident Saakashvili
trifft NATO-Generalssekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen
NATO
Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said on March 25 he had
reiterated to President Saakashvili that the alliance’s policy towards
Georgia “has not changed”.
“We will continue to support Georgia in
its Euro-Atlantic aspiration,” Rasmussen said and reiterated NATO’s
open-door, merit-based admission policies.
Speaking at a joint news
conference with Rasmussen after the meeting in Brussels, President
Saakashvili has declined to speculate about possible timeframe of
Georgia’s future membership.
“I don’t think we should put time
limits,” he said. “There are many factors in interplay and never say
never, because we have seen in the past people saying the Baltic
countries will never join [NATO] in their lifetime… Things change very
fast and we should work and we are willing to do our homework, we need
to be ready. We’ll see.”
He also said that ongoing occupation of
Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia should not be
an obstacle to Georgia’s NATO integration.
“There were cases, when
countries were divided and they became members of NATO. I hope this
division will be overcome before that and whole this thing will happen
much earlier than any of us can imagine. But we need to work and it’s
not about us making wild guess when exactly [it happens],” Saakashvili
said.
The NATO Secretary General reiterated the alliance’s commitment
to Georgia’s territorial integrity and said: “Our allies stick to their
policy of non-recognition of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of
Georgia.”
“NATO continues to call on Russia to fulfill its
obligations under the six-point ceasefire agreement and to allow
international monitors into the entire territory of Georgia,” Rasmussen
said.
He welcomed the Georgian government’s strategy towards Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, which, he said, “advocates engagement as opposed to
isolation.”
“I consider this strategy as step in a right direction,”
Rasmussen said.
He said that “ongoing process of democratic reforms”
in Georgia was also discussed during the meeting.
“We hope to see the
implementation of the necessary electoral and constitutional reforms in
line with the commitments Georgia has undertaken in its Annual National
Program,” Rasmussen said.
“In that respect the upcoming local
elections will be an important milestone,” he added.
Rasmussen
thanked Georgia for its contribution to the Afghan operation. Georgia,
which already has 175 soldiers in Afghanistan serving under the French
command, will send in April an infantry battalion without national
caveats, who will be deployed alongside with the U.S. Marines in the
province of Helmand. After the deployment of the battalion Georgia will
become the largest per capital contributor to the Afghan operation.
Saakashvili
said that Georgia was ready to contribute to the Afghan operation not
only by sending troops there, but also through providing training to the
Afghan police forces both in Georgia and on the ground in Afghanistan.
“We
have the most successful example – in the region at least and one of
the best one among recent examples of transitional countries – of police
reform,” Saakashvili said.
He said Georgia had also offered NATO to
use its territory as a transit route for supplies in Afghanistan. In
March, 2005 Georgia and NATO signed an agreement envisaging use of
Georgia’s air space, road and rail infrastructure for transit purposes
by NATO to send supplies for its troops in Afghanistan. The route
operating through Georgia, however, is not sanctioned for arms shipments
Saakashvili
also told the NATO Secretary General that after his appointment NATO’s
doors “have opened very widely for Georgian officials.”
“I’m seventh
in row, I am concluding long list of Georgian officials that had
opportunity to meet you for last several months,” he said.
President
Saakashvili is in Brussels to participate in summit of European People’s
Party to which the ruling National Movement party is an observer
member.
|
| 25 Mar. '10 | Russland verurteilt einen Georgier und zwei Russen wegen
Spionage zu langen Haftstrafen
Russia’s North Caucasus Military
Court found a Georgian citizen guilty of spying in favor of Georgia and
sentenced him to 11 years in prison on March 25, the Russian media
sources reported.
In the same case, two Russian citizens, who served
in the Russian armed forces, were sentenced to 15 and 13 years in
prison.
According to the Russian media reports, the Georgian citizen,
Zaza Kherkeladze, is described in court files as “deputy head of
operative unit of the Georgian intelligence”. He has been based in
capital of North Ossetia, Vladikavkaz, for undercover operation since
2007 with a fake Russian passport running a café.
According to these
reports, Kherkeladze recruited two lieutenant colonels of the Russian
army – Khvicha Imerlishvili and Marlen Bogdanov (Balashvili), who have
been gathering information about military facilities in North Caucasus,
as well as about those Russian servicemen who could have been
potentially recruited by the Georgian intelligence.
Kherkeladze was
arrested in June, 2008.
The Georgian Interior Ministry has declined
to comment.
In December, 2009 Court in Russia’s North Ossetian
Republic found a 55-year-old Russian citizen of Georgian origin guilty
of spying in favor of Tbilisi and sentenced him to eight years in
prison.
In October, 2009 a serviceman of the Russian armed forces,
Jemal Nakaidze, was sentenced to nine years in prison for espionage in
favor of Georgia and in August, 2009 a former deputy commander of one of
the Russia’s military units of North Caucasus Military District,
Mikhail Khachidze, was sentenced to six years in prison.
|
| 25 Mar. '10
| NATO-Sprecher James Appathurai:
fiktionaler Bericht "unklug" und "nicht hilfreich"
A fake news
report by Georgian television station, Imedi, on March13 was "unwise"
and "unhelpful", James Appathurai, the NATO spokesman, said on
Wednesday.
He made the remarks after asked at a news conference in
Brussels if NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, would raise
the issue when he meets President Saakashvili on March 25.
"I do not
know what he [the Secretary General] intends to raise, but I do know,
that from NATO's point of view this hoax television broadcast was
unwise, unhelpful and, let's say, not seen positively within NATO,"
Appathurai said.
Asked if the fake news report could have any effect
on Georgia's eventual NATO membership, Appathurai responded that these
two issues should not be linked.
"Georgia's membership in NATO is
certainly not for tomorrow; there are fundamental and I think long-term
reforms that need to take place," he said. "This television broadcast
has taken place; it is now finished, but if you are to ask what NATO
thinks of it, the answer would not be approval."
President
Saakashvili will be in Brussels on March 25 to participate in European
People’s Party (EPP) summit. During the visit he will meet with Anders
Fogh Rasmussen in NATO headquarters.
"We have deep partnership with
Georgia," Appathurai said. "Commitment of NATO to supporting Georgia's
reforms, to Georgia's territorial integrity - I am sure he [President
Saakashvili] will hear that again from the Secretary General; but of
course there's lot going on in the country and in the region."
|
| 24
Mar. '10 | Christian-Democratic Movement CDM
startet Verfahren zur Einsetzung eines parlamentarischen Ausschusses
bezüglich der Telefonaufzeichnungen um den fiktionalen Imedi TV-Bericht
Christian-Democratic
Movement (CDM), a leading party in parliamentary minority group, has
launched formal proceedings requesting setting up of an ad hoc
parliamentary commission to probe into recording phone conversations,
which surfaced in connection with Imedi TV’s fake report.
MP Levan
Vepkhvadze of CDM, who is vice-speaker of the parliament, told Civil.Ge
on March 24, that the party had already submitted a request in written
form to the legislative body’s registry.
The request has yet to be
discussed by the parliamentary bureau, which includes senior lawmakers
and which sets the legislative body’s weekly agenda.
Endorsement of
the proposal is less likely as lawmakers from the ruling party have
already spoken out strongly against such initiative saying that there
was no need for the probe as there was no doubt that recordings were
fabricated by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).
Asked if he
thought that questions on the matter would linger unless no documented
confirmation was produced, a senior lawmakers from the ruling party MP
Pavle Kublashvili told Civil.Ge last week: “It [Russian involvement] is
absolutely clear for the society and I hope that you also have no
question marks about it.”
One of the recordings involves a brief
discussion allegedly between Culture Minister Nika Rurua and President
Saakashvili about the fake TV report. This recording, in which the man
with voice resembling the one of Saakashvili says it was a mistake of
Imedi TV not to make a disclaimer caption on the screen, was posted on a
mysterious Russian-language website a day after a separate recording of
phone conversation between Imedi TV's head and his deputy surfaced on
the same website on March 15. This latter conversation indicated that
President Saakashvili could have been behind the TV hoax.
|
| 23 Mar. '10
| Präsident Saakashvili nimmt am Atomsicherheitsgipfel in
Washington teil
President Saakashvili will visit the United
States next month to take part in an international conference on nuclear
security, President’s spokesperson said on Tuesday.
President Obama
will host Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on April 12-13.
“An
informal meeting between President Obama and President Saakashvili is
not ruled out on the sideline of the summit; it will become known during
the summit itself,” Manana Manjgaladze, the Georgian President’s
spokesperson, said.
Meanwhile on March 25, President Saakashvili
plans to take part in European People’s Party (EPP) summit in Brussels,
according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry. Saakashvili ruling National
Movement Party is an observer member of EPP.
During the visit in
Brussels, Saakashvili plans a meeting with NATO Secretary General,
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to discuss Georgia’s integration into the
alliance, Nino Kalandadze, Georgia’s deputy foreign minister, said.
|
| 22 Mar. '10
| Anwalt des int. Gerichtshofes Luis Moreno-Ocampo und der
georgische Justizminister treffen sich in Sachen August-Krieg
International
Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo met last week with
Georgian Justice Minister, Zurab Adeishvili, in The Hague as part of
regular consultations launched since the events of the August war has
been the subject of preliminary examination by ICC Prosecutor's Office.
The
meeting, which was held on March 18, was also attended by Tina
Burjaliani, the Georgian first deputy justice minister, and Payam
Akhavan, professor at McGill University in Canada, who acts as a legal
counsel for the Georgian government. Professor Akhavan was a legal
advisor to the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal
Tribunals for Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda in 1994-2000.
Shortly
after the August war, the ICC Prosecutor said that the situation in
Georgia was under analysis by his Office.
Unlike Russia, Georgia is a
state party to the Rome Statute, hence the ICC has jurisdiction over
war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide possibly committed in
the territory of Georgia.
"The Office assesses all issues pertaining
to its jurisdiction and to the admissibility of cases potentially
arising from the situation in Georgia," ICC said in a press release on
March 19.
It said that the Georgian delegation presented Tbilisi’s
views on the alleged crimes perpetrated during the August armed
conflict, including forced displacement of civilians. "They [the
Georgian delegation] also briefed the Prosecutor on the ongoing national
investigations in Georgia into grave violations committed by all
parties to the conflict," ICC said.
The Georgian Justice Ministry
said that it was "interested" in having close cooperation with ICC and
was ready to provide all the evidence "obtained in the process of
investigating crimes committed during the Russian aggression."
According
to the Office of Prosecutor, it requested information from the Russian
and Georgian governments back in August, 2008 and received response from
the both countries.
“We welcome Georgia’s ongoing cooperation with
my Office and the prospect that Georgian institutions could operate with
the Court in a complementary way,” (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo
said.
According to ICC, Russia has to date sent 3,817 communications
to the prosecutor's office relating to the situation in Georgia.
Representatives
from the ICC's prosecutor's office paid visit Georgia in November, 2008
and a new visit is tentatively planned for June, 2010.
|
| 22
Mar. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili zeichnete die Rugby-Mannschaft aus
für den Sieg über Russland
President Saakashvili awarded on
Sunday each member of Georgia's rugby team with Order of Honor after
beating Russia 36-8 in the last round of the European Nations Cup to
secure top spot in division one.
Both Georgia and Russia had already
qualified for the next year's World Cup in New Zealand even before
Saturday's match, with Georgia finishing with 27 points in the group,
followed by Russia with 25 points.
Speaking at a meeting with players
from the national team in the presidential palace, Saakashvili thanked
the team for dedicating the match against Russia to the memory of fallen
Georgian soldiers.
"I do not want to politicize sport and we should
not have any hate for sportsmen and we don't have any; sport is about
friendship; but not a single Russian television station reported about
your victory," Saakashvili said.
"Georgians have called the
yesterday's match 'a match of honor'; I want to award the entire team
with Order of Honor," he said.
Georgia-Russia match was played in
Turkey's Black Sea town of Trabzon, about three-hour drive from the
Georgian border on a stadium packed with up to 6,000 Georgians. Davit
Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary speaker; Nika Rurua, sports and
culture minister, Alexander Lomaia, Georgia's UN ambassador, as well as
First Lady Sandra Roelofs were among them.
The Georgians beat the
Russians 29-21 in their first clash of this season's tournament in
Mariupol, Ukraine year ago.
Saturday's match was in the top story on
the Georgian television stations with news bulletins covering
extensively not only its result followed by celebrations, but also
run-up to the match in previous days.
|
| 21 Mar. '10 | Imedi TV
entschuldigt sich nochmals für den fiktionalen Bericht
Am 15.3.
ordnete die nationale Kommission für das Nachrichtenwesen GNCC an, dass
Imedi in den Nachrichten zur Hauptsendezeit jene gesetzlichen
Verordnungen und Regelungen innerhalb von fünf Tagen bekanntgeben müsse,
die durch die Ausstrahlung des fiktionalen Berichtes verletzt worden
waren. Insbesondere entschuldigte sich Imedi in einer Erklärung bei den
in Tbilisi ansäßigen ausländischen Diplomaten, deren Filarchivmaterial
in dem fiktionalen Bericht benutzt wurde. ...
Pursuant to decision by
the Georgian National Communications Commission (GNCC), Imedi TV again
apologized on March 20 for its fake news report a week ago about
renewed war with Russia.
In a statement, along with viewers, Imedi TV
also apologized to those Tbilisi-based foreign diplomats, whose archive
footage was used in the fake report.
On March 15 GNCC ordered Imedi
TV to announce in its primetime news bulleting within five days those
provisions of laws and regulations, which it had violated by airing the
fake report and to apologize for doing so. At the time of this decision
by GNCC, Imedi TV and its top manager had already apologized and some
considered the regulator's ruling as too soft calling for fining the
television stations.
Law on broadcasting envisages fining of a
television station with 0.5% of annual income in the event it violates
the law, or code of conduct of broadcasters or terms of its broadcast
license.
27 minutes after the launch of its 8pm news bulletin on
March 20, anchor of the program read out Imedi TV's statement, which
said that the television station had violated law on broadcasting, code
of conduct of broadcasters and terms of its license.
”We apologize to
the society for a misleading broadcast, as well as to diplomats
accredited in Georgia, whose footage was used in the simulated report
without prior agreement with them," the statement says.
It also
apologized to an audience, which was gathered at a talk show, which
followed the fake report to discuss Russian-Georgian relations.
"Because
of this broadcast, they [guests of the talk show] became in the center
of unjustified negative criticism," the statement says.
Many
participants were criticized, as during the talk show only few of them
spoke out against the way the broadcast was made - without a disclaimer
caption on the screen while the report was running.
"The goal of
Imedi TV staff is to demonstrate to viewers work done with highest
standards of ethics and broadcasting, which is of special importance in
coverage of upcoming local elections and electoral campaign," Imedi TV
said.
|
| 20 Mar. '10 |
Moskau sagt, es sei bereit für Gespräche über einige
Handelsregelungen
Moscow said on March 19 it was ready to engage
in talks with Tbilisi to fill the gaps in legal framework for bilateral
trade, which emerged after Georgia withdraw from Commonwealth of
Independent States (CIS).
Rules of origin of goods applicable within
CIS was also an element to the 1994 Russia-Georgia free trade agreement
providing basis for preferential tariff treatment.
Russia banned
import of Georgia's major export commodities in 2006, more than two
years before Georgia decided to pull out from CIS following the 2008,
August war.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that
Georgia had appealed to Russia in July, 2009 and requested to sort out
this issue. It said that the appeal was made via Swiss embassy, which
acts as diplomatic go-between after Russia and Georgia cut diplomatic
ties following the August war.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said
that the Georgian side was "insistingly raising" this issue during two
rounds of talks held in October and December, 2009 in connection to
reopening of the Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point.
The
Georgian Foreign Ministry strongly denied on March 20 that it made any
appeal or request to Russia to launch talks to fill the gap in legal
framework for bilateral trade.
"This is yet another attempt [by
Russia] to mislead the international community," Giorgi Karalashvili,
head of department for relations with CIS at the Georgian Foreign
Ministry, said.
He also said that the issue related with rules of
origin of goods automatically was raised during the talks on reopening
border, as it was required to identify set of those document, which
would have been required during the border crossing.
In its statement
the Russian Foreign Ministry also said that because of having an
interest in "development of trade" between the two countries and also
"to reciprocate" to Georgia's request, Moscow had drafted proposals to
resolve the issue. It said that notification was sent to the Georgian
side via the Swiss embassy in December, 2009.
The Russian Foreign
Ministry also said that in an additional note in March, 2010, it had
notified Tbilisi via the Swiss embassy about Moscow's readiness to
provide the Georgian products preferential tariff treatment "on the
temporary basis" under the condition of "meeting certain rules" of
providing certificates of origin of goods.
"At the same time we deem
it necessary to launch talks in the nearest future on developing
comprehensive rules of identifying origin of goods with a purpose of
bilateral trade," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
"Showing good
will, we further intend to constructively consider issues concerning
relations with Georgia, which have concrete practical importance," it
added.
|
| 19 Mar. '10 | Behörden schließen eine Untersuchung der
Telefonaufzeichnungen zum Imedi TV-Bericht aus
Pavle Kublashvili,
Abgeordneter der Regierungspartei: "Es sollte keine Gutachten
dieser Telefonaufzeichnungen aus einenm einfachen Grund heraus geben:
eine Spur zu russischen Nachrichtendiensten ist offensichtlich."
Authorities Rule Out
Probe into Fake TV Report-Related Phone Recordings
The authorities have
ignored calls for probe
into recorded
phone
conversations,
which surfaced in connection with Imedi TV's fake
report, saying
that there was no doubt that recordings were "fabricated" by the Russian
Federal Security Service (FSB) and there was no need to make further
focus on the issue in internal political discourse as it was exactly
what Russia wanted.
One
of the recordings involves a brief discussion allegedly between Culture
Minister Nika Gilauri and President Saakashvili about the fake TV
report.
"I will not
comment on
fabrications made by FSB [Russia's Federal Security Service] and on such
foolishness," Rurua said on March 19 after he was asked to comment on
the recordings.
This recording, in
which
the man with voice resembling the one of Saakashvili says it was a
mistake of Imedi TV not to make a disclaimer caption on the screen, was
posted on a mysterious Russian-language website a day after a separate recording of phone conversation
between Imedi TV's head and his deputy surfaced on the same website.
This latter conversation indicated that President Saakashvili could have
been behind the TV hoax.
Christian-Democratic
Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary minority, called for
setting up of an ad hoc investigative parliamentary commission into the
matter and opposition Alliance for Georgia, called on the authorities to
carry out an expertise of the recording with the participation of
foreign experts.
"There
should be no expertise of these phone recordings for one simple reason:
a trace of Russian special services is obvious," Pavle Kublashvili, a
ruling party lawmaker, who chairs parliamentary committee for legal
affairs, told Civil.Ge on March 18.
Asked if he though
that questions on the matter would
linger unless no documented confirmation was produced, MP Kublashvili
responded: “It [Russian involvement] is absolutely clear for the society
and I hope that you also have no question marks about it.”
"It is just in
Russia’s interests if we now
start discussing it and we are not going to do that,” he said.
|
| 19 Mar. '10 | Staatsminister präsentiert der OSZE in Wien das
Strategierpapier der Regierung zu den besetzten Gebieten Abchasien und
Südossetien
"Die georgische Regierung hat einen Weg der
De-Isolation und des Engagements gewählt entgegengesetzt einem Weg der
Ächtung und Ausschließung. ... Die Strategie zielt auf die
Lebensumstände und örtliche Situationen, welche schließlich eine
freiwillige Wiedervereinigung von Gemeinschaften und friedliche
Entsetzung von diesen Gebieten fördert."
Temur Iakobashvili,
Georgia's state minister for reintegration, called on OSCE "to find ways
and tools how to become more active" in the implementation of Georgia's
strategy towards its two breakaway regions.
Iakobashvili addressed a
special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna and presented
the Georgian government's State Strategy on Occupied Territories:
Engagement through Cooperation.
Presentation was part of the Georgian
government's efforts to mobilize international support behind its
strategy. Iakobashvili in recent weeks has toured western capital and
various international organizations, including NATO, EU and Council of
Europe presenting the document.
"Government of Georgia has chosen a
path of de-isolation and engagment as opposed to the path of ostracism
and exclusion," Iakobashvili told the Council.
"Sometimes the
strategy is percieved as the [Georgian] government's reintegration or
deocupation strategy. This is an incorrect definition," he said. "The
title of the strategy precisely reflects its vision and strategic intent
- it is the roadmap for engagement and cooperation with the
communities, residing currently on the occupied territories. The
strategy aims at creating environment and ground, which eventually will
support to voluntary re-unification of communities and peaceful
de-occupation of these territories."
"This is a long-term goal, which
is not a subject matter of the strategy, but rather an eventual
by-product of the conflidence and trust that could be built between the
war-torn communities."
He said that two "fundamental pillars" were
necessary in order to implement the strategy: non-recognition policy and
active engagement.
"Active non-recognition policy should continue to
be pursued everywhere. Russia has to be constantly reminded of its
obligations under international law," Iakobashvili said. "At the same
time, while our territories continue to be occupied, we should not
forget about the people, who reside there."
He said that three issues
were not included in the strategy: security, status and internally
displaced persons. He said these were issues "of a medium to long-term
nature." But relations between the communities separated by the war, he
continued, was the issue of "an imminent humanitarian nature and we can
not wait until all the differences are sorted out."
"We need to act
now and act quick. This act has to be depoliticized," Iakobashvili said.
The
Georgian government is now working on developing an action plan, which
will lay out concrete proposals on how the strategy can be implemented.
Iakobashvili
said the goal was to organize a conference in the nearest months to
discuss an action plan. He also said that French Foreign Minister,
Bernard kouchner, had expressed interest to host the conference.
The
action plan, Iakobashvili said, would have two parts - unilateral
actions and "bileteral activities with authorities in control",
referring to the authorities of breakaway regions.
Unilateral
actions, which can be undertaken by the Georgian government, will
include providing residents of breakaway regions access to the benefits
available for the rest of the population of Georgia - healthcare,
education, social benefits or international travel. He said that Tbilisi
was ready to amand its legislature to put it in line with this purpose.
In
respect of actions, requiring interaction with the authorities in the
breakaway regions, the Georgian government is offering to establish
"status-neutral liaison mechanism."
"UNDP is sought to become
platform for this mechanism and in particular cases it will serve as an
implementation agency as well," Iakobashvili said.
In his address he
also reiterated that conflict with Russia could only be solved through
peaceful means. "This is the only viable way forward and we recognize
this," Iakobashvili said.
|
| 18 Mar. '10
| Russische und US-Diplomaten diskutieren über Georgien in
Moskau
Grigory Karasin, Russia's deputy foreign minister and
Philip Gordon, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and
Eurasian affairs, met in Moscow on March 17 and, among other issues,
also discussed Georgia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Ukraine,
Belarus and Moldova, as well as Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were other
topics of discussions, it said.
Gordon accompanies U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton on her visit to Moscow. There was no mentioning of
Georgia at a joint news conference after talks between Clinton and her
Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on March 18, which was dominated by
new nuclear disarmament deal, Middle East and Afghanistan.
In her
opening remarks during the press conference, Clinton, however, said,
without going into details, that there were differences in bilateral
relations. "We know that. We’ve raised them and we have had very frank
conversations about them. But they are raised within the context of an
overall approach that looks for ways to narrow the areas of difference,"
she said.
The Secretary of State has stated for number of times
previously that Georgia was among those issues on which the two
countries had differences.
|
| 18 Mar. '10 | Europäische Bank für Wiederaufbau und Entwicklung
(EBWE/EBRD) und georgien unterzeichnen zwei Projekte im Umfang von 180
Mio. Euro
Das eine Projekt ist eine neue Eisenbahnstrecke, die
das zentrum von Tbilisi umgeht, und das andere der Bau einer neuen
Hochspannungsleitung zwischen Zestaponi und Gardabani.
EBRD will
allocate EUR 180 million loan to Georgia for financing two major
projects - one to construct a new railway route bypassing center of
Tbilisi and another one to build a new high-voltage power transmission
line.
EUR 100 million loan will be allocated to finance a new double
track railway route 10 km north of Tbilisi, which will divert rail
traffic around the center of Tbilisi. This section of railway is part of
main route for freight on the east-west transport corridor in Georgia.
EUR
80 million loan to the Georgian State Elektrosystem (GSE), the
state-owned electricity transmission company, will finance the
construction of a 315 km high voltage electricity line between Zestaponi
in western Georgia and Gardabani in the eastern part of the country.
The project will include the construction of a back-to-back converter
station in Akhaltsikhe, close to Turkish border, which will interconnect
the Georgian and Turkish power networks.
"This project will open the
door to future investments in the electricity generation sector, in
particular in renewable energy, for which the Caucasus region has huge
potential,” EBRD President Thomas Mirow said at the signing ceremony in
Tbilisi on March 17.
President Saakashvili said at a meeting with
EBRD President that both of the projects were of "historic" importance.
Transmission
line project is co-financed by the European Investment Bank, the
European Union Neighbouring Investment Facility and the German
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW).
The Tbilisi bypass rail route
project is expected to be co-financed by the European Investment Bank
and grant financing from the EU’s Neighbourhood Investment Facility with
additional grant funding provided by the German government.
|
| 17 Mar. '10
| EU-Kommissionspräsident Barroso äußert zum Imedi
TV-Bericht: er sei besorgt ... Georgien solle Aktionen unterlassen, die
die Spannungen anheizen.
President of European Commission, Jose
Manuel Barroso, said on March 17 he was "concerned" about Imedi TV's
fake report on Russian invasion and called on Georgia to refrain from
actions which might fuel tensions.
"I am concerned by recent reports
of a hoax news item in Tbilisi," Reuters reported quoting Barroso, "I
want to urge Georgia to refrain from any activities which could
exacerbate local or regional tensions."
He was speaking at a news
conference after meeting with Georgian PM Nika Gilauri in Brussels.
Gilauri
told the news conference that the television stations, which carried
the fake report was privately owned. It is not clear who is behind a
company, which owns 90% of the television station shares. Head of the
television station is Giorgi Arveladze, a former economy minister and a
long-time ally of President Saakashvili.
Barroso reiterated EU's
"strong commitment to stability and democracy in Georgia and our firm
support for Georgia's territorial integrity and conflict resolution
efforts."
"The upcoming local elections will be an opportunity for
Georgia to demonstrate further its commitment to political pluralism and
international standards for free and fair elections," he said.
His
press office reported, that Barroso "congratulated Gilauri for the
progress already made in eradicating corruption and reforming the
justice sector."
|
| 17 Mar. '10
| EU-Ratspräsident Van
Rompuy: Bindungen EU-Georgien ‘verfestigen sich rasch’
President
of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, said after meeting
with Georgia’s PM Nika Gilauri in Brussels on March 16, that relations
between EU and Georgia were “strengthening rapidly”.
He said Georgia was “the only South Caucasus country to have
successfully negotiated” visa facilitation and readmission agreements,
whose signing and entry into force were now undergoing through EU’s
internal decision-making procedures.
“We hope that we can soon fix a date for signature, possibly early
June,” he said.
Herman Van Rompuy also said discussions within EU on the draft
negotiation directives for an Association Agreement with Georgia were
coming to an end, which “means that it should be soon possible to start”
talks on this agreement, including a deep and comprehensive free trade
treaty.
“The strengthening of relations between Georgia and the EU is a stimulus
for Georgia to deliver on further democratic reforms,” he said.
He also said that although EU would not send observers to monitor May
local elections, but “will watch the developments closely.”
The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR)
will send observers to monitor local elections.
Herman Van Rompuy reiterated EU’s support to Georgia’s territorial
integrity and said EU “expects Russia to fulfil all its commitments from
the ceasefire agreements.”
“It is the EU's intention to remain actively involved in confidence
building measures and conflict resolution. The EU Monitoring Mission has
proven to be a crucial factor of stability. It will remain so also in
the future,” he said. |
| 17 Mar. '10
| Putin äußert sich zu Weißrusslands Position bezüglich
Abchasien und Südossetien
Russia’s PM, Vladimir Putin, said on
March 16 that “it was really expected in Russia that Belarus would have
promptly, vigorously and effectively supported Russia” in recognition of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“We see it is not happening,” Putin said
at a joint news conference with Belarusian counterpart, Sergei
Sidorsky, during the visit in Belarus.
He said that it would be
positive if refusal to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia would at
least bring normalization of ties between Belarus and the west.
“We
have always been in favor of normalization relations between Belarus and
its western neighbors and the United States. And if it happens at least
on these grounds [refusal to recognize breakaway regions] – it already
means that there is certain positive result. Ultimately, Belarus is our
neighbor; we are building union state [with Belarus] with common
economic space. Normalization of relations of Belarus with the western
community is worth of that,” Putin said.
Putin also said that that
this issue was not at all discussed during his meeting with Belarus PM
Sidorsky.
EU warned Belarus against recognition of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia in early 2009.
|
| 16 Mar. '10 | Auslandsinvestitionen fielen auf 759 Mio. USD im Jahr
2009; 2008 noch 1560 Mio. USD
Foreign direct investment in
Georgia fell to USD 759.1 million in 2009, down from USD 1.56 billion in
2008, statistics office, Geostat, said on March 16.
Geostat said it
was a preliminary figure.
44.5% of overall FDI came from United Arab
Emirates and Egypt – USD 169.8 million and USD 167.5 million,
respectively.
The Netherlands was third with USD 105.7 million,
followed by Turkey – USD 89.5 million; Panama - USD 73.4 million and UK –
USD 63.5 million.
Industrial sector attracted most of FDI – USD
204.1 million, followed by transport and communications – USD 153.6;
hotels and restaurants – USD 134 million; real estate – USD 132 million;
construction sector – USD 79.7 million; banking sector – USD 45.3
million.
Foreign direct investment was USD 2.014 bln in 2007; USD
1.19 billion in 2006 and USD 449.8 million in 2005.
|
| 15 Mar. '10
| OSZE-Medienvertreterin Dunja Mijatovic äußert sich zum
Imedi TV-Bericht
Dunja Mijatovic, a new OSCE representative on
freedom of the media, said Imedi TV’s fake report on renewed war with
Russia was “irresponsible journalism.”
“My mandate… does not allow me
to deal with media content. However, I must underline that this
particular issue is not about content; it is about irresponsible
journalism and the impact it may have on media freedom and security,”
she said in a statement on March 15.
The statement also says that
contravening Georgian broadcasters' professional code of conduct, the
report carried no clear warning that it was fictitious; only a brief
notice before it began said it was a simulation of possible events.
“This
incident shows that self-regulation principles and mechanisms, which
are an essential tenant of freedom of speech, need to be expeditiously
enhanced and strengthened. My Office is ready to assist Georgia in this
endeavour," Mijatovic said.
“Broadcasters and other media outlets
ought to behave responsibly and not mislead the public by spreading
false information. This is of particular importance in Georgia and other
countries whose societies may be more prone to alarm due to recent
armed conflicts,” she added.
|
| 15 Mar. '10
| Präsident Saakashvili äußert sich zum Imedi TV-Bericht
Er
kritisierte, dass nicht dauerhaft eine Warnemeldung ausgestrahlt wurde,
dass dieser Bericht Fiktion sei und sagte, dass die Okkupanten
weiterhin an aggressiven Plänen arbeiten würden, deren Umsetzung aber
irreal seien wegen der Nachhaltigkeit der staatlichen Institutionen, des
Grades der Stärkung innerhalb der Gesellschaft und der Einstellung der
internationalen Gemeinschaft.
A day after saying that scenario
depicted in Imedi TV’s fake report on renewed war with Russia was
“maximally close to reality,” President Saakashvili said on March 15
that possibility of materializing Russia’s “aggressive plans” was not
real.
On March 14, Saakashvili criticized Imedi TV for not running a
warning caption on the screen indicating that it was a fiction; he,
however, also added: “But the major unpleasant thing about the
yesterday's report - and I want everyone to realize it well - was that
this report is maximally close to reality and maximally close to what
may really happen.”
In a written statement released on March 15,
President Saakashvili was more straightforward in condemning the
television station’s fake report saying “elements contained in this
program created aimless and worthless agitation.”
He also said that
“this very program - as presented in such plot and form - was
meaningless and even harmful to our society.”
“[The] program once
again proved that it is necessary to create high standards of
journalistic ethics, which on the one side will protect the principle of
free speech and on the other side will protect the society from
irresponsible journalists and journalism.”
“In spite of the fact that
the occupying forces are still at work developing various aggressive
plans against Georgia, the condition of our state institutions, the
level of consolidation within our society and the attitude of the
international society all make the plans of these occupying forces
impossible to realize,” an English-language version of the statement
posted on the President’s website reads.
The same part of the
statement in its Georgian-language version is as follows: “In spite of
the fact that the occupying forces are still at work developing various
aggressive plans against Georgia, the sustainability of our state
institutions, the level of consolidation within our society and the
attitude of international society make possibility of wide-scale
implementation of these plans very unreal.”
Tbilisi has also called
on the international community to pay attention on Russia’s policies
towards Georgia rather then focusing on the fake report by television
station.
“The Georgian government believes that instead of
concentrating attention on violation of standards of ethics by a
television station, the attention of the international community should
be focused – as it is – on such real facts like Russia’s occupation,
ethnic cleansing, non-fulfillment of ceasefire agreement, open actions
by Russia directed towards overthrow of the democratically elected
Georgian government and attempts to restore so called spheres of
influence,” President’s spokesperson, Manana Manjgaladze, said on March
15.
She has strongly denied allegations that President Saakashvili or
any government representative was aware of the fake report in advance
or had something to do with it.
Head of the Imedi TV is a former
member of government and President Saakashvili’s long-time ally, Giorgi
Arveladze. He apologized for causing "shock" by the report; he said the
report did not in any way aimed at "scaring" the public and was only
intended for "openly and clearly" showing those "those security threats
which our country faces."
“This allegation [about involvement of the
authorities] is an absurd,” Manjgaladze said. “Panic triggered by this
program first of all harmed the authorities. Georgia is a democratic
country and the authorities have no levers to control media. If the
authorities could exercise censorship over media, which is unacceptable,
it would have been the authorities’ interest to intervene and to block
that program from airing.”
|
| 14 Mar. '10
| Imitierter Bericht über wieder ausgebrochenen Krieg löst
Panik und Zorn auf Imedi TV aus
A 30-minute long fake report by
Imedi television station on Saturday evening as if Russian troops were
advancing to Tbilisi triggered panic and also wave of anger on the
television station, which has a nationwide broadcasting.
In a brief
notice to viewers before the launch of the report, the television
station told viewers it was "a simulation" of what might happen in case
Russian plans materialize. As the fake report was running mobile
networks crushed for several minutes as many were trying to call to find
out what was happening. News agencies reported, that number of calls
received by an emergency ambulance service, increased significantly at
the time when the fake report was running on Imedi TV.
The report
was aired by the Imedi TV's weekly program Special Report, which started
just couple of minutes before 8pm - time when Imedi TV runs its usual
news bulletin Kronika. Imedi TV's head is Giorgi Arveladze, former
member of government and a long-time ally of President Saakashvili.
"Have
you ever thought about the end of the Georgian statehood? Probably yes,
because we have already seen this threat in summer, 2008," an anchor of
Special Report, Natia Koberidze, said while opening the program.
She
then continued: "Russia's tactic against Georgia becomes more and more
dangerous. The occupying force is vigorously searching for and is
finding a foothold within the Georgian political spectrum."
"We want
to offer you a simulated, special bulletin of Kronika. Our viewers and
invited guest [in Special Report program's studio] will see a news
bulletin of probably the toughest day for Georgia, which take into view
those threats which politicians and experts are discussing regularly; [a
news bulletin about] how events may develop if the society is not
consolidated against Russia's plans. Let's see the news bulletin about
the worst future."
After these introductory remarks by the anchor, a
regular 8pm news bulletin of Imedi TV, Kronika, started. The story line
of the fake report focuses on post-local election period, sometime in
early June, 2010; opposition, allegedly led by Nino Burjanadze and Zurab
Nogaideli - the two politicians who have recently met with Russia's PM
Vladimir Putin, protests against the local election results; Russia uses
unrests in Georgia and intervenes militarily. The fake report
culminated with announcement about President Saakashvili's
"assassination" and "clashes" in outskirt of Tbilisi.
The TV station
carried no sign on the screen indicating that the report was fake,
A
regular anchor of 8pm Kronika opened the news bulletin with announcing
that President Saakashvili would make a special statement about "the
current situation in Georgia."
Then he continued: "As it was reported
few minutes ago, the Russian military forces, including its tank
battalion, deployed in Akhalgori [breakaway South Ossetia], declared
combat readiness; it is not ruled out that they will marched towards the
capital [Tbilisi]. This information caused panic in Gori, Tbilisi and
other Georgian cities; residents are trying to flee Tbilisi causing
traffic jams and queues at petrol stations... sabotage on strategic
facilities is not ruled out."
A caption was running bellow the
screen, saying: "Mobilization of the occupying forces; Akhalgori-based
military unit on combat readiness."
Then a new story line came into
the fake report with the news bulletin anchor announcing that "nine
persons wounded as a result of unrests in Tbilisi still remain in
hospital" and that four people were "killed" in those unrests.
"Unrests
in Tbilisi started on June 7 after unknown persons opened fire on
protesters gathered in the Tbilisi center to protest against the
election results," the anchor announced.
Mentioning of "June 7" was
among those few vague clues which the fake report contained indicating
that it was fake, but not definitely enough, as the report was
developing in such a way that it was becoming more misleading and many
viewers, especially those who started watching it not from its very
start, thought it was all true.
Then back in studio, the news
bulletin anchor announced that the opposition parties made a joint
statement "declaring the authorities as illegal and announcing about
establishment of so called people's government." It was again followed
by a separate fake report on details of "opposition's statement" with
use of archive footage from one of the meeting of opposition leaders.
Back
in the studio the anchor again repeated, about seven minutes after the
launch of the news bulletin, the initial announcement that
Akhalgori-based Russian military forces were on high alert and their
advance towards Tbilisi was not ruled out. The anchor also added that
"the Georgian troops are mobilized at the administrative border close to
Akhalgori and in Ergneti village."
Then the anchor made an
introduction to a new story line to the fake report, involving "life
attempt" on leader of breakaway South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity. The anchor
announced that Nino Burjanadze, leader of Democratic Movement-United
Georgia party and ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli, leader of Movement for Fair
Georgia, "arrived in Tskhinvali" and "along with the Russian
authorities, they also blamed the Georgian authorities for organizing
attack on Kokoity." The announcement was followed with a report with
archive footage of Tskhinvali and a journalist voiceover telling a fake
story about the details of "attack on Kokoity."
After that the anchor
in the studio announced that the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
summoned a national security council. A video footage of Medvedev
followed accompanied with a voiceover Georgian translation as if
Medvedev was saying that he was ordering his government "to neutralize
threat coming from Saakashvili."
The fake story then continued from
studio again with anchor announcing citing "information provided by the
people's government that three battalions of the Georgian armed forces
refused to support Saakashvili government and that they go under the
subordination of the people's government."
The White House was also
included in the fake report with the anchor announcing that President
Obama "is just making a statement; here is a live footage" from
Washington - again an archive footage was showed, although with caption
"live" showing President Obama with Vice President Biden standing next
to him; a voiceover Georgian translation gave a false quote of the U.S.
President as if saying that he calls Russia "to stop military campaign"
against Georgia. After that anchor also announced that Secretary of
State Clinton was "on her way to Moscow."
The anchor then announced
that "few minutes ago Russia conducted air strikes on Tbilisi airport...
on Senaki and Gori military bases."
It was followed by "a
sensational information", as the anchor put it, about "assassination of
President Saakashvili." "We are not yet able to confirm this report
disseminated by Nogaideli's party," the anchor said; he then added that
the President's administration released a statement saying "Saakashvili
is in a safe location".
The fake report was then followed by
announcement that "clashes are taking place in Mtskheta", just outside
Tbilisi.
After the end of this 30-minute fake story, the Special
Report program continued from its studio.
"For those who have just
joined us, I want to say that these were not real chronicles of today;
these were possible events that may take place in early June... Kronika
has offered you to imagine what should not happen," anchor of Special
Report, Natia Koberidze, said.
Then the program continued in studio
with large group of invited guest discussing Russia-Georgia relations
and potential security threats. Only few participants of the program
spoke out against the fact that the Imedi TV did not run a caption
saying that the report was fake.
In the course of the program the
anchor had to repeat for several times that it was "a simulation", as
many viewers were phoning to the television station complaining that the
TV report caused panic.
Growing protest against the fake report and
signs of panic it has caused, prompted the President's administration to
intervene.
About an hour after the fake report was over, Manan
Manjgaladze, President Saakashvili's spokesperson, arrived in studio of
the Special Report program and requested to make a statement. She said
that she was instructed by President Saakashvili to come and express on
his behalf "concern and alarm" about this fake report.
"There should
have been a caption on the screen showing that it was simulation," she
said.
Manjgaladze, herself a former anchor of Imedi TV news bulletin,
said she believes the television station should apologize.
"Theoretically
such things, which were shown today might be possible, but there is no
real threat of that," she said.
After the program was over, the Imedi
TV continuously was running a caption below the screen apologizing for
the fake report.
"It aimed at obstructing Russia's aggressive
plans," the caption reads.
The program was not yet over as several
Facebook campaign groups emerged condemning Imedi TV. In few hours one
such group attracted over 2,000 supporters and another one over 2,800.
Dozens
of angry people, including some opposition politicians gathered at a
spontaneous rally outside the Imedi television station. Some protesters
were lashing out at some of the program guests, criticizing them for not
speaking out against the fake report while participating in the
discussion in studio after the report was aired.
|
| 12 Mar. '10 | Irakli Alasania
trifft Levan Gachechiladze zu Gesprächen über die anstehenden Wahlen
Levan
Gachechiladze ist in diesen Tagen im Zentrum des Medieninteresses, da
er selbst in Sachen Wahl noch keine Position bezogen hat.
Irakli
Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia and Tbilisi mayoral candidate,
met with Levan Gachechiladze, co-founder of public movement Defend
Georgia, late on Thursday.
“We have exchanged our views about how do
we see election campaign for next ten weeks; as well as on coordination
of work of various political groups; I also informed him what I plan
during my election campaign,” Alasania said on March 12.
Gachechiladze
has been in the center of media attention these days, as he has not yet
announced about his decision - whether he will run for Tbilisi mayoral
office, competing with, among others, Alasania, or will support him. If
Gachechiladze decides to run, it will most likely further split overall
opposition vote.
Gachechiladze told the Georgian public broadcaster
on March 11, that he needs some time to make a final decision. “This
decision requires time,” he said. “It won’t be wasted time at all if we
eventually manage to agree on a single candidate.”
“Who will lead the
society for victory is important for me… Running for mayoral office is
not a goal in itself for me, neither supporting a candidate who is
doomed for a failure,” Gachechiladze added.
|
| 12 Mar. '10
| Präsident Saakashvili:
Russland’s or drei Jahren begonnenes Embargo gegen georgische
Produktescheiterte, da Georgien seine Export breiter auffächerte und
nicht mehr vom russischen Markt abhängig ist
President
Saakashvili said Russia had failed to achieve its goal through banning
import of Georgian products on its market.
He said that the result of
the Russian embargo was “vise-versa of what PM Putin, the initiator of
this embargo aimed” when imposing trade restrictions on major Georgian
export products three years ago. He said that Georgia managed to
diversify its export and that Georgia was no longer depended on the
Russian market.
He said that even if Russia agreed to return Georgian
products on its market, it would not mean that “Russia fell in love
with Georgia”.
“Russia loves Georgia like Lenin, or Shah Abbas [Abbas
I, the Shah of Persia notorious in Georgia for his invasion of
Georgia's eastern region of Kakheti in the early 17th century] loved
[Georgia],” he said.
“In fact, this embargo has lost any sense. The
Georgian people has demonstrated to the entire world, that we can firmly
stand on our feet; the experience has showed that we should not depend
solely on a single market,” he added.
|
| 12 Mar. '10
| US-Menschrechtsbericht zu Georgien: neue
Strafprozessordnung und geändertes Wahlverfahren werden als "sgnifikante
Menschenrechtserrungenschaften" genannt
New criminal procedure
code and amended election code, allowing for direct election of Tbilisi
mayor are named as "significant human rights achievements" of 2009 in
the U.S. Department of State’s annual human rights report, released on
March 11.
Parliament passed new criminal procedure code last October
and most of its provisions will go into force in October, 2010,
"The
central philosophy of the new criminal procedure code is to establish
the legal foundations for adversarial court proceedings: hearings and
trials that balance the interests of the state with the rights of the
accused, with the judge serving as a neutral and detached magistrate
tasked with ensuring fair proceedings," Department of State's 2009
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices says.
The report says that
"respect for media freedom declined" in Georgia and similar to previous
report, the recent one also says "there were credible reports that the
government restricted freedom of speech and the press."
"Throughout
the year NGOs, independent analysts, and journalists accused
high-ranking government officials and opposition politicians of
exercising influence over editorial and programming decisions through
their personal connections with news directors and media executives and
of exercising influence over advertising income through their personal
connections with business owners," according to the report.
It says
that media in breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia "remained
tightly restricted by the de facto authorities and Russian occupying
forces."
The report also says that alleged cases of arbitrary arrest
and detention increased last year and politically motivated
imprisonment, excessive use of force by the police, government pressure
on the judiciary, senior-level corruption in the government, poor prison
conditions and abuse of inmates were among main human rights abuses
reported in 2009.
According to the report there were "cases of
government interference with the rights of assembly and association."
"While
three months of protests [in April-July] by the nonparliamentary
opposition were generally held peacefully, there was a clear imbalance
in protest-related incidents - crimes against government officials were
investigated and solved quickly, while this was not the case for crimes
committed against nonparliamentary opposition activists," the report
says.
Like the previous one, the recent report notes that although
levels of petty corruption fell, concerns remained about high-level and
"elite corruption." It also says that there were a low number of
reported corruption cases among judicial authorities.
John Bass, the
U.S. ambassador to Georgia, said in a video podcast that the last year’s
report on Georgia “reflects a society in transition from a past of
occupation and conflict to a future as a full democracy.”
Along with
achievements, he said, the report “highlights a variety of areas were
the Georgian government needs to improve its performance to meet
international norms.”
“Many of these revolve around the inconsistent
or selective application of the rule of law in investigative resources,”
the U.S. ambassador said.
He also said the Georgian government had
been “unusually cooperative and responsive” in exploring and addressing
criticisms raised by the international community.
|
| 11 Mar. '10
| EU begrüßt Tbilisi’s Strategieentwurf zu den abtrünnigen
Regionen Abchasien und Südossetien mit dem Bekenntnis, den Konflikt
friedlich zu lösen
EU “takes note” of Georgia’s State Strategy on
Occupied Territories: Engagement through Cooperation and “welcomes
Georgia’s commitment to solve the conflict only through peaceful means,”
Catherine Ashton, EU’s foreign policy chief, said.
“The EU welcomes
the spirit of the initiative as a constructive step towards easing
tensions, building confidence and reaching out to the residents of the
Abkhaz and South Ossetian regions,” she said in a statement made on
behalf of EU on March 10.
The strategy paper was endorsed by the
Georgian government on January 27. Among other things, it offers to
facilitate people-to-people contacts “across the dividing lines” through
humanitarian, economic and “grassroots-level trade” measures, as well
as through restoration of transport links. It also proposes to create
dedicated funds with the participation of the state, donor community and
private investors, to support joint business activities.
The
document offers setting up of “a status-neutral” mechanisms “for
interaction with authorities in control of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali
region/South Ossetia” in order to implement goals laid out in the
strategy paper. Ashton said in the statement that EU welcomed this
proposal of setting up of a status-neutral mechanism and called on all
the interested parties to facilitate its establishment.
“A key
priority for Georgia will be to ensure that the relevant legislative and
administrative framework, including the Law on Occupied Territories and
its implementation, is being brought in line with the opinions
presented by the Venice Commission on this matter,” the statement says.
Speaking
to European parliamentarians in Strasbourg on March 10, Ashton said
that EU “support[s] confidence building measures to rebuild ties with
the breakaway republics.”
She also said that EU had “full agenda”
when it was discussing Georgia with Russia “as I did only ten days ago”
with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We need stronger
structures, more flexibility and better preparedness if we want Georgia
to be the benchmark for the future,” the EU foreign policy chief said.
|
| 11 Mar. '10
| Peter Semneby, EU-Sonderbeauftragter für den Südkaukasus,
besucht Sokhumi
Dieser Besuch knüpft an die Empfehlung des
ICG-Berichts an, die Kontakte zu Vertretern und Gruppen im abtrünnigen
Abchasien weiterzuführen oder zu erneuern, ohne "rote Linien zur
Statusfrage zu überqueren", vielmehr um die Konfliktlösung zu
voranzubringen.
EU’s Special Representative for South Caucasus, Peter
Semneby, is expected to arrive in breakaway Abkhazia on Thursday
evening.
Meetings with Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh; parliamentary
speaker Nugzar Ashuba and the breakaway region’s PM Sergey Shamba are
planned on March 12.
According to a recent report on Abkhazia by
Brussels-based think tank, International Crisis Group (ICG), in
December, 2009 EU’s Political and Security Committee agreed a "non-paper
on the parameters for EU’s non-recognition and engagement policy for
Abkhazia and South Ossetia" aimed at carving out political and legal
space within which the EU can interact with the breakaway regions
“without crossing status red lines, thus emphasising a strategic
interest to engage so as to increase its leverage to move conflict
resolution forward.”
According to the same report European Commission
officials who visited Abkhazia in January, 2010 “felt their [Abkhaz]
interlocutors were keen to continue and deepen cooperation that can
promote development, such as with small- and medium-sized enterprises.”
But
citing a position of unnamed “prominent” Abkhaz opposition figure, the
report also says that not all Abkhazians share the Abkhaz government’s
“generally positive view” towards EU member states, largely because they
are seen as “pro-Georgian”.
In its report the International Crisis
Group recommended EU to “continue or renew contacts with authorities and
civil society groups in Abkhazia – including by traveling there –
without implying legitimisation or recognition of Abkhazia as an
independent state or otherwise undermining Georgian sovereignty.”
|
| 11 Mar. '10
| Polnischer Premierminister Donald Tusk besucht Georgien
PM
of Poland, Donald Tusk, visits Georgia on March 11 as part of his trip
to South Caucasus states.
He met with his Georgian counterpart, Nika
Gilauri, and will meet with President Saakashvili later on March 11.
“Although
there are certain political differences between him and President Lech
Kaczyński, he supports Georgia like President Kaczyński,” Konstantine
Kavtaradze, Georgia’s ambassador to Poland, told Rustavi 2 TV on March
11.
During the visit PM Tusk also plans a meeting with Polish members
of EU Observer Mission in Georgia (EUMM). Poland has contributed 21
monitors to 250-strong EU observation mission.
PM Tusk, who arrived
in Tbilisi from Baku, will visit Armenia on March 12.
|
| 10 Mar. '10
| Georgische Menschenrechtsgruppen treffen sich mit
britischen und französischen Diplomaten in Tbilisi, um aktuelle Fälle zu
besprechen
Georgian human rights and advocacy groups met with
British, French and U.S. ambassadors in Tbilisi on March 10 to convey
their concerns regarding recent cases of, as they put it, targeting
human rights groups and activists.
Representatives from Human Rights
Centre (HRC), Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) and
Multinational Georgia, an umbrella organization for dozens of NGOs
working on ethnic and religious minority issues, participated in the
meeting held in the office of HRC.
“There have been cases of direct
or indirect pressure on activists and human rights groups and we wanted
to inform ambassadors about these cases,” Ucha Nanuashvili, head of
Human Rights Centre, said.
He said, among other issues, the case of
Arnold Stepanian, founder of Multinational Georgia and representative of
Armenian community in Georgia, was raised during the meeting. ...
|
| 10 Mar. '10
| Ex-TV-Nachrichtenmoderator Inga Grigolia ist
im Gespräch für den Stadtrat von Tbilisil
A former TV anchor,
Inga Grigolia, is likely to lead a party-list of candidates in
proportional contest for Tbilisi City Council membership, nominated by
Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a leading party in the
parliamentary minority, Rustavi 2 television station reported on March
9.
"No final decision is yet made, but I can confirm that we are
actually in final stage of consultations [with Grigolia]," MP Giorgi
Targamadze, leader of CDM and of parliamentary minority, told Rustavi 2
TV.
"We can say with high probability that she will be number one in
our list [of candidates]," another senior CDM member, MP Levan
Vapkhvadze, said.
Being a number one in the party-list of candidates
means that Grigolia, who has been hosting various political talk shows
for years on various TV stations - the most recently on the public
broadcaster till July, 2009, will contest for the Tbilisi City Council
chair's post.
Many in CDM leadership, including Giorgi Targamadze,
were colleagues to Grigolia working together in Imedi TV station before
quitting it two years ago.
Also no March 9, CDM inaugurated an
election headquarter for its Tbilisi mayoral candidate Giorgi Chanturia,
a former head of the state oil corporation. Chanturia, who said he is
neither opposition, nor pro-government figure and not a politician at
all, is running a campaign under the slogan "Employment and Low Tariffs"
- household tariffs on water, electricity and gas.
|
| 9 Mar. '10
| Präsident Saakashvili: ‘Georgien nähert sich, "die
Schweiz dieser Region zu werden mit Elementen von Singapur’
Saakashvili
hielt eine Ansprache anläßlich der Eröffnung eines neuen Schulgebäudes
für eine türkisch-georgische Schule in Batumi. "... unser größte
herausforderung und Aufgabe ist die SChaffung eines Bildungssystems auf
höchtsem Niveau in dieser Region ..., so wie es in der Schweiz oder
Singapur war. ... Nach der ersten Phase der Reformen, in der die
Korruption im Bildungssystem beseitigt werden mußte, sollte nun der
Fokus auf der Verbesserung der Qualität gerichtet sein. ..."
President
Saakashvili said on March 9, that Georgia was moving towards
becoming “Switzerland of this region with elements of Singapore.”
Speaking at an opening ceremony of a new building for Turkish-Georgian
school in Batumi, Saakashvili mainly spoke of education system.
“The major thing, that we should create and which represents our major
challenge and task, is creation of the highest level of education
system in this region and hopefully in Europe and in the world – like
it was in Singapore, like it was in Switzerland,” he said.
“Because we are Switzerland of this region with elements of Singapore;
of course we have a long way ahead before reaching that point.
[Georgia] is the place where most of the financial interests will be
concentrated, the most of the business activities will be concentrated,
the most of the transport and tourism infrastructure will be
concentrated; we will create all these together with our friends; these
children [referring to school children standing behind him] should make
all this work – these are the most honorable citizens of future
Georgian Switzerland, future Georgian Singapore, future Georgian Dubai,
Georgian Hong Kong and of greatest Georgia of all times,” Saakashvili
added.
In his speech at the ceremony, also attended by visiting Turkish State
Minister Hayati Yazici, Saakashvili hailed Turkish investments in
Georgia’s education system through establishing university and schools,
“where Georgian patriots are being grown up.”
“This word – patriotism, which some consider as shameful, is not
regarded as shameful in these schools, because Turkey knows very well
what does patriotism of own country mean and appreciates what does
patriotism in its neighboring – especially in its friendly neighboring
countries – mean,” Saakashvili said.
He said that after eradicating corruption in the education system on
the first stage of the reforms, Georgia should now focus on “increase
of quality of education.”
“We had very good education ministers,” he said and added that first
education minister in his administration Alexander Lomaia, who is now
Georgia’s ambassador to UN, established “fair education system” through
eradicating corruption.
“What [current Education Minister] Dimitri Shashkin is now doing is
modernization of this system – this fair system should now produce high
quality of education,” he said.
2010 state budget allocated GEL 557.6 million for the Ministry of
Education and Science, against GEL 519 million in 2009. This funding is
2.9% of this year’s forecasted GEL 19 billion GDP.
|
| 6 Mar. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili weist den Gesundheitsminister an,
Haartests auf Drogenmißbrauch bei öffentlichen Angestellten
durchzuführen
President Saakashvili has ordered the Healthcare
Ministry to test hair samples of public officials for evidence of drug
misuse. ...
Although there have been several cases of drug testing
among public officials, MP Lortkipanidze offered on March 5 to conduct
hair drug tests, instead of urinalysis, saying that analysis of hair
samples is more effective, which can provide a drug history of over a
90-day period.
“The government should listen attentively to all those
reasonable initiatives, which will be coming from the political groups.
The reaction [of the government] should not be rejection, [proposals]
should be accepted if considered necessary for the country,” Saakashvili
said.
He said the entire “public sector - and it is about 100
thousand persons” should undergo these tests.
He also said there were
6,000 inmates in the Georgian prisons serving sentences for illegal
drug trade. He called drug misuse “a catastrophic” problem for Georgia.
“In
recent years the level of drug misuse has stabilized, but we managed to
do it through taking draconian measures… Although I understand that
repressive methods can not resolve this problem,” he said and added that
environment should be created, wherein drug misuse would be socially
unacceptable.
|
| 5 Mar. '10 | Medvedev: Georgien erneuert seine militärisches Potential
mit Hilfe von außen
Russia’s President, Dmitry Medvedev, said on
March 5, that Georgia was increasing its military capabilities with the
help “from outside”.
“Unfortunately, not all the countries and
politicians have learnt lessons from the developments in August 2008.
Unfortunately, restoration of Georgia’s military potential still
continues and it happens with outside help,” Medvedev said at a meeting
with top Russian military commanders.
He said that because of this
and also because of “difficult social-economic situation in the
Caucasus” he had created a new federal district of North-Caucasus in
January, when the Southern Federal District was divided to create a new
North Caucasus Federal District comprising six of the seven North
Caucasus republics, plus Stavropol Krai. Medvedev said that this new
administrative division would help to increase coordination among the
law enforcement structures.
Medvedev also said that Russian-proposed
new European security pact had a potential to create an appropriate
format able “to prevent various regional conflicts; first of all on the
European continent, including the conflicts similar to the
Georgian-Ossetian one.”
|
| 3 Mar. '10
| Nino Burjanadze (DMUG) besucht Moskau; Details sind noch
nicht bekannt
Nino Burjanadze, ex-parliamentary speaker and
leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia (DMUG), left for Moscow on
March 3 as part of, as she put it, her engagement in “big politics.”
“This
is very important visit, I am going there to defend the interests of my
country and my people, because the country I am leaving for is our
neighboring state, one of the largest and strongest states, and
naturally the position of this state is important for Georgia’s unity,
for Georgia’s democratic and sovereign development,” Burjanadze told
reporters before departure.
“I am occupied by big politics; while
others are occupied with mayoral elections and the authorities are
occupied by carrying out black PR campaign against the opposition, I am
doing big politics,” she added.
Details of Burjanadze’s visit,
including with whom she plans to meet have not been released by her
party. DMUG, however, said that after trip to Moscow, Burjanadze also
planned visits to Brussels and in number of other European capitals, as
well as to the United States.
Former PM and leader of Movement for
Fair Georgia, Zurab Nogaideli, who has recently signed a cooperation
agreement with Russia’s ruling party, welcomed Burjanadze’s visit to
Moscow.
“It is very important that Nino Burjanadze has slightly
changed her previous stance in respect of Russia, when she was saying
that dialogue with Russia was needed, but with certain preconditions.
You know she was saying that at first Georgia’s de-occupation should
take place. But now we have all seen that no one is in fact afraid of
our preconditions. The dialogue is needed to create a chance of
de-occupation and of reunification,” Nogaideli told Rustavi 2 TV.
|
| 3 Mar. '10
| Richard Holbrooke,
US-Sonderbeauftragter für Afghanistan und Pakistan: Georgische
Truppenentsendung nach Afghanistan ist ‘von außerordentlicher Bedeutung’
Georgien
stellt mit 950 Mann die größte Beteiligung umgerechnet auf die
Bevölkerung. Er sagte auch beim Besuch eines Ausbildungsbatallions
außerhalb Tbilisis: "Die US-Marines, welche die Ausbildung betreuten,
hätten ihm gesagt, dass diese zu den besten Streitkräften gehörten, die
sie je gesehen hätten."
Georgia’s contribution to the Afghan
operation is “extremely important”, which has “gotten far too little
attention,” U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,
Richard Holbrooke, said on March 2.
At a briefing in Washington on
his recent trip to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, Georgia and
Germany, Holbrooke said that he visited Georgia on February 21-22 to
only discuss Georgia’s plan to send additional troops to Afghanistan.
“We
did not discuss U.S-Russian relations. We did not discuss issues
involving their future relationships with NATO. This was an
Afghanistan-related trip,” he said.
Georgia, which already has 175
soldiers in Afghanistan serving under the French command, will send in
April an infantry battalion without national caveats, who will be
deployed alongside with the U.S. Marines in the province of Helmand.
After
sending the battalion number of Georgian troops in Afghanistan will
increase up to 950, making Georgia the largest per capita contributor to
the Afghan operation.
Holbrooke, who during the visit observed
training of the Georgian battalion outside Tbilisi, said: “The U.S.
Marines, who are advising the training… said these are among the best
troops that they’ve ever seen.”
He said that many of those Georgian
soldiers, who will be deployed in Afghanistan, were part of Georgia’s
2,000-strong troops serving in Iraq. Georgia withdrew its troops from
Iraq during the war with Russia in August, 2008.
“They have a
tremendous fighting tradition,” Holbrooke said. “President Saakashvili
and I had discussed this [deployment] a year ago and started the process
which has led to the deployment… I want to express with great strength
on behalf of the entire U.S. Government how much the United States
Government appreciates the Georgian contribution.”
Holbrooke also
said that his trip to Georgia “came by coincidence on the same day that
the government in the Netherlands fell.” The Dutch coalition government
collapsed on February 20 when the two largest parties failed to agree on
whether to extend or not presence of the Dutch troops in Afghanistan
beyond its original deadline of August, 2010.
|
| 3 Mar. '10
| Vier Arbeiter sterben bei einer Explosion im
Kohlebergwerk in Tkibuli
An explosion in coal mine in western
Georgia killed 4 miners and badly injured one late on March 2, officials
said on Wednesday.
A methane gas leak seems to be the cause of the
incident in mine in Tkibuli, said a governor of Imereti, the region
where the mine is located.
|
| 2 Mar. '10
| Suchumi wirft Tbilisi vor, die Arbeit humanitärer
Organisationen in der abtrünnigen Region Abchasien zu unterminieren;
Tbilisi wirft Suchumi vor, mit der Unterzeichnung eines Memorandums eine
Art Anerkennung als Staat zu erhalten
Abkhaz leader, Sergey
Bagapsh, accused Tbilisi of an attempt “to undermine” work of dozen of
international humanitarian groups operating in the breakaway region,
claiming that the Georgian authorities were “pressuring” those groups
not to sign with Sokhumi a document setting “a legal framework” for
their activities in the region.
Bagapsh says in an English-language
statement released on March 1, that these “untoward” attempts by Tbilisi
might “unnecessarily disrupt” humanitarian services from twelve
organizations “to thousands of innocent civilians.”
RFE/RL’s
Russian-language Ekho Kavkaza reported last month that Sokhumi had
offered international non-governmental organizations and several UN
agencies, including UNDP, UNHCR and UNICEF, operating in the region to
sign a memorandum on cooperation, preamble of which contains a following
wording: “Respecting the sovereignty and independence of the Republic
of Abkhazia”. Some of those organizations, in response, offered Sokhumi
to sign “a code of conduct”, which, according to the report by Ekho
Kavkaza, was partly similar to the Abkhaz-proposed memorandum, but made
no references to the region’s status.
Bagapsh said in the statement
that code of conduct “has no legal governing authority” and “no
government would stand for that, and no NGO would want its people
working under such ill-defined conditions.” He also called on the
humanitarian organizations to urge Tbilisi “to cease immediately its
campaign to politicize humanitarian NGO services.”
Officials in
Tbilisi say that Sokhumi itself politicizes the issue by trying to gain
some sort of recognition through insisting on signing a memorandum with
reference to the status.
Both Sokhumi and Tbilisi say that they are
interested in presence of the humanitarian organizations in the region.
|
| 2 Mar. '10 |
Minister Temur Iakobashvili angesichts des
franz.-russischen Mistral-Waffengeschäfts: Georgien sollte in der
Lage sein, Defensivwaffen zu kaufen
Possibility to buy defensive
armament and NATO-membership are among those key factors that can
provide Georgia’s security, Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state
minister for reintegration, said on March 2.
Remarks were made when
he was commenting on possible sale of French Mistral-class helicopter
carrier amphibious assault warships to Russia. The Georgian officials
have expressed concerns about the possible deal for number of times and
Georgian deputy foreign minister, Nino Kalandadze, said Paris was aware
of Georgia’s concerns on the matter.
“I see protection of Georgia’s
interests in two issues: first, Georgia should timely be granted NATO
membership, because Georgia can not engage in race with Russia in buying
Mistrals and other type of weaponry; second, we should have an
opportunity to procure defensive armament and I think this issue should
be out of question after the Mistral deal; we have the right to protect
ourselves and we should be able to buy what we need for that purpose,
including from France,” Iakobashvili said.
French President, Nicolas
Sarkozy, said at a joint news conference with Russian counterpart,
Dmitry Medvedev, in Paris on March 1: "How can we say to the Russians,
'We need you to resolve a certain number of problems, notably the
Iranian crisis, which is a very important crisis but we don't trust you,
we can't work with you on the Mistral ships'?"
“This is a symbol of
trust between our countries,” the Russian President said at the same
press conference. “I hope that these negotiations [on Mistral deal] will
be crowned by success.”
|
| 2 Mar. '10
| US-finanzierte neue Radarstation in Gonia eröffnet, um
die Möglichkeiten der Küstenüberwachung zu verbessern
A new radar
station to enhance Georgian coast guard's capability to control
seacoast and prevent smuggling was opened in Gonia, Adjara autonomous
republic on March 1.
The USD 502,000 radar station is the last of
four radars funded by the United States. The other three radars on the
Black Sea coast, also funded by the U.S., are in Anaklia, close to the
Abkhaz administrative border; Supsa in Guria region and Chakvi in
Adjara.
"These radar stations are important for the overall security
of Georgia," the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said.
The radar stations
were built under the supervision and oversight of the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and funded in frames of the Georgia Border Security and Law
Enforcement program, through which in last ten years the U.S. donated
the Georgian law enforcement agencies goods and services worth of USD
150 million, according to the U.S. embassy.
Georgia's border crossing
infrastructure with Russia in Kazbegi district, which reopened on March
1, was modernized last year in frames of this U.S. assistance program.
|
| 28 Feb. '10 | Armenischer und georgischer Präsident versprechen, die Beziehungen zu vertiefen
Armenian
and Georgian Presidents, Serzh Sargsyan and Mikheil Saakashvili,
respectively, said after meeting in Georgia's Black Sea coast region of
Ajara on Sunday that they had agreed to further deepen "already close
ties" between the two countries.
Sargsyan paid two day private visit to Georgia on February 27-28.
President
Saakashvili described his Armenian counterpart as "a very brave person"
and said he was admired by the results he had achieved in Armenia. He
also said that they agreed "to integrate" the two countries economies.
"We are two small countries and we need each other... I am sure our
relations will be further deepened," Saakashvili said.
President
Sargsyan said he was very "glad with this meeting" and added that 2010
would be year of further boosting bilateral relations.
According
to the Armenian President's press office the two Presidents also
discussed issues related with reopening of border crossing point
between Georgia and Russia, Armenian media sources reported.
Kazbegi-Zemor Larsi border crossing point, through which Armenia has a
land access to Russia via Georgia, will be reopened from March 1.
During
the first day of the Armenian President's visit, the Georgian President
said in Batumi: “I want to welcome my and our country’s great friend
the President of Armenia."
"These two countries have never had
before such cloudless relations and close partnership.” President
Saakashvili said after taking a walk together with his Armenian
counterpart in central streets of Batumi.
President Sargsyan
thanked the Georgian counterpart for “warm welcome” and said that the
two countries had “really very good relations.”
|
| 27 Feb. '10 | Armenischer Präsident Serzh Sargsyan Georgien
... “I want to welcome my and our
country’s great friend the President of Armenia. These two countries
have never had before such cloudless relations and close partnership,”
President Saakashvili said after taking a walk together with his
Armenian counterpart in central streets of Batumi. ...
|
| 27 Feb. '10 | Präsident
Saakashvili sagt vor Abgeordneten, dass eine weitere Kürzung der Mittel
für Verteidigung nicht angemessen wären angesichts der bedrohten
Sicherheitslage
In his rebuttal speech to the President’s annual
state of the nation address, parliamentary minority leader, MP Giorgi
Targamadze, called on the authorities to reduce defense spending at a
level of GDP’s 3% and redirect saved funds to business stimulus
projects.
“We have already reduced defense funding twice; and it has
been done by the country which is actually in the state of war,”
Saakashvili responded in his closing remarks.
“I want to remind you
that ceasefire accord remains unfulfilled [by Russia] and we have no
peace treaty with Russia, because in exchange for peace treaty [Russia]
asks us to recognize occupation of the Georgian territories,” he said.
Georgia’s
defense funding is GEL 750 million in 2010, which is up to 4% of this
year’s forecasted GEL 19 billion GDP. 2010 defense funding is down from
GEL 897 million in 2009 and GEL 1.547 billion in 2008.
According to
a report on Abkhazia, which was released by International Crisis Group
on February 26, over the past few months Georgia discharged from the
armed forces 600 mid-level officers, including 100 colonels, partly in
an effort to slash spending. ICG cites Georgian military officials and
Tbilisi-based European diplomats as source of this information.
President
Saakashvili also said in Parliament on February 26: “I repeat we will
never surrender. When we speak about reduction of defense spending, Mr.
Targamadze, neither are you a leader of a Buddhist-Democratic party,
nor do I look like Dalai Lama, either by appearance or by actions,
because I want to live in my country and I want to struggle in my
country to the end.”
|
| 27 Feb. '10 | ICG International Crisis Group (ICG) legt Bericht zu Abchasien mir dem Titel “Abkhazia: Deepening Dependence” vor
A
year and a half after recognition of Abkhazia by Moscow, the region “is
undoubtedly more dependent than ever on Moscow,” a Brussels-based think
tank, International Crisis Group (ICG), said in its report released on
February 26.
The report reviews key developments in Abkhazia after
its recognition by Russia and analyses the economic, political
situation in the region, as well as its external relations, issues
related to media, population and Russia’s military build up following
the August war.
Officials in Sokhumi do not see their increasing
dependence on Russia as a threat, according to the report titled
“Abkhazia: Deepening Dependence”.
Citing unnamed high-ranking Abkhaz
official, the report says that Sokhumi considers security and economy
as two major concerns. “Our relationship with Russia meets our needs in
both areas. We have the amount of independence that we require,” the
official was quoted.
Although Russian officials have given various
figures, from 1,700 to 3,700, for their troop numbers in Abkhazia, the
report says that according to western military analysts with access to
satellite imagery, estimated number of Russian troops is from 4,000 to
5,000, including coast guard units, border guard forces of Federal
Security Service (FSB) and regular troops. ICG said it had obtained
these figures from western military officials and western European
intelligence sources in September, 2009 and in January, 2010,
respectively.
The Bombora airbase near the town of Gudauta, which is
the largest military airfield in South Caucasus, is central to Moscow’s
plans for its long-term military presence, according to the report. The
airbase is important because of its location along the Black Sea and
lengthy runway that can handle heavy payload military cargo craft.
The
breakaway region’s budget was 60% directly supported by Russia in 2009
and in 2010, although the monetary figure of Russia’s support to
Abkhazia’s budget will remain the same, there will be fall in
percentage terms to 49% - 1.9 billion rubles (USD 63 million) out of a
total budget of 3.875 billion rubles (USD 128.5 million).
“It
remains uncertain, given their military and economic dependence on
Moscow, how much room for independent manoeuvre the de facto
authorities in Sukhumi have to deal with Georgia,” the report says.
ICG
recommends the Georgian authorities to show constructiveness and not to
try to isolate Abkhazia, “even though Moscow’s flouting of the
ceasefire agreements makes this a bitter pill to swallow.” The report
notes that the Georgian government’s new strategy towards its breakaway
regions “partly reflects new thinking.” Sokhumi has strongly rejected
the strategy.
ICG called on Sokhumi to reconsider its outright
rejection of the document as “Abkhazians could clearly benefit from
some of the economic and trade proposals [of the document], which could
lead in turn to further development and an end to isolation.”
“But
at the same time, Tbilisi should focus on taking practical steps to
make these projects possible without linking them to status,” the
report reads.
The report also warns that with the conflict remaining unresolved it may “again destabilise the southern Caucasus.”
|
| 27 Feb. '10 | Georgisch-russischer Grenzübergang Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi wird am 1.März wiedereröffnet
...
“Georgia does not expect any special economic or political benefit from
reopening of this border crossing point,” Alexander Nalbandov, the
Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on February 27. An agreement to
reopen the border crossing point was reached as a result of talks held
in October and December held in Yerevan and Kazbegi, respectively. The
first meeting in Yerevan was held “through mediation” of Armenian
officials, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry and the second
was held in presence of Swiss mediators. ...
|
| 26 Feb. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili spricht über ‘Kollaborateure’ beim 89. Jahrestag der Invasion der roten Armee
...
"Ich bedauere diese Personen. Was kann man Unwürdigeres tun, als vor
seinem Feind niederzuknieen und die Füße des Feindes zu küssen? Was
kann Unwürdiger sein als das?" Obwohl er niemanden direkt beim Namen
nannte, spielte er offensichtlich auf Ex-Premierminister Nogaideli an,
den Parteichef der "Movement for Fair Georgia". ...
President
Saakashvili said on February 25 that Georgia “will never kneel down”
before its enemy and what happened 89 years ago, when Bolshevik Red
Army occupied Georgia, will not be repeated.
February 25 marks 89th
anniversary of occupation of Tbilisi by the Red Army, putting an end to
Georgia’s three-year independence in 1921.
Speaking to journalists
late on February 25 after a ceremony commemorating Georgian soldiers
fallen in a battle with the Red Army in Kojori, outside Tbilisi,
President Saakashvili spoke of “collaborationists”, who “kneel down
before the enemy”.
“I pity these people,” he said. “What one can do
more undignified than to kneel down before your enemy and kiss your
enemies’ feet? What can be more indignity than that?” he said.
Although
not naming directly anyone, he was apparently alluding to ex-PM Zurab
Nogaideli, leader of Movement for Fair Georgia. Saakashvili made
frequent allusions of this type in his recent speeches.
“The
best parts of our country are occupied and 500,000 people expelled from
their homes. Cooperation with the occupying force was shameful in
occupied France and occupied Europe. Those cooperating with occupants
can not have any dignity,” he said.
“Georgia is a free country and
enemies of freedom will not be able to take Georgia back in past,” he
said, adding that a small group of “collaborationists will never darken
free Georgia.”
He also said that throughout its history “Georgia outlived most of its invaders”.
“We
have endured Shah Abbas [Abbas I, the Shah of Persia notorious in
Georgia for his invasion of Georgia's eastern region of Kakheti in the
early 17th century] and we will endure Putin too,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 25 Feb. '10 | Gespräche zu vermißten Personen in Genf unter der Vermittlung des Int. roten Kreuzes (ICRC); Tbilisi und Tskhinvali tauschen Listen aus
Nach
Shota Utiashvili vom Innenministerium sind auf der Liste Georgiens 37
vermißte personen aufgeführt, davon 25 Zivilisten, 9 Armeeangehörige
und 3 Polizisten.
...
Participants of the meeting from Tbilisi and Tskhinvali exchanged lists
of missing persons, Georgian official and representative of the
breakaway region’s authorities said.
Shota Utiashvili, head of the
Georgian Interior Ministry’s information and analytical department,
said that the Georgian side handed over list of 37 missing persons,
including 25 civilians, 9 military servicemen and 3 policemen.
“Unfortunately, there is no hope that they are alive,” Utiashvili told
Civil.Ge on Thursday. ...
|
| 23 Feb. '10 | ‘Riße’ in der "Allianz für Georgien" nach Bemerkungen von Davit Gamkrelidze und anderen zu Alasania's Entscheidung
Irakli
Alasania’s decision to try to reach an agreement with some other
opposition groups on a single mayoral candidacy separately from
Alliance for Georgia, left his two partners from the three-party
alliance - New Rights and Republican parties – in limbo, at least for
now.
After Alasania’s surprise announcement that his party, Our
Georgia-Free Democrats, would engage in talks with other opposition
groups to define forms on how to select a single candidate without his
partners because of differences with them, New Rights and Republicans
tried to assure supporters that the move did not yet amount to the
collapse of the Alliance for Georgia, which was established exactly a
year ago.
“It is unfortunate, that the society sees some cracks in
the Alliance on its one year anniversary,” Davit Gamkrelidze, the
leader of New Rights Party, said. He, however, added it was still too
early to speak about disintegration of the Alliance.
Davit
Usupashvili, leader of Republican Party, said in remarks to Kavkasia TV
on February 22, that members of the Alliance for Georgia enjoyed with
certain degree of authority to act independently. But there are limits
as well, he said.
“Irakli Alasania is aware that if he decides to
take part in the primaries - that is already beyond the limit and it
amounts to withdrawal from the Alliance, but we are not there yet and I
am sure that Irakli himself will ascertain that this option [of going
into primaries] is unacceptable and not right,” Usupashvili said.
So
called primaries or preliminary election to select a single mayoral
contender, to which Usupashvili was referring, is pushed by three
parties – Conservative; Party of People and ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s
Movement for Fair Georgia.
In remarks to Maestro TV, Davit
Berdzenishvili, a senior member of the Republican Party, clearly
indicated that the New Rights and Republicans had to wait for
Alasania’s final decision. He suggested that Alasania would fail to
convince other opposition groups on his terms of selecting a single
candidate, which would make him to again align himself with the
Alliance for Georgia.
The Alliance for Georgia also includes, as an
individual member, ex-public defender Sozar Subari, who was named by
the Alliance as Alasania’s running mate for the Tbilisi City Council
chairmanship. Although not “yet focusing” on Subari’s possible mayoral
candidacy, Berdzenishvili hinted that the option was not ruled out in
case Alasania eventually decides to distance himself with the Alliance.
Another condition set by New Rights and Republicans is rejection of any type of cooperation with Nogaideli’s party.
In
his remarks made on February 22, Alasania although indicated that he
preferred options, other than primaries, to select a single candidate,
he also did not speak strongly against holding of primaries. He,
however, strongly ruled out to take part in any form of selecting a
single candidate that would be financed by ex-PM Nogaideli. The plan of
holding primary, pushed by Conservatives and Party of People is
believed to be sponsored by Nogaideli.
Alasania said his proposal
was to give the authority to select a single candidate to a large group
of civil society representatives – apparently referring not only to NGO
community, but to well-known public figures from various fields, which
are known to be opposition-minded.
There have always been
differences on the issue of primaries within the Alliance for Georgia.
While initially New Rights were in favor, the Republican Party was
strongly against from the very beginning and Alasania and his party
seemed to be undecided. But eventually in late December, the
three-party alliance released a joint statement saying no to the
proposal.
Davit Gamkrelidze acknowledged on February 22 that it took
some time for the New Rights Party to realize “threats posed by the
primaries.” He said it was “a trap set by the authorities against the
opposition.” New Rights and Republicans say that with opposition party
having no registered supporters it was easily possible for the
authorities to manipulate with the results of primaries through
encouraging its supporters to take part and vote for the weakest
opposition candidate.
Levan Gachechiladze, leader of public movement
Defend Georgia, is believed to be an important player capable to
influence on shaping final opposition configuration ahead of the local
elections. Gachechiladze was opposition presidential candidate in 2008
election winning most of the votes in Tbilisi, but losing to President
Saakashvili nationwide. Although since then his popularity suffered,
especially after the last year’s street protest rallies, Gachechiladze
is still regarded as a potential mayoral candidate.
On February 22,
Gachechiladze, like the Conservative, Party of People and Movement for
Fair Georgia, welcomed Alasania’s decision to seek broad opposition
consensus on selecting a single candidate and said that he himself
would also engage in this process. He, however, again refused to shed
light whether or not he would run for mayoral office, saying that it
would only become clear in the course of consultations.
There have
been speculations in the press that Alasania’s withdrawal from the race
in favor of Gachechiladze was a possible scenario, but Alasania denied
that. “If Gachechiladze decides to run, we will be competitors,”
Alasania said on February 22.
Both the New Rights and Republican
parties said the best possible scenario would be if Gachechiladze
supports Alasania’s candidacy. Davit Usupashvili, leader of Republican
Party, even recalled in this context Sozar Subari’s remarks saying that
he was ready to say no to his ambition to run for Tbilisi City Council
chairmanship it would help the opposition unity. Although not saying it
directly, but Usupashvili’s remarks were an apparent hint that it was
possible to make Gachechiladze Alasania’s running mate instead of
Subari.
While this group of opposition parties has yet to determine
a final configuration, there are several key parties on the opposition
front, which boycotting the local elections. The Labor Party, led by
Shalva Natelashvili; ex-parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze’s
Democratic Movement-United Georgia and National Forum, led by Kakha
Shartava, are among them.
Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a
leading party in the parliamentary minority group, and its mayoral
candidate Giorgi Chanturia are running a campaign on their own without
aligning themselves with any of the other opposition groups. Chanturia,
who described himself as neither opposition nor pro-government figure,
would be running for the office no matter what the configuration on the
other side of the opposition front will be.
|
| 22 Feb. '10 | Memorandum zwischen der öffentlichen Rundfunkanstalt GPB, dem Parlament und politischen Parteien errreicht
Upon
the request of the Speaker of Parliament, National Democratic Institute
(NDI) facilitated series of individual and joint meetings between
political party representatives and leadership of the Georgian Public
Broadcaster (GPB). The aim of these meetings was to reach agreement
between political parties and GPB regarding the format and the
programming of the new political channel. As a result of these
consultations the agreement was reached on the main principals that
have been signed by the following subjects: Parliament of Georgia,
Georgian Public Broadcaster, and Political Parties.
The signatory subjects agree on the following: ....
|
| 22 Feb. '10 | 13
Parteien und die öffentliche Rundfunkanstalt GPB stimmen dem Format und
der Programmgestaltung des neuen politischen Fernsehsenders zu
Thirteen
political parties and the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) agreed on
February 22 on the format and the programming of the new political
channel, which will become available on GPB’s Second Channel.
The
channel, which is expected to go on satellite to cover entire country,
along with Parliament’s plenary sittings will also provide live
coverage of committee sessions; as well as “daily, non edited and live
coverage of the opposition parties.”
“The parties will be provided
with one hour coverage, which they shall sequentially rotate among
themselves. The program will be broadcasted during primetime
(22:00-23:00),” according to a memorandum signed on February 22.
According
to the memorandum, which was drafted as a result of series of
consultations, facilitated by the U.S. National Democratic Institute
(NDI), the channel will also organize debates at least once in a week
on the draft laws being discussed in the Parliament. During non-session
period it will air debates on various political issues. The memorandum
is in force until next parliamentary elections in 2012.
Full service
provided by the channel will only be available to political parties,
which have signed the memorandum: Christian-Democratic Movement;
National-Democratic Party; On Our Own; Democratic Party of Georgia (all
four are part of parliamentary minority group); the ruling National
Movement party; the Georgian Troupe (led by MP Jondi Bagaturia); Party
of Freedom (led by MP Konstantine Gamsakhurdia); Conservative Party
(led by Zviad Dzidziguri); Party of People (led by Koba Davitashvili);
Movement for Fair Georgia (led by ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli);
Traditionalists (led by Akaki Asatiani); Our Georgia-Freed Democrats
(Irakli Alasania) and public movement Defend Georgia (led by Levan
Gachechiladze).
The memorandum, however, envisages that GPB’s Second
Channel will provide airing “unedited, full versions of
press-conferences and briefing” of those parties, which refused to sign
the memorandum but fall under the criteria defined by the document.
Ex-parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze’s Democratic Movement-United
Georgia; as well as National Forum, Labor Party and Georgia’s Way, New
Rights Party and Republican Party fall under this category.
Republican
Party leader, Davit Usupashvili, said his party refused to join the
memorandum because it would not change situation on in broadcast media.
He said his party was instead offering to establish an inter-party
group, which would work on elaborating measure on how to tackle
political pressure on national broadcast media.
|
| 22 Feb. '10 | Alasania's
Partei will getrennt von den Partnern aus der "Allianz für Georgien"
für eine breite Übereinstimmung in der Opposition auf einen einzigen
Kandidaten bei den lokalen Wahlen hinarbeiten
... “If we have a
disagreement within the Alliance about the forms of selecting a single
opposition candidate, then we should give each other an opportunity to
act freely,” Irakli Alasania said at a meeting with a group of students
on February 22.
Alasania shunned away from describing the situation
as a split of Alliance for Georgia and instead preferred to use a term
“to act freely” – meaning that each Alliance member was free to act on
its own, which in itself is believed to be the major sign of
disintegration.
“As far as other forms of our relations [OGFD’s with
Republican and New Rights parties] are concerned, it will be defined in
the nearest future,” Alasania said in an interview with news agency,
InterPressNews, on February 22.
“Other members of the Alliance are not taking part in consultations in which I am engaging together with my party,” he said.
Alasania
also said that he still remains a mayoral candidate, but now only of
his own party. “They [Republicans and New Rights] may take some other
decision,” he said. ...
|
| 20 Feb. '10 | Burjanadze’s Partei beschuldigt die Regierung ‘Provokativer Schritte’
An
intention by Georgian lawmakers to extend hand of cooperation to
colleagues from Russia’s North Caucasus republics “bypassing” Moscow,
accompanied by talk on Russia’s possible invasion is “yet another
provocative step” by the Georgian leadership, Democratic
Movement-United Georgia (DMUG), party led by ex-parliamentary speaker
Nino Burjanadze, said in a statement.
Speaking to an audience in
London-based think-tank Chatham House on February 17, President
Saakashvili said he was worried that Russia’s “new invasion remains
possible.” He also said that if Russia’s “bullies are not challenged
they become bolder.”
On February 19 a newly established
inter-faction group in the Georgian Parliament for friendship with the
legislative bodies of Russia’s North Caucasus republics, announced that
it had drafted a letter of “friendship and cooperation”, which would be
sent to their colleagues in the North Caucasus republics.
The
Georgian lawmakers from the group, which held its inaugural session on
February 19, say that current tense relations between Tbilisi and
Moscow should in no way hinder attempts to keep “historically friendly”
ties between the peoples of the Caucasus.
“The North Caucasians
should know, that they are on Georgia’s mind and no matter how
political processes develop, we will undertake efforts to have firm and
stable relations with our North Caucasian brothers,” Nugzar Tsiklauri,
a ruling party lawmaker from the group, said. “I wish our relations to
become more active in various fields including science, cultural
relations and contacts between political leaders.”
In a written
statement, the ex-parliamentary chairperson’s party said that “friendly
relations with the peoples of Caucasus are very important” and there
had long been a need to undertake attempts in that direction.
“But
unfortunately no such steps have been undertaken and making this kind
of statement now, in such a situation, is obviously of provocative
nature, which can serve as a pretext for a very tough reaction by
Russia,” DMUG said in the statement.
DMUG called on the Georgian
lawmakers not to endorse such appeal and on international community “to
appropriately assess and react on President Saakashvili’s reckless and
provocative steps”, which, it said, were increasing chances of “yet
another war.”
|
| 20 Feb. '10 | Nodar Kumaritashvili in Bakuriani beerdigt
Throngs
of mourners turned out on Saturday for a funeral of 21-year-old
Georgian luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died in a crash during
practice run hours before the Vancouver Olympics on February 12.
Kumaritashvili
was laid to rest in a yard of a local church in his hometown Bakuriani,
a ski resort 190 kilometers west of Tbilisi.
President Saakashvili,
dressed in Georgian Olympic team’s jacket, led an official delegation
of lawmakers and government members to the funeral service in Bakuriani.
Any
suggestion that the tragic accident was a result of Kumaritashvili’s
error is strongly rejected and condemned in Georgia with officials
speaking of lack of safety norms at Whistler Sliding Centre.
“It’s a
fact that safety norms have been violated. Apart of the fact that speed
was too high, the athlete should not have flown off the track,” Giorgi
Natsvlishvili, president of the Georgian National Olympic Committee,
said at a news conference in Tbilisi on February 18.
An official police investigation is ongoing in Canada to establish the cause the luger’s tragic death.
The
International Luge Federation and Vancouver Olympic officials said
after initial probe that the crash was the result of the athlete’s
error and that “there was no indication that the accident was caused by
deficiencies in the track.” However, it was decided to modify the track
and a wooden wall was erected at final curve where Kumaritashvili
crashed and flew off the track.
The late athlete’s fellow luger and
a friend Levan Gureshidze, who should have been the first Georgian
athlete to compete at the Vancouver Olympics, withdrew from the games.
Gureshidze, along with president of Georgian National Olympic Committee
and Kumaritashvili’s coach and uncle Felix Kumaritashvili, accompanied
the late athlete’s body back to Georgia.
Georgia's remaining team consists of three alpine skiers, three figure skaters.
|
| 19 Feb. '10 | US-Sondergesandte für Pakistan und Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke kommt in Tbilisi am Sonntag an
The
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador
Richard Holbrooke, will visit Georgia on February 21-22, according to
the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi.
“He will meet Georgian President
Mikheil Saakashvili. Ambassador Holbrooke will also visit Georgian
troops at Krtsanisi National Training Center (KNTC) and observe
training for the ISAF operation in Afghanistan,” the embassy said.
Georgia’s cooperation with and contribution to NATO-led forces in Afghanistan will be discussed during the visit.
|
| 19 Feb. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: Russisch-französiches Waffengeschäft "sehr riskoreich"
President
Saakashvili said possible purchase of French Mistral-class warship by
Russia was posing threat to its neighbors and Moscow’s bid to buy
French armored vehicles was even more worrying.
Saakashvili told
reporters in London on February 18, that the prospective warship sale
was “very unusual and very, very risky” and the “tank issue is 10 times
bigger.”
He said if Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin “gets
tanks, ships, missiles — technology which he's also shopping for — then
we are getting into a very, very risky zone,” The Wall Street Journal
reported.
Saakashvili also said Georgia had an “informal exchange of
opinions” with Paris about the warship deal but hadn't made an official
protest. And according to The Times report, Saakashvili said he would
seek urgent talks with French President Sarkozy, who has approved but
not yet formally announced the sale of the warship to Russia.
He
said the warship deal could be seen as a “reward” to France from Moscow
for not forcing Russia to fully comply with the terms of the August 12,
2008 ceasefire accord, mediated by President Sarkozy in a capacity of
EU presidency.
French ambassador in Tbilisi, Eric Fournier, told
Georgian TV station Rustavi 2 in a Georgian-language statement, that
Russia’s proposal to buy the warship was “in principle accepted
positively” by Paris, but discussions and considerations were still
underway.
French company Panhard said this week that it was
discussing selling “less than a dozen” of four-person Light armoured
vehicles (VBL) to Russia.
Speaking to reporters in London,
Saakashvili also criticized Paris-based satellite operator, Eutelsat,
for not allowing the Georgian public broadcaster’s Russian-language
channel, First Caucasian, to broadcast from one of the operator’s
satellites.
“They knocked it off the air on political grounds —
because Russia doesn't like it,” The Wall Street Journal reported
quoting Saakashvili.
Paris court of commerce will launch hearing Georgian public broadcaster’s case against Eutelsat on February 22.
|
| 18 Feb. '10 | Georgien
ruft alle ausländischen diplomatischen Vertreter auf, sich der
Erklärung der NATO anzuschließen, in der das jüngste Militärabkommen
zwischen Moskau und Suchumi verurteilt wurde
At a meeting with
foreign diplomats accredited in Tbilisi on February 18, Georgian
Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze called for condemning signing of a
military treaty between Moscow and Sokhumi.
“The Georgian side
called on the representatives of diplomatic corps to join a statement
by an official representative of NATO, who noted that the North
Atlantic Alliance condemns this treaty,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry
said.
The Georgian MFA was referring to remarks by NATO
spokesperson, Carmen Romero, who, according to Reuters, called on
Russia to reverse the military deal with Sokhumi and said it was a
violation of the EU-mediated ceasefire accord.
"We do not consider
any agreements signed between the Russian Federation and the regions of
Georgia as having any validity," Reuters reported quoting NATO’s
spokesperson.
In a separate statement, the Georgian Foreign Ministry
said that with this treaty, apart of reinforcing military presence in
Abkhazia, Russia also aimed at putting “within ‘legitimate’ frames its
military occupation and annexation of the Georgian regions.”
“Russia's
pursuit of its expansionist plans poses a real threat not only to
Georgia, but to the Caucasus and Black Sea regions as a whole,” the
Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
|
| 18 Feb. '10 | Allianz für Georgien scheint die Differenzen zu möglichen Verbündeten beseitigt zu haben
...
“As far as [ex-PM Zurab] Nogaideli’s party is concerned, our position
[within the Alliance for Georgia] is absolutely identical,” Irakli
Alasania, leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) and of the
Alliance for Georgia, said on February 18.
“Differences –
ideological and in respect of foreign policy – are so huge with
Nogaideli’s party that we won’t be able to have any political alliance
or agreement with his party,” Alasania added. The remark signaled
reversal from OGFD’s initial position on the issue, expressed on
February 17. After two parties within the Alliance – New Rights and
Republicans – said that they were ready to cooperate with “all the real
opposition parties” on selecting a single mayoral candidate, except of
ex-PM Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia, a senior figure from OGFD,
Zurab Abashidze, said that the party was in favor of cooperating with
“everyone” including with Nogaideli. ...
|
| 18 Feb. '10 | Sprecher von Präsident Saakashvili: Bemerkungen der russischen Führer über Präsident Saakashvili werden "langweilig"
Statements
like the one made by Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, saying that
President Saakashvili was “persona non grata” for Russia, are becoming
“boring,” the Georgian president’s spokesperson, said on February 17.
Medvedev
reiterated on February 17 at a joint news conference with Abkhaz
leader, Sergey Bagapsh, in Moscow that he would have no ties with the
Georgian President.
“As usually, monotonous statements are heard
from Russia, which is becoming tiresome and boring. And it is also
boring to make same comments on the same statements all the time.
Russian leaders, however, do not seem to be tired of making such
statements,” Manana Manjgaladze, Georgian president’s spokesperson,
said.
She said that this kind of statements was made by a leader of
the country, which “committed ethnic cleansing and expelled 500,000
people from their homes… and building illegal military bases on the
territory of other country.”
|
| 18 Feb. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili bei einer Rede in London bei der Denkfabrik Chatham House: Meine Regierung steht zur Medienfreiheit
President Saakashvili said on February 17, that Georgian “media still lacks objectivity and professionalism.”
Speaking
to an audience in London-based think-tank, Chatham House, Saakashvili
said that his “government is committed to media freedom” and added that
there were several TV channels in Georgia “hostile” to the authorities.
“There
are several hostile channels on the air and they have satellite license
to broadcast everywhere; [these are] very, very hostile channels,” he
said.
By saying “hostile” he was apparently referring to Maestro and Kavkasia – two TV stations broadcasting in the capital Tbilisi.
“There are also other independent media channels,” Saakashvili continued, “there are 24 regional independent media channels.”
According
to a report by Transparency International-Georgia about the broadcast
media landscape, several TV stations in regions are owned by people who
are “closely connected” to members of national or regional
administrative bodies and high-ranking ruling party officials.
President
Saakashvili also said that reforms were underway “to ensure and broaden
political debates” and in this context he mentioned planned
reorganization of the public broadcaster’s second channel to provide
coverage of parliament proceedings and to allocate airtime to
politicians’ statements and press conference.
Saakashvili welcomed
cooperation between BBC World Service Trust and the Georgian public
broadcaster. A BBC team is monitoring and advising the public
broadcaster’s newsroom. Saakashvili said that he had recently met with
this team “to hear what they have to say.”
|
| 17 Feb. '10 | Neuer OSZE-Vorsitzender Kanat Saudabayev, auch kasachischer Außenminister, besucht Georgien
Kanat
Saudabayev, the Kazakh foreign minister and OSCE new
chairman-in-office, arrived in Georgia on February 17 as a part of his
South Caucasian tour.
Kanat Saudabayev has already held talks with
the representatives of opposition parties. Opposition representatives
said after the meeting that upcoming elections and security issues were
discussed.
He will also meet with Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze and Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze.
Saudabayev
is paying his first visit in the capacity of chair of 56-member
organization to South Caucasus countries to discuss “protracted
conflicts.” Before arriving in Tbilisi he visited Armenia and
Azerbaijan.
|
| 16 Feb. '10 | 134
Georgier reichen Klagen am europäischen Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte
ein; sie klagen gegen Russland wegen der Verletzung etlicher
europäischer Menschenrechte wahrend des Krieges im August 2008
134
Georgian citizens lodged complaints to the Strasbourg-based European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) last week, claiming that Russia violated
number of European human rights laws against them during the 2008,
August war.
Tbilisi-based Georgian young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA)
and its London-based partner European Human Rights Advocacy Center
(EHRAC), acting on behalf of the 134 applicants, said the applications
primarily concern cases of shelling and air attacks on villages;
destruction of property and the killing or injuring of civilians and
the deliberate burning and looting of houses.
The applications,
which are in 34 groups, originate from the Georgian villages within the
breakaway South Ossetia and the surrounding areas (Achabeti, Argvitsi,
Atsriskhevi, Avlevi, Berula, Brotsleti, Dzartsemi, Dvani, Eredvi,
Kekhvi, Kere, Kitsnisi, Ksuisi, Kurta, Satskheneti, Tkviavi, Vanati,
Zardiaantkari and Zemo Khviti), as well as from the town of Gori.
“These
cases raise important questions about the applicability of the ECHR to
a conflict situation, and they will also test the ‘reach’ of the ECHR -
the applicants are asking the Court to find Russia responsible for
violations perpetrated by its armed forces outside Russian territory,”
EHRAC said.
“The Court will also be asked to decide that the Russian
Federation was responsible both for the actions of its armed forces and
of Ossetian militia.”
The complaints have been lodged against Russia
based on the principle of “effective control”, which the Russian forces
have been exerting on the territories concerned, Natia Katsitadze, a
lawyer with GYLA, told Civil.Ge
Last January, ECHR said it had
examined seven applications lodged against Georgia in connection with
the August war and the Chamber decided to give priority to these
applications.
These applications were lodged by six residents of
South Ossetia and a member of the Russian armed forces attached to the
peacekeeping troops in Tskhinvali, according to ECHR.
In these cases
the applicants claim violation of their or their close relatives’ right
to life, inhuman or degrading treatment, interference with the right to
respect for private and family life and home, damage to property or its
destruction, absence of an effective domestic remedy and discrimination
on the ground of ethnic origin.
|
| 16 Feb. '10 | Alasania spricht von der Notwendigkeit zur Einheitlichkeit der Opposition im Hinblick auf die lokalen Wahlen
"...
Wir sind dabei, Verhandlungen zu führen; es gibt mannigfaltige
Möglichkeiten, durch welche die Einheit erreicht werden kann. ..."
“It is natural that we should run
united in these elections. Victory will be inevitable in that case. So
we will establish that unity… We are in the process of negotiations;
there are various forms through which the unity can be reached,”
Alasania said on February 16, without giving details.
|
| 14 Feb. '10 | Georgien’s Außenhandel 2009 fiel um 29% gegenüber dem Vorjahr
Export: 5.513 Mrd. USD, Handelsbilanzdefizit 3.243 Mrd. USD, wichtigste Partner: Türkei 1 Mrd., Aserbaidschan 544.4 Mio. USD, Ukraine 502.3 Mio. USD, Deutschland 324.4 Mio. USD, Russland 310.2 Mio. USD
Georgia’s foreign trade turnover in 2009 dropped 29.3% from a year earlier to USD 5.513 billion, according to the Georgian statistics office, Geostat.
The
value of export was USD 1.135 billion, down by 24.1% and import was USD
4.378 billion, down by 30.6% from a year earlier. Trade deficit
declined by 32.5% to USD 3.243 billion, against USD 4.56 billion in
2008.
Turkey remains the Georgia’s major trading partner with the
trading volume slightly over USD 1 billion, which is 15.7% less than in
2008.
Although trade turnover with Azerbaijan declined to USD 544.4
million, against USD 813,2 million in 2008, it still remains Georgia’s
second largest trading partner.
Ukraine comes third with USD 502.3
million, down from USD 791,8 million in 2008; followed by Germany – USD
324.4 million; Russia – USD 310.2 million; the United States – 263.6
million; Bulgaria – USD 235.1 million; China – USD 180.6 million; Italy
– USD 150.9 million; Canada – USD 131.3 million.
Ferro-alloys
remained the number one Georgian export, amounting USD 130 million;
followed by semi-manufactured and unwrought gold – USD 116.1 million.
Oil
products and hydrocarbons top the list of imports totaling USD 707.2
million; followed by vehicles – USD 254.7 million and medicines – USD
175.1 million.
|
| 13 Feb. '10 | Georgien bleibt bei den olympischen Spielen im Gedenken an Kumaritashvili
Ein
kleines Team georgischer Sportler marschierte in der Eröffnungsfeier
der olympischen Winterspiele in Vancouver ein. Sie trugen schwarze
Armbänder und Schals, die georgische Flagge mit einem schwarzen Band
bedeckt, um dem tragischen Tod des Sportkameraden Nodar Kumaritashvili
Achtung zu erweisen.
Einige andere Teams, darunter Kroatien und die
Tschechische Republik, trugen während des Einmarschs auch Trauerflor.
Auf den Stadionsanzeigen war zu lesen: "Die heutige Feier ist dem
Gedenken des georgischen Sportlers gewidmet."
A small team of
Georgian athletes marched at Vancouver Winter Olympic Games opening
ceremony wearing black armbands and scarves, with a black stripe on the
Georgian flag to mark the tragic died of teammate Nodar Kumaritashvili.
Some other teams, including from Croatia and the Czech Republic, also wore black armbands while marching.
Just
before the start of the opening ceremony, the scoreboards in the domed
football stadium went black, and then a message appeared reading:
“Tonight's Ceremony is dedicated to the memory of Georgian Olympic
athlete.”
The 21-year-old luger died in a crash while practicing
just hours before the opening ceremony. Shocked with the news of the
death, the Georgian delegation initially started considering whether to
continue or not participation in the games, but as Culture and Sport
Minister Nika Rurua said before the opening ceremony, the Georgian team
would stay in memory of Kumaritashvili.
"Our sportsmen and our
athletes decided to be loyal to the spirit of the Olympic Games and
will compete and dedicate their performances to their fallen comrade,"
Reuters quoted Rurua as saying at a press conference in Vancouver.
U.S.
Vice President, Joe Biden, who spoke to U.S. athletes in Vancouver,
expressed condolences to Georgia, The Associated Press reported.
“This
is a nation that has gone through an awful lot in the last three, four
years,” he said of Georgia. “It’s a small nation of five million
people, and the pride they had in representing their country here at
the Olympics, and now to suffer this loss is just tragic.”
The
Georgian Minister for Culture and Sport denied speculation that Nodar
Kumaritashvili was inexperienced as “unfair and misleading.”
“He was 44th in the world ranking. During training yesterday he took 11th spot," Rurua said.
Kumaritashvili was raised at Georgia’s traditional winter sports resort of Bakuriani.
Georgia's remaining team consists of three alpine skiers, three figure skaters and another luger, Levan Gureshidze.
|
| 13 Feb. '10 | Georgischer Rodler verünglückt in Vancouver einige Stunden vor der Eröffnung der olympischen Winterspiele
Während
der letzten Trainigsfahrt fuhr Nodar Kumaritashvili mit fast 150 km/h
nahe dem Ende der Rennstrecke, als der die Spur verließ und gegen einen
Stützpfeiler prallte. Die Rennstrecke in Whistler gilt als eine der
schnellsten und herausfordernsten der Welt. Kumaritashvili wurde sofort
ins Krankenhaus gebracht; die Ärzte konnten ihn nicht wiederbeleben.
Der Präsident des olympischen Komitees IOC Jacques Rogge sagte: "Unsere
ersten Gedanken sind bei der familie, den Freuden und Kollegen des
Sportlers. Die gesamte olympische Familie ist von dieser Tragödie
getroffen, die sicherlich einen Schatten auf diese Spiele wirft." Er
wies darauf hin, dass er mit Kumaritashvili's Familie sprach und auch
Präsident Saakashvili anrief, "der die Spiele hier in
Vancouver besucht".
21-year-old Georgian luger, Nodar
Kumaritashvili, died in a crash during training, hours before the
opening of Vancouver Olympic Games on February 12.
"We are all in
deep shock, we don't know what to do. We don't know whether to take
part in the opening ceremony or even the Olympic Games themselves," BBC
quoted head of Georgian Olympic delegation Irakli Japaridze.
Nodar
Kumaritashvili was reportedly going close to 150 km/h, near the end of
the course, when he launched off the track and hit on a metal pole
during the final training run.
The track at Whistler, where the tragedy has occurred, has a reputation as one of the fastest and challenging in the world.
Kumaritashvili was rushed into the hospital; doctors were unable to revive the athlete, who died in hospital, officials said.
“Our
first thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of the
athlete. The whole Olympic Family is struck by this tragedy, which
clearly casts a shadow over these Games”, the President of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, said.
“It is a sad day, I have no words to say what we feel,” he said.
Rogge
also said that he spoke with Kumaritashvili's family and also phoned
President Saakashvili “who is attending the games here in Vancouver.”
"It
is a tragedy for his family and the team. It casts a shadow over the
opening ceremony," Thomas Bach, the IOC vice-president, said.
International
Olympic Committee (IOC), Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC)
and International Luge Federation said in a joint statement that an
investigation was underway into the circumstances of the accident. It
said that training was suspended and technical officials were trying to
establish the causes.
Georgia's remaining Olympic team consists of three alpine skiers, three figure skaters and another luger, Levan Gureshidze.
Rogge said that the Georgian delegation was still considering whether to continue participation in the games or not.
|
| 12 Feb. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili gratuliert Yanukovych zu dem Sieg bei den Präsidentschaftswahlen in der Ukraine
“The
Georgian President and the Ukrainian President-elect had a very warm
and well-disposed phone conversation,” Manana Manjgaladze said.
“President Saakashvili congratulated Viktor Yanukovych on his victory
in the presidential elections and wished the Ukrainian people success,
economic and democratic development.”
“The [Ukrainian] President-elect expressed desire for future cooperation,” she added.
|
| 11 Feb. '10 | Parliamentsvorsitzender
Davit Bakradze in der Türkei: Tbilisi möchte, dass Ankara sich in der
Strategie der georgischen Regierung gegenüber den abtrünnigen Regionen
engagiert
Cooperation between Georgia and Turkey, which is “a
guarantee of stability” in the region, should be “an example” for other
countries, Davit Bakradze, Georgian parliamentary speaker, said during
his visit to Turkey.
Parliamentary delegation, led by Bakradze,
which visits Ankara on February 9-12, held talks with Turkish
Parliamentary Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin and the President of
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe and founding member of
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party, Mevlüt Çavusoglu, as
well as Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç.
Bakradze proposed Turkey
to engage in implementation of Georgian government’s strategy towards
breakaway regions, Georgian Parliament’s press office reported.
The
document, which was endorsed by the government in late January, offers
launch of a dialogue with Abkhaz diaspora in Turkey - ancestors of
those tens of thousands of Muslim Abkhazians, who had to move to the
then Ottoman empire, as part of a larger Muslim migration process from
the Caucasus in the nineteenth century.
Temur Iakobashvili, the
Georgian state minister for reintegration, said while discussing draft
of the strategy with lawmakers in December, that the Abkhaz community
in Turkey was mainly “negatively disposed towards Georgia.” “We will
have to work seriously in this regard,” he said.
The issue of five
Turkish vessels detained by the Georgian coast guard was raised by the
Turkish side, according to Georgian Parliament’s press office. Davit
Bakradze said that the vessels were detained because of illegally
entering into the Georgian territorial waters, including its Abkhaz
section. He also said that a joint Georgian-Turkish commission was
established to resolve the issue through taking into consideration
interests of the both sides.
|
| 10 Feb. '10 | Zwei Nigerianer sterben beim Versuch, illegal durch die Berge in der Shuakhevi-Region in die Türkei auszureisen
Sie gehörten zu einer Gruppe von sechs Nigerianer, die von vier Einheimischen für 750 USD Unterstützung Hilfe erhielten.
Two
citizens of Nigeria froze to death while trying to illegally cross into
Turkey from Georgia’s Adjara Autonomous Republic, the Georgian Interior
Ministry said on February 10.
Six citizens of Nigeria, assisted by
four local residents in exchange of up to USD 750, tried to cross into
Turkey from mountainous Shuakhevi district of Adjara region bypassing a
border crossing point, but they had to return back because of severe
weather conditions; two Nigerian citizens died on their way back, the
Interior Ministry said.
Police arrested four local residents and
charged them with an attempt to assist migrants in illegal border
crossing. Four Nigerian citizens were also detained by the police.
|
| 9 Feb. '10 | Pariser
Gerichtshof für Handel beginnt die Anhörung der georgischen
öffentlichen Rundfunkanstalt GPB zu dem Disput mit Eutelsat in zwei
Wochen
Paris court of commerce will launch hearing Georgian
Public Broadcaster’s (GPB) case against Europe’s leading satellite
operator Eutelsat on February 22, the French news agency, AFP, reported.
GPB
claims that Eutelsat has not followed its commitment and took the
public broadcaster’s Russian-language First Caucasian Channel off
satellite after receiving “a lucrative” offer from Gazprom Media Group,
which owns Russia's largest Pay-TV provider NTV-Plus, for the same
spectrum GPB had contracted for. Georgia said it was an attempt of
“political censorship.”
GPB brought an expedited proceeding (référé)
against Eutelsat seeking to fine the Paris-based satellite operator
with EUR 50,000 per day as an interim relief, pending trial on merits.
But a judge said on February 8, that it was beyond his competence to
rule on the interim relief and referred the case to be heard on merits
to the court of commerce, AFP reported quoting GPB lawyer Benjamin Mock.
Eutelsat has strongly denied GPB’s allegations, including the one on coming under Russia’s pressure.
Eutelsat
said on February 4 that “no contract has come into force between GPB
and Eutelsat” and that the First Caucasian was broadcasting on its new
W7 satellite operating at the 36 degrees East - a key location for
broadcasting in Russia and other CIS states, as well as in Europe and
Africa – on trial basis for less than two weeks.
According to the
operator company, in 2009 it was negotiating with several customers
interested in the same capacity on W7 satellite and decided to allocate
this capacity to Moscow-based Intersputnik, which leased 16
transponders on W7 for Gazprom Media Group’s NTV-Plus. Eutelsat said
that it had received “a firm commitment” from Intersputnik “for
significantly more capacity than that requested by the Georgian
broadcaster.”
“Eutelsat accordingly informed GPB that the solution
offered on W7 was no longer available, and that it could satisfy GPB’s
requirements with another satellite in its the fleet, namely W2A,” the
company said.
But GPB said that shifting from W7 to W2A satellite
was “not acceptable”, citing that the newly offered location was not
properly covering the geographical area it was interested in. GPB also
said that W7 had an advantage over W2A of direct access to consumer
satellite antennas already pointed at W7 to receive major Russian TV
platforms.
Eutelsat, however, denied this clam by GPB and said that
“the offer on W2A involves no additional constraint compared with the
initial offer on W7.” It also said that both satellites had the same
technical specifications, which would require Russian consumers to
either change their equipment or add a second dish to receive Russian
TV services from W7 satellite.
“The W2A satellite offers improved
coverage of Georgia and western Russia than W7, as well as higher
power, enabling smaller dishes of 80cm to be used in comparison to
minimum one metre dishes required for W7,” Eutelsat said.
GPB’s First Caucasian is currently available on internet and it also goes out on cable in Tbilisi.
French
Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bernard Valero, said on February 5, that
Paris wanted Eutelsat and Georgia “to find common ground so that this
project can develop."
25% of Eutelsat shares are owned by the French state investment fund.
|
| 8 Feb. '10 | Außenminister Grigol Vashadze und Irakli Alasania auf Sicherheitskonferenz in München
On
a sideline of a high-profile Munich Security Conference on February
5-7, Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, held bilateral
meetings with his counterparts from Germany, Latvia and Estonia, the
Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
Vashadze also met with U.S. special
envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and Senator John
Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the
Foreign Ministry said.
“Discussions at these meetings focused on
Georgia's relations with respective countries and a broad spectrum of
de-occupation-related issues,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
From Georgia the conference was also attended by Irakli Alasania, leader of opposition Alliance for Georgia.
His
press office said that on the sideline of the conference, Alasania had
an opportunity to talk with German Defense Minister; Foreign Ministers
of Sweden, Estonia and Azerbaijan, as well as with Russian Foreign
Minister, Sergey Lavrov.
Alasania also talked with Philip Gordon,
the U.S. assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian
affairs; James Jones, the U.S. national security advisor, as well as
Senators Joseph Lieberman and John McCain.
“Georgia’s security
issues and democratic processes in Georgia were discussed during these
meetings,” according to Alasania’s press office.
|
| 6 Feb. '10 | Ukrainischer Sicherheitsdienst: 41-jähriiger Georgier im Besitz einer Feuerwaffe und TNT-Sprengsätzen festgenommen
Head
of Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said a Georgia citizen carrying a
firearm and TNT explosive with detonators was arrested on February 5.
Valaentyn
Nalyvaichenko, head of SBU, told Ukraine’s major TV station, Inter,
that the 41-year-old man was arrested in Kiev’s Independent Square. He
said that the man also held a second, Ukrainian passport and a probe
was also underway to find out how a foreign national could obtain the
Ukrainian passport.
SBU, which under the constitution is
subordinated to the President, said in a written statement, posted on
its website, that investigators were checking the version of possible
planned explosion during the rallies in Kiev, held by presidential
candidates as part of their electoral campaign ahead of Sunday’s runoff
vote.
In the written statement, the arrested man is referred as “a citizen” without giving its name or citizenship.
Grigol
Katamadze, Georgia’s ambassador to Ukraine, said that the embassy had
not been informed by the Ukrainian authorities about the detention of a
Georgian citizen.
“Usually when a citizen of Georgia is arrested we
are immediately informed about it through official channels. But as of
now, in this case, we have not received any such information about the
arrest of a Georgian citizen,” Katamadze told Georgian television
station, Rustavi 2 TV, by phone on February 6.
|
| 5 Feb. '10 | US-Sondergesandte
für Pakistan und Afghanistan besucht Georgien, um kurz die
Zusammenarbeit mit den NATO-geführten Kräften in Afghanistan zu
besprechen
U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan,
Richard Holbrooke will be in Tbilisi “shortly” to discuss Georgia’s
cooperation with and contribution to NATO-led forces in Afghanistan,
James Steinberg, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, said in Tbilisi on
February 5.
Speaking with journalists before his departure from
Georgia, Steinberg said that during his meeting with President
Saakashvili, the latter “mentioned” his offer to the United States to
use the Georgian territory for armaments supply route to Afghanistan.
“I
indicated him that it really was something that needed to be discussed
with the Pentagon… and encouraged him to talk with relevant people in
Pentagon,” Steinberg said.
It was reported late last month that the
U.S. Department of Defense was aware of the Georgian President’s offer,
but had not yet substantially explored it.
Steinberg also said the
U.S. was grateful for Georgia’s commitment to support operations in
Afghanistan. Georgia sent a company-size unit to Afghanistan to
contribute NATO-led forces and in addition it plans to send a
battalion-size force this spring.
During his brief stay in Tbilisi,
the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State met with four opposition leaders and
President Saakashvili on February 5, before leaving for Germany to
participate in the Munich security conference.
“I was particularly
pleased to come at this time, when we are now able to complete our
promise and commitment of USD 1 billion assistance to Georgia… We are
now in the position to move forward the last tranche of that
commitment,” he said.
Building stronger democratic institutions, he said, was “an important component” of the U.S. assistance to Georgia.
According
to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi USD 469.89 million of the USD 1 billion
aid package was allocated for economic assistance, including financing
business projects through the U.S. Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC), as well as energy security and road infrastructure
development.
USD 436.9 million of the aid package was allocated for
humanitarian aid, including USD 250 million for budgetary support, as
well as funds for support of IDPs.
USD 48.6 million of the package
was allocated for good governance and democracy projects, including for
support of civil society, rule of law, judiciary and political parties.
Slightly
over 48 million was allocated for security measures, including for
demining purposes, support to the police, coast guard and border
control.
“We have a strong commitment to Georgia’s future as sovereign, independent and democratic state,” Steinberg said.
Steinberg,
who arrived in Tbilisi from Yerevan, also said that he had discussed
regional security issues with the Georgian President. He was
accompanied by Philip Gordon, assistant secretary of state for European
and Eurasian affairs.
|
| 5 Feb. '10 | Opposition trifft den stellvertretenden US-Außenminister James Steinberg
Four
opposition leaders, who met with visiting U.S. Deputy Secretary of
State James Steinberg, said that democratic reforms, as well as the
country’s security issues were discussed.
Nino Burjanadze,
ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of Democratic Movement–United
Georgia (DMUG); Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of New Rights Party (part of
Alliance for Georgia); Giorgi Targamadze, leader of the parliamentary
minority and of Christian-Democratic Movement and Levan Gachechiladze,
co-founder of public movement Defend Georgia, participated in the
meeting.
“The news that we heard today is that although the United
States cut expanses, it plans to increase assistance to Georgia to
strengthen democratic institutions,” Giorgi Targamadze, CDM leader said
after the meeting. “I have requested the Deputy Secretary of State to
keep close coordination with the Georgian authorities, including in
respect of situation management, so that to make [the Georgian
authorities] more restraint and attentive in order to react adequately
to the provocations staged by our northern neighbor.”
“It was very
important to hear the statement that it’s important for the U.S.
administration to see the real democratic steps, which the authorities
should undertake and not just attempts to create an image of being a
friend of the United States. I stressed during the meeting that there
is no progress in democratic reforms and that the Georgian people are
waiting for the results of those efforts and pressure on [the Georgian
authorities], which really take place behind the scenes,” Nino
Burjanadze, leader of DMUG, said.
“Despite frequent meetings and
huge friendship no concrete result has been brought either in respect
of security, or in respect of protection of human rights,” Levan
Gachechiladze said after the meeting.
“We have received serious
promises that democracy would be a priority of President Obama’s
administration in respect of Georgia… The fact that the delegation,
during its brief visit, meets with the opposition, before meeting with
the President, highlights that for the United States Georgia and its
people are priorities and not any particular political leader,” Davit
Gamkrelidze, the New Rights Party leader, said.
|
| 4 Feb. '10 | US-Chef des nationalen Nachrichtendienstes Dennis Blair äußert sich zu Georgien
"Moskau's
ausgedehnte Militärpräsenz in Georgiens abtrünnigen Regionen und die
politisch-wirtschaftlichen Beziehungen zu diesen und sporadische Gewalt
auf niedriger Stufe erhöhen das Risiko von Mißverständnissen und
Überreaktionen, welche zu erneuten Kämpfen führen könnten. ... Ich
bleibe beunruhigt, wie auch immer, dass Russland auf die Beziehungen
mit seinen Nachbarn im ehemaligen sowjetischen Raum - ein Gebiet, durch
Präsident Medvedev charakterisiert als Russlands "Zone von
privilegierten Interessen" - größtenteils in Nullsummen-Bedingungen
schaut, gegenüber den USA, möglicherweise die US-russische bilaterale
Beziehung untergrabend."
Unresolved conflicts in the Caucasus are
“the most likely flashpoints” in the Eurasia region, Dennis Blair,
director of U.S. national intelligence, said in annual threat
assessment.
“Moscow’s expanded military presence in and
political-economic ties to Georgia’s separatist regions and sporadic
low-level violence increase the risk of miscalculation or overreaction
leading to renewed fighting,” he said in a prepared testimony before
the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on February 3.
The similar opinion was expressed in the previous threat assessment last year.
Dennis
Blair also said that last year Russia showed some signs that it was
prepared to be more cooperative with the U.S., including on Afghanistan
and Iran.
“I remain concerned, however, that Russia looks at
relations with its neighbors in the former Soviet space—an area
characterized by President Medvedev as Russia’s ‘zone of privileged
interests’ — largely in zero-sum terms, vis-à-vis the United States,
potentially undermining the US-Russian bilateral relationship,” Dennis
Blair said.
He also said that Moscow remained capable of militarily
dominating the former Soviet space, “although Russia’s experience in
the August 2008 Georgia conflict revealed major shortcomings in the
Russian military.”
|
| 4 Feb. '10 | Delegation der Venedig-Kommission - eine Institution des Europarates - besucht Georgien
A
delegation from Council of Europe’s (CoE) advisory body for legal and
constitutional issues, Venice Commission, is visiting Tbilisi on
February 3-4 to discuss ongoing constitutional reform within the state
commission, which was established last June.
The delegation, led by
Secretary of Venice Commission, Gianni Buquicchio, Council of Europe’s
advisory body for legal and constitutional issues, med with President
Saakashvili, Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze and other officials,
as well as representatives of commission on the constitutional reform.
“Your
country needs a good constitution,” Gianni Buquicchio said earlier on
February 4, before meeting with the representatives of the
constitutional commission.
Constitutional amendments made after the
Rose Revolution was “a progress, but it lacked balance between the
powers,” he said and added that it was “the challenge” of drafters of
the new constitution “to ensure real balance” between the branches of
government.
“The government must be more accountable to the
Parliament and the judiciary must be really independent,” he said. “The
local self-governance must be reinforced and, if possible, new
constitution should foresee kind of regionalism in order to give more
autonomy to provinces.”
He also said that the delegation had a
chance to view a chapter of the new constitution, which deals with the
local self-governance. The current constitution, he continued, contains
“very few, very general provisions” on the local government.
Jorgen
Steen Sorensen, director of Danish public prosecutions and a member of
the Venice Commission delegation said that they had not yet made any
in-depth analysis of this chapter, but an initial observation was that
although it was more extensive than the provisions currently contained
in the constitution, but it’s “still quite general in its wording.”
He
also said that one of the important suggestions from the Venice
Commission would be to make the chapter on the local governance “more
detailed” in order to provide a legal basis for solving possible
disagreements between local and central governments in the future
concerning such issues as financial and material resources and
supervision of local governance.
The delegation said that the Venice
Commission would probably submit its detailed opinion on this chapter
of the draft constitution in early spring.
|
| 4 Feb. '10 | Georgische "Election Watchdog group" ISFED bleibt in der Ukraine zur Beobachtung der Stichwahl
Georgian
election watchdog group, ISFED, said it would continue its
participation election monitoring mission for the second round of
Ukrainian presidential election.
President Saakashvili said in a
statement on February 3 that Georgia was not sending observers to
Ukraine because of “controversy” and “misunderstanding” surrounding
their presence in Ukraine during the first round of elections and also
called on other Georgian observers, who were going to monitor the
runoff vote under the aegis of various international organizations, “to
return back to Georgia.”
Those Georgian citizens, who were observing
the first round of presidential elections in Ukraine under the aegis of
various international organizations or international election watchdog
groups, faced no problems in receiving accreditation from the Ukrainian
Central Election Commission (CEC). The problem was related with those
would-be observers, who were sent to Ukraine by the Georgian
government. The President’s statement did not explain the motive behind
the call on the Georgian citizens to withdraw from election monitoring
missions.
Georgian observers from the Tbilisi-based International
Society for Fair Elections were monitoring the first round of elections
in Ukraine as part of European Network of Election Monitoring
Organizations (ENEMO).
Citing commitments it has undertaken before
ENEMO, ISFED said in a statement that it would continue its
participation in the mission.
|
| 30 Jan. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili begrüßt die jüngsten Äußerungen von US-Außenministerin Clinton zu Georgien
Die
Bemnerkungen seien Ausdruck der starken Unterstützung Washington's für
Tbilisi, welche nicht zulassen wird, dass der Kreml die Besetzung
georgischer Gebiete legalisiert.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton’s recent remarks about Georgia is an express of Washington’s
firm support towards Tbilisi, which will not let the Kremlin legalize
its occupation of Georgian territories, President Saakashvili’s
spokesperson, Manana Manjgaladze, said on January 30.
“The President
of Georgia welcomes such unambiguous position and support expressed by
the United States, as just because of such firm policy the United
States will not let Russia divide the region into spheres of influence
and just this policy and approach will not let the Kremlin legalize
ethnic cleansing, which expelled 500,000 Georgian, as well as to
legalize occupation of 20% of the Georgian territory,” Manana
Manjgaladze said.
|
| 30 Jan. '10 | Georgien's
Souveränitat und territoriale Integrität in Clinton’s Rede über
europäische Sicherheit in Paris unter den "Kernprinzien" angeführt
U.S.
Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, reiterated Washington’s opposition
to recognition of Georgia’s two breakaway regions in her speech at a
conference in Paris, when she was speaking about “core principles” of security in Europe.
She
said on January 29 that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
all states was among those core principles that “guide the U.S. as we
consider the future of European security and our role in shaping,
strengthening, and sustaining it.”
“The United States has
demonstrated our adherence to this principle in recent years with our
support for new European democracies seeking to chart their own
political futures, free from external intimidation or aggression,” she
said.
“We have repeatedly called on Russia to honor the terms of its
ceasefire agreement with Georgia, and we refuse to recognize Russia’s
claims of independence for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. More broadly, we
object to any spheres of influence claimed in Europe in which one
country seeks to control another’s future.”
Clinton also said that
despite having disagreements with Russia, NATO and Moscow could be
partners as both face new problems such as cyber security, global
warming and nuclear proliferation.
"We are committed to exploring
ways that NATO and Russia can improve their partnership by better
reassuring each other about respective actions and intentions," Clinton
said.
“I don’t need to state, but I will, that the United States and
Russia will not always agree. We have different histories, different
experiences and perspectives. Our interests will not always overlap.
But when we disagree, we will seek constructive ways to manage our
differences,” she added.
She said that the Conventional Forces in
Europe Treaty, the pact setting troop levels in Europe, was “in danger
of crumbling” after Moscow suspended its implementation two years ago.
Clinton
also added: “The Russia-Georgia war in 2008 was not only a tragedy but
has created a further obstacle to moving forward.”
On Russia’s
proposals for new security treaties in Europe, Clinton said that common
goals of security could be best dealt through existing institutions.
“Indivisibility
of security is a key feature of those [Russian] proposals. And that is
a goal we share, along with other ideas in the Russian proposals which
reaffirm principles of the Helsinki Final Act and the NATO-Russia
Founding Act. However, we believe that these common goals are best
pursued in the context of existing institutions, such as the OSCE and
the NATO-Russia Council, rather than by negotiating new treaties, as
Russia has suggested – a very long and cumbersome process,” she said.
|
| 30 Jan. '10 | Eutelsat
stoppte die Ausstrahlung des neuen "First Caucasian Channel" nach der
zweiwöchigen Testphase ohne Vorlage eines neuen Vertrages
Der
Vorsitzende des georgischen öffentlichen Rundfunks Gia Chanturia
versucht in Paris Eutelsat davon zu überzeugen, dass die Austrahlung
des First Caucasian Channel fortgesetzt wird. Le Figaro vermutet in
einem Artikel, dass Russland hinter der Entscheidung von Eutelsat sein
könnte.
Head of the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Gia Chanturia, is
in Paris trying to convince Europe’s leading satellite operator,
Eutelsat, to continue hosting Georgia’s Russian-language First
Caucasian Channel.
The First Caucasian Channel was launched early
this month, initially on internet and it became available on satellite
since January 15.
For less than two weeks the channel was hosted on
Eutelsat’s new W7 satellite operating at the 36 degrees East - a key
location for broadcasting in Russia and other CIS states, as well as in
Europe and Africa. The Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Channel, as
well as many of Russian TV channels, is also available on the same
location.
Eutelsat took the First Caucasian Channel off the
satellite, citing the end of testing period, without yet signing a new
contract with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Le Figaro newspaper
ran an article on the matter on January 27, suggesting that Russia
could be behind Eutelsat’s decision to take the First Caucasian off its
satellite without prolonging a contract with the Georgian Public
Broadcaster. The newspaper quoted unnamed Tbilisi-based diplomat saying
that Eutelsat “is under strong pressure” from Russia not to strike the
contract with the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Russian officials
have publicly condemned the First Caucasian Channel as Georgia’s
“anti-Russian propaganda” and an attempt “to plant ideology of
extremism” in North Caucasus.
Gia Chanturia, general director of the
Georgian Public Broadcaster, told RFE/RL’s Russian-language Ekho
Kavkaza on January 29, that “situation is strange.”
He said that
after the testing period, the contract was due to go into force from
January 31. ““But suddenly problems have emerged and we are now trying
to settle them,” Chanturia said.
He also said that the operator
company initially complained about the content of the channel, but
latter cited technical problems behind the suspension of the First
Caucasian’s satellite broadcasting.
|
| 28 Jan. '10 | NATO-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen trifft den georgischen Parlamentspräsident Davit Bakradze
...
“In the meeting, the Secretary General said that NATO’s commitment to
Georgia’s membership as decided by NATO Allies at the Bucharest Summit
in 2008 remains firm,” a press release issued by NATO reads. “The
Secretary General said that NATO will continue supporting Georgia in
its reform efforts and he thanked Georgia for its contribution to the
NATO-led ISAF operation in Afghanistan.” ...
|
| 27 Jan. '10 | Regierung bekräftigt Strategiepapier zu den abtrünnigen Regionen Abchasien und Südossetien
The
Georgian government endorsed on January 27 a document - ”State Strategy
on Occupied Territories: Engagement Through Cooperation” – laying out
Tbilisi’s vision towards two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.
“The key element of the document is that we say no to any
type of isolation of these regions; residents of those regions are
residents of Georgia so we can not let isolation of these regions,”
Temur Iakobashvili, the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said.
“We
can not let the situation wherein fate of residents of these regions
will depend solely on the occupying power; so we plan to take active
steps to provide the local population with an opportunity to have
normal education, healthcare, to engage in economic projects,”
Iakobashvili, who led the drafting of the paper, added.
The document
offers setting up of “a status-neutral” mechanisms to work with the
breakaway regions’ authorities on implementation of the strategy.
The
government has now to develop a detailed action plan of implementing
the strategy – the process, which is expected to last till June 31,
2010.
|
| 27 Jan. '10 | Ukrainische
Präsidentschaftskandidatin Yulia Tymoshenko begrüßt georgische
Wahlbeobachter und nennt die Vorwürfe gegen diese eine "billige
Provokation" der Partei von Präsidentschaftskandidat Viktor Yanukovych
Ukrainian
PM and presidential candidate, Yulia Tymoshenko, said she was grateful
to Georgia for sending election observers and rejected allegations that
Georgian observers planned to destabilize polls as “cheap provocation”
by Party of Regions, led by her rival presidential candidate, Viktor
Yanukovych.
“The first round of election demonstrated that the
Georgian observers worked as observers. I am grateful for that,”
Tymoshenko said in an interview with Ukrainskaya Pravda.
Tymoshenko
confirmed that a taped phone conversation between her and President
Saakashvili, which was released few days before the January 17
elections, was authentic. In the phone conversation Tymoshenko and
Saakashvili discuss the Ukrainian Central Election Commission’s refusal
to register large group of Georgian election observers. Speaking in
Russian, in the conversation Saakashvili mentions that Tbilisi sent
“competent” and “battle-capable” (the Russian word, which Saakashvili
used боеспособный can also refer to efficient) team of observers. This
word was seized by Tymoshenko’s opponents to accuse her that she was
discussing with the Georgian President arrival of “fighters” in Ukraine
to destabilize elections, particularly in the city of Donetsk, a
political stronghold of Yanukovych.
“He [Saakashvili] meant
efficient observers and not ninja-fighters,” Tymoshenko said. “Do you
really believe that the President can really call to Prime Minister to
offer some suspicious things?”
Asked if she found out from where the
phone conversation was taped “from Georgia, Ukraine or the third
country”, Tymoshenko responded: “I do not want to discuss that and
focus attention on that.”
|
| 26 Jan. '10 | Staatsanwaltschaft in Donetsk überprüft die Echtheit der Presseausweise von nichtregistrierten georgischen Wahlbeobachtern
A
prosecutor’s office in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk launched
investigation into the use of “fake press accreditations” by Georgian
non-registered election observers, the Ukrainian media sources reported
on January 26.
“Having studied all the circumstances, all the
temporary [press] accreditations, the prosecutor’s office came to a
conclusion that this action was illegal,” Alexander Lukyanchenko, a
mayor of Donetsk, was quoted by the Ukrainian news agencies.
After
several hundred of Georgian citizens, sent to Ukraine to monitor
January 17 presidential elections, failed to receive a registration
from the Ukrainian Central Election Commission, they turned to local
media sources to obtain their press accreditations.
Levan
Tarkhnishvili, a former chairman of the Georgian Central Election
Commission, who is in Ukraine and along with senior ruling party
lawmakers Givi Targamadze coordinating issues related with the Georgian
observers, said after the Ukrainian CEC refused to register the
Georgian observers, “we decided to resort to alternative options” in
order to gain access to polling stations.
“And this alternative
option was to cooperate with local media sources as their freelance
reporters. It is much easier way and it was done with observation of
law,” Tarkhnishvili told RFE/RL Georgian service on January 18.
A
Lugansk-based weekly newspaper, Molodogvardeets, provided a group of
Georgian would-be observers with its press accreditations.
|
| 26 Jan. '10 | EU-Beobachter äußerten ihre "ernsthaften Bedenken" bezüglich der Verhaftung eines Südosseten durch die georgische Polizei
EU
Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) expressed on January 25 “serious
reservations” about the circumstances surrounding the detention of a
South Ossetian resident by the Georgian police earlier this month.
There
were conflicting reports about the circumstances of Genady Pliev’s
detention n January 4. The Georgian Interior Ministry said Pliev was
arrested in the village of Nikozi, a village on the Georgian side of
the breakaway region’s administrative border and that he was armed with
a firearm and hand-grenades.
Tskhinvali said that Pliev was
“abducted” by the Georgian police from the place located about 400-500
meters deeper into the South Ossetian territory.
Following the
inquiry into the case, EUMM expressed suspicion towards the abduction
version of the incident, but also did not support the Georgian police
claims that Pliev was armed.
“Following careful consideration of all
the available information the EUMM has serious doubts that Mr. Pliev
was abducted or that he was carrying a weapon at the time of his
arrest,” EUMM said.
“The EUMM very much hopes that all sides will
reflect carefully on this case. Ultimately, with goodwill, detainees on
both sides should be able to return to their homes. The EUMM has
repeatedly expressed the view that people who cross the administrative
boundary lines should be dealt with by administrative, not judicial
actions,” it said.
Inquiry into Pliev’s detention case was the first
one when EU monitors were able to enter into the breakaway region to
meet with the South Ossetian de facto authorities and to inspect the
spot from where Tskhinvali alleged Pliev had been abducted.
|
| 25 Jan. '10 | Georgiens ist willens, die ukrainische Stichwahl zu beobachten
Georgia
has “a great desire” to monitor second round of presidential elections
in Ukraine on February 7 “to have first hand information” about the
polls, Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on
Monday.
“But if the country [Ukraine] does not want [Georgian
observers], of course we can not impose our good will on anyone,” she
said. ...
|
| 25 Jan. '10 | Anhörung zum Girgvliani-Fall am europäischen Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte verschoben
A
public hearing into application lodged by the Girgvliani family against
Georgia in the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR),
scheduled for February 2, was postponed after a judge in respect of
Georgia withdrew from the case.
“A new hearing date will be fixed
after the Georgian Government nominates an ad hoc judge,” ECHR press
service wrote in an e-mail to Civil.Ge. ...
|
| 23 Jan. '10 | Parliamentspräsident Davit Bakradze besucht mit einer Delegation Brüssel, um Treffen im NATO-Hauptquartier und mit der EU abzuhalten.
"Unser
Ziel ist es, unsere Partner von der NATO und EU über die Situation in
den besetzten Gebieten und den Russland-Georgien-Beziehungen informiert
zu halten. ..."
A Georgian parliamentary delegation, led by Davit
Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman, left for Brussels to hold
meetings in NATO headquarters, EU and European Parliament.
“Our goal
is to keep our partners from NATO and European Union informed about
situation in the occupied territories, about Georgian-Russian
relations; apart of that we will of course also talk about reforms in
Georgia and economic issues,” Davit Bakradze said before departure.
|
| 22 Jan. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: Georgien wird dem russischen ‘Lockmittel‘ - wie z.B. die Wiederaufnahme von Direktflügen - nicht folgen
Russia
wants to lure Georgians with “baits” like resumption of direct flights
between the two countries, but Georgian should remember that Russia’s
PM Vladimir Putin will never do “anything good for Georgia,” President
Saakashvili said on January 22.
“Russians announced that they will
not allow our flights. At first they said they have no objections
[about resuming of flights]; they expected that Georgia itself would
have said no to resumption of flights,” he told Georgian journalists in
Estonia, where he is for a working visit. ...
|
| 21 Jan. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili in Tallinn: ‘Helft uns, die russische Spiegel-Propaganda zurückzuhalten’
President
Saakashvili said on January 21, that “Russian leaders are still
planning to destroy us” and are still promoting “so called regime
change policy in Georgia.”
Saakashvili, who is paying a working
visit to Estonia, told an audience at the Foreign Policy Institute in
Tallinn that Georgia needed help in spreading “the truth” in order to
deter Russia’s attempts to create a pretext for repeating what it had
done in August, 2008.
In his introduction remarks, which were aired
live by the Tbilisi-based Imedi TV, Saakashvili focused on Russia’s
tactic of, as he put it, “mirror propaganda” applied against Georgia.
“I
was shocked how much the Russian invaders managed to shape this
surrealistic perception that Georgia – the country that they invaded -
was provoking the Russian leadership,” Saakashvili said.
He said
Russia was actively using “mirror propaganda” by blaming Georgia for
committing the very crimes, which Russia itself was about to commit or
had already committed.
Nazis were the first ones to turn this tactic of “mirror propaganda” into “a sophisticated system,” Saakashvili said.
“They
accused Jews of preparing the World War; they [Nazis] were in fact
actively preparing it… They [Nazis] accused Poles of organizing
provocations; they [Nazis] were organizing [provocations] at the border
and so on,” Saakashvili said and added that the same approach of
“mirror propaganda” was applied by Hutu extremists against the Tutsi
minority in Rwanda.
He said Russia was using this tactic,
“transforming reality through the lens of Gazprom-paid media and
sometimes [the Russian authorities] bribe public figures as well
unfortunately.”
“We do not ask our friends to send us troops or
weapons; we are asking them to help us telling the truth to the world,”
Saakashvili said. “We need you my friends to fight this mirror
propaganda.”
He said the fact that “the Georgian government is still
in charge” sends a message throughout the region that “Russian
leadership was bad enough to invade the sovereign country, but not
strong enough to remove its government.”
“All over the region this
message is heard and [Russia’s PM] Vladimir Putin can not stand it; so
they will plan and do something again. But in order to wage the new
war, they need to discredit us by the process of accusation in a mirror
and we need you to oppose this strategy… The truth you might spread
about our sufferings and our right cause will defend us more than tanks
and bullets,” Saakashvili said.
“In order to prevent another crime
from happening, please help us in enlightening the world consciousness;
do not allow the night to cover Georgia again,” he added.
He said
Russia remains “an occupying power” in Georgia and complained that
“unfortunately nobody really dares to call it [occupation] loudly
except some parliaments.”
“What else do you call it; is it a military tourism what Russians are doing in Georgia?” Saakashvili said.
He
also said in his remarks that Estonia was Georgia’s “best friend” and
it was “a huge pleasure and a great relief to meet, to discuss, to
debate with people who understand” Georgia’s security challenges.
“The
Estonian experience was and still is the ultimate model of what we try
to achieve since the Rose Revolution,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 21 Jan. '10 | Estnischer Präsident Thomas Hendrik Ilves trifft Präsident Saakashvili in Tallinn
Georgia’s
territorial integrity will not be restored in the near future,
therefore Georgia needs to show “strategic patience and commitment to
the successful construction of its country,” Estonian President, Thomas
Hendrik Ilves said on January 20.
“It would not be fruitful to waste
energy on problems that cannot be resolved in the near future,”
President Ilves said, according to his press office.
Ilves was
speaking at a joint news conference with his Georgian counterpart,
Mikheil Saakashvili, who is paying a working visit to Tallinn.
“Many
countries, including Georgia’s allies, know that injustice can prevail
for some time; however, history has windows of opportunity, which shall
open once and then close – and we need to stay alert to wait for them
to open and then be wise enough to seize the moment,” the Estonian
President said.
He reiterated Estonia and EU’s support to Georgia’s
territorial integrity saying that they would “never” recognize
independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Estonian President
praised Georgia for going through, as he put it, “an amazing process of
development with regard to economic reforms as well as the development
both of democracy and the rule of law, and – of particular importance –
in fighting corruption.”
He also said that the August, 2008 war had “somewhat delayed Georgia’s western integration.”
“However,
the speed of progress that Georgia makes on its way towards the
European Union and NATO will still largely depend on its own actions
and development in the sphere of democracy, human rights, and freedom
of media, as well as economic reforms,” the Estonian President said.
Continued
democratic and economic reforms, he said, should be the focus of
Georgia. “This is the key to your success,” President Ilves said.
|
| 20 Jan. '10 | Rücktrittsforderungen
der Opposition an den Innenminister Vano Merabishvili wegen "grober
Einmischung" in die unkrainische Präsidentschaftswahlen
Die
Forderungen beruhen auf den der Entsendung von ungefähr 2000
unregistrierten Wahlbeobachtern und einem in unkrainischen Medien
ausgestrahlten Telefongesprächs, das angeblich die Stimmen von
Innenminister Vano Merabishvili und Givi Targamadze wiedergibt, die
über die Entsendung der Wahlbeobachter sprechen.
Some opposition
parties called on January 20 for Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili’s
resignation for “roughly interfering” in Ukraine’s presidential
elections.
The call comes after a row over about 2,000 Georgian
non-registered observers for the Ukrainian elections and after a taped
phone conversation purportedly between Merabishvili and Georgian senior
lawmaker from the ruling party, Givi Targamadze, was disseminated by
Ukrainian media sources.
The taped phone conversation, allegedly
made on January 14, was used by politicians from the Ukrainian Party of
Regions, led by frontrunner presidential candidate, Viktor Yanukovych,
to back its claims that the Georgian authorities wanted to deploy
unusually large group of observers in Ukraine and particularly in
Yanukovych’s political stronghold, Donetsk, in order “to destabilize
elections” in favor of another candidate, PM Yulia Tymoshenko.
The
taped conversation of two men with voices similar to MP Givi Targamadze
and Interior Minister Merabishvili, available on various Ukrainian
websites, is dubbed with the Russian translation and original sound is
only heard well in several episodes. The two men are discussing how to
arrange sending of additional group from Tbilisi to Donetsk. The man,
whose voice is similar to Merabishvili tells his interlocutor to ask
“Yulia” to arrange flights to secure arrival of additional teams from
Georgia.
Before the January 17 presidential elections, a phone
conversation purportedly between President Saakashvili and Yulia
Timoshenko was disseminated on the Ukrainian websites in which the
interlocutors discuss the problem related with non-registration of the
Georgian election observers. The man, whose voice is similar to
Saakashvili, tells his interlocutor to talk with “Givi” on the matter.
Commenting on the matter, MP Givi Targamadze told a Georgian news
agency, InterPressNews, that he often speaks with the Interior Minister
and the fact that 300 Georgians arrived in Donetsk, who were refused in
registration as observers by the Ukrainian CEC, “has never been a
secret.”
“I think Ukraine now needs to be focused on more important
issue [referring to the second round of election] rather than wasting
time on listening my mobile phone conversations,” Targamadze was quoted.
A comment from the Interior Ministry was not immediately available.
Irakli
Alasania, the leader of a three-party opposition Alliance for Georgia,
said on January 20, that by “roughly interfering” in Ukraine’s internal
affairs, President Saakashvili’s administration “has endangered future
of good neighborly relations between the two countries and the
President of Georgia will bear full responsibility for any possible
negative consequences.”
Alasania, who runs for the Tbilisi mayor’s
office in the upcoming local elections, said that Interior Minister
Merabishvili and Chairman for the Parliamentary Committee for Defense
and Security Givi Targamadze should resign “because of this political
adventure and the scale of damage inflicted on the country’s interests.”
“An
interior minister or a chairman of parliamentary committee for defense
and security in any country would have resigned in such a situation,”
Eka Beselia, leader of Movement for United Georgia, said.
“It is not
a business of any interior minister to deal with the issues of sending
observers – if they really were observers,” Salome Zourabichvili,
leader of Georgia’s Way party, said.
Her party has recently
requested the Georgian and Ukrainian authorities to provide with the
full list of those people, who the Georgian authorities submitted for
registration as election observers. There have been allegations that
the list included many persons with no appropriate election experience
and employees of the Georgian Interior Ministry.
Zourabichvili said
that what the Georgian authorities had done was “a disservice to
pro-European forces in Ukraine” – referring to presidential candidate
Yulia Tymoshenko.
Ex-parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze’s
Democratic Movement-United Georgia (DMUG) party also said in a
statement that by “interfering in Ukrainian’s internal affairs”
President Saakashvili was “damaging Georgia’s reputation” and “making
disservice to one of the presidential candidates.” The party also
demanded from Interior Minister Merabishvili to immediately comment on
the released taped phone conversation.
Burjanadze also tried to use this case to back her argument about needless of running in upcoming local elections.
“Our
party asks the question – does anyone, within or outside Georgia, still
has an illusion that Saakashvili and his regime can hold democratic
elections after this [case with Ukraine]?! The argument of those, who
state that it has a sense to participate in elections under the
Saakashvili’s criminal regime, is not understandable for us,”
Burjanadze’s party said.
|
| 20 Jan. '10 | Verteidigungsministerium distanziert sich von einem Informationsfilm, in dem eine Aussage Hitlers zitiert wurde
The
Georgian Ministry of Defense released a statement on January 19
distancing itself from a documentary film featuring a quote by Adolf
Hitler, which was aired by Tbilisi-based Sakartvelo TV eighteen months
ago.
Sakartvelo TV, a television station affiliated with the
Georgian MoD, aired the film, promoting service in the reserve troops,
in July, 2008. In one episode the film shows young men enrolling in the
reserve forces and subtitles accompanied by a voiceover saying: “’It
must be thoroughly understood that the lost land will never be won back
by solemn prayers, nor by hopes in any League of Nations, but only by
the force of arms.’ Adolf Hitler, 1932.”
The film, aired by the TV
station whose audience is far smaller than of major national television
stations, went mainly unnoticed, triggering no major reaction within
Georgia. But the issue resurfaced recently with the issue debated on
Georgian internet discussion forums and social networking websites
triggering the Georgian MoD to release the statement.
“Discussions
are taking place in internet recently about a documentary film,
Reservist, aired by the TV company, Sakartvelo, in 2008. Authors of the
film use an aggressive quotation by Adolf Hitler. This part of the film
is distributed in internet as a TV spot and aims at cheap political
goals to discredit the Georgian Ministry of Defense and the Armed
Forces. The Georgian Ministry of Defense states, that the film and
especially the use of Adolf Hitler’s quotation did not and does not
reflect the position of the Georgian Ministry of Defense. It represents
a personal initiative and vision of the author of the film. The
Ministry of Defense categorically distances itself from the quotation
used in the film and from the vision of the authors,” the Georgian MoD
said in a written statement.
|
| 19 Jan. '10 | Premierminister Nika Gilauri Ägypten
Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri left for Egypt on January 19, the PM’s press office reported.
During the visit PM Gilauri will meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and other officials.
A Georgian-Egyptian business forum is also planned during the visit, according to the Georgian PM’s press office.
Egypt
was the second, after the United Arab Emirates, in the list of
countries from where most of the foreign direct investments came to
Georgia in January-September, 2009 with USD 71.54 million, according to
the Georgian statistics office.
Egypt first appeared in the list in
the second quarter of 2009 with USD 45 million and then in the third
quarter with USD 70 million – the trend related with Egypt-based home
appliances producer company Fresh Electric’s investment plans in
Georgia.
|
| 19 Jan. '10 | Iranischer Präsident Ahmadinejad trifft georgischen Außenminister
Iran
is interested in “improving relations with Tbilisi as far as possible,”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told visiting Georgian Foreign
Minister, Grigol Vashadze, in Tehran, according to Iranian President’s
press office.
Vashadze paid a one-day working visit to Iran on
January 18 and also met with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr
Mottaki; Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and Secretary of Supreme
National Security Council Sa’eid Jalili.
The regional countries must
expand the dimensions of bilateral, multilateral and regional
cooperation and block the path for the intervention of the aliens,”
President Ahmadinejad said, referring to NATO adding that the Alliance
was not taking into consideration “the interests of regional countries.”
“The entire regional problems and crises can be solved based on regional countries’ interactions and cooperation,” he said.
According
to the same report by the Iranian President’s press office, Foreign
Minister Vashadze, stressed that his country “would never act against
Iran, no matter in which alliance or organization it is participating.”
“Iran
and Georgia are in the same civilizational basin and the two countries
have enjoyed friendly relation ever since remote past and we are
interested in improving relations with Tbilisi as far as possible
today,” Ahmadinejad said.
“The two countries can set the foundations for strong cooperation based on constant consultations,” the Iranian President added.
|
| 18 Jan. '10 | Georgisches Fernsehen geben nicht die Äußerungen der internationalen OSZE-Wahlbeobachter in der Ukraine wieder
Ungefähr
2000 Wahlbeobachter wurden aus Georgien auf Anfrage von Ukrainern
geschickt. Diese sind nicht von der ukrainischen Wahlkommission
registriert gewesen. In den Fernsehsendern wird aufgrund der Berichte
der zurückgekehrten Beobachter von ernsten Verletzungen, insbesondere
in Donetsk, gesprochen.
• Saakashvili: sending of Georgian observers pre-agreed with Ukraine
While
the Georgian television stations have been extensively reporting from
Ukraine these days about presidential elections there, they ignored on
January 18 to report about initial findings of the OSCE-led
international observers on Sunday’s polls.
Elections were of “high
quality and showed significant progress over previous elections,
meeting most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments,” international
observers said.
Rustavi 2 TV only briefly mentioned the
international observers with the TV station’s journalist saying in her
report from Kiev: “OSCE election observation mission is already
expressing its position about violations during the Ukrainian
elections.”
The Georgian national television stations’ coverage of
the Ukrainian presidential elections was dominated by incidents
involving the Georgian TV crews and controversy over non-registered
Georgian election observers with TV reports saying that local
authorities in Donetsk were creating obstacles to the Georgian
observers.
“Those Georgian observers who have already returned from
Ukraine say that elections were held with serious violations,” Rustavi
2 TV said.
And a journalist of Georgian public broadcaster’s First
Channel reported from Donetsk: “As it was expected, the highest level
of fraud was in Donetsk.”
Meanwhile, President Saakashvili said on
January 18 that Georgia’s decision to send about 2,000 observers to
Ukraine, who were not registered by the Ukrainian Central Election
Commission, was “agreed in advance with all the political parties in
Ukraine.”
“And we have received consent [from Ukraine] in advance,”
he told journalists in Georgia’s ski resort of Bakuriani. “And of
course we will again ask them if they want observers or not [for the
second round of elections on February 7]. It is up to them to decide.”
“We have sent these observers upon the request of
Ukrainians. Absolute majority of the Ukrainian people with whom these
[observers] met, wholeheartedly welcomed them,” Saakashvili said.
He
denied allegations by Party of Regions, led by frontrunner presidential
candidate Viktor Yanukovych, that Georgia sent “men, built like
sportsmen” in order “to destabilize elections”.
“They [the Georgian
observers] did not aim at interfering in politics – we have neither
desire nor tools to do that. Our goal was to [express] solidarity and
provide assistance to Ukraine,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 16 Jan. '10 | Georgisches
Außenministerium zu den russischen Vorwürfen, georgien beherberge
militante Gruppen: ‘Russland sucht einen Vorwand für militärische
Provokationen’
Russia’s accusation that Georgia harbors militant
groups is part of Moscow’s attempts to escalate tensions along the
Georgian borders, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on January 15.
“It
is obvious that the Kremlin is seeking for a pretext to escalate the
situation to a maximum at the borders of Georgia and create the
background for carrying out military provocations against the sovereign
country,” it said.
Russian Deputy Interior Minister Arkady Yedelev
said on January 14 that “terrorist groups are trained at military bases
in Georgia by foreign instructors to carry out terrorist acts on the
territory of Russian Federation.”
Shota Utiashvili, head of the
Georgian Interior Ministry’s analytical department, said the allegation
was “absurd and an attempt to cover up their [Russia’s] own crimes and
problems".
|
| 15 Jan. '10 | Schweizer Außenministerin Micheline Calmy-Rey besucht Georgien
... “Protection of human rights in Georgia will be at the centre of Mrs. Calmy-Rey’s visit,” CoE said in a press release.
The
Georgian Foreign Ministry said that discussions “will focus on the
issue of cooperation between Georgia and the Council of Europe, the
situation on the occupied territory as well as the programmes carried
out by the Council of Europe in Georgia.” ...
|
| 15 Jan. '10 | Russisches Innenministerium: ‘Terroristische Gruppen werden in Georgien in Militärbasen ausgebildet ...’
Das
hat laut RIA Novosti der stellvertretende Innenminister Arkady Yedelev
auf einem Treffen mit Polizeibeamten in Vladikavkaz, Nordossetien
gesagt.
The Russian Deputy Interior Minister accused Georgia of
harboring militant groups. The allegation comes two weeks after the
Russian Federal Security Service claimed that militants in Russia’s
North Caucasus were receiving funding including from Georgia.
“Terrorist
groups are trained at military bases in Georgia by foreign instructors
to carry out terrorist acts on the territory of Russian Federation,”
RIA Novosti news agency reported quoting Russia’s Deputy Interior
Minister Arkady Yedelev as saying at a meeting with police officials in
Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia, on January 14.
He said that Russia’s
North Caucasus republics of Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia,
Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia were the potential targets
of the attacks.
|
| 14 Jan. '10 | Energiekonferenz in Batumi zur Entwicklung des südlichen Energiekorridors
An
international conference addressing energy security and development of
Southern Energy Corridor opened in Batumi on January 14, which
initially was intended to be a high-level International Energy Summit.
According
to initial official announcements, including by the Georgian Foreign
Ministry made earlier this week, that the summit would be attended by
“almost ten heads of states”, including Presidents of Poland, Ukraine
and Azerbaijan. But as it emerged early on January 14, the presidents
were not able to attend for reasons that were not immediately clear.
Richard
L. Morningstar, the U.S. secretary of state’s special envoy for
Eurasian energy, was also initially expected to participate in the
event. Although Ambassador Morningstar arrived in Georgia on January
12, he left the country on January 14 without attending the event in
Batumi.
“Because of Ambassador Morningstar’s changed schedule he was
unable to attend the conference,” a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy
in Tbilisi told Civil.Ge on January 14.
During his visit, the U.S.
Secretary of State’s special envoy “consulted” with President
Saakashvili, PM Nika Gilauri and Energy Minister Alexander Khetaguri,
according to the U.S. embassy.
|
| 14 Jan. '10 | Neuer OSZE-Vorsitzender Kanat Saudabayev, auch kasachischer Außenminister, will die Südkaukasus-Länder im Februar besuchen
Kanat
Saudabayev, the Kazakh foreign minister and OSCE new
chairman-in-office, said he would pay his first visit in the capacity
of chair of 56-member organization to South Caucasus countries in
February.
“Assisting in resolution of ‘protracted conflicts’ remains
a priority for any Chairmanship and we shall endeavour to do all we can
to make a contribution to this difficult process,” he told the OSCE
Permanent Council on January 14.
“At the same time, our Organization
must try to find a way of preventing the emergence of similar conflicts
which result in human tragedy and humanitarian disasters.”
“To that
end, my first visit as Chairman-in-Office is scheduled for mid February
to the countries of the South Caucasus. I would be grateful for any
recommendations you might have and for your help and ideas in resolving
the problems concerned with the conflicts there,” Saudabayev said.
|
| 14 Jan. '10 | Georgien wird 40 t Hilfsgüter und zehn Rettungskräfte ins Erdbebegbiet auf Haiti schicken
Georgia
is ready to sent 40 tons of humanitarian aid worth of USD 250,000 and
ten rescue workers to Haiti, where tens of thousands of people are
feared dead after 7.0 magnitude earthquake.
“The Georgian government
took the decision last night to send aid. This is a very important
decision; Georgia itself faces financial and economic difficulties;
nevertheless Georgia can not remain indifferent towards people of
Haiti,” Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, told
Imedi TV on January 14.
|
| 13 Jan. '10 | Weitere offizielle Stimmen zu Präsident Saakashvili's Ankündigung von ‘militarisch-patriotischen’ Kursen in Schulen
Verteidigungsminister Bacho
Akhalaia: in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Erziehungsministerium sollen ab
September 2010 zunächst in einigen Schulen mit diesen Kursen begonnen
werden.
... Bacho Akhalaia, the Georgian
defense minister, said on January 13, that MoD was actively cooperating
with the Education Ministry to launch these courses from the next
education year in September, 2010. He said that the project would
initially be launched in several schools and would extend to all the
schools at the later stage. ... |
| 13 Jan. '10 | Freedom
House-Bericht 2009: Georgien bleibt bei der Bewertung der politischen
Rechte und Bürgerfreiheit auf dem Status "teilweise frei"
Georgia
remains “partly free” and non-electoral democracy, according to an
annual report by the U.S.-based rights group, Freedom House, released
on January 12.
Georgia’s scores in political rights and civil
liberties categories – based on which a country’s status of “free”,
“partly free” or “not free” is determined – stand at 4 in the Freedom
in the World 2010 survey, covering 2009 developments.
The political
rights and civil liberties categories contain numerical ratings between
1 and 7 for each country or territory, with 1 representing the most
free and 7 the least free. ...
|
| 11 Jan. '10 | US-Senatoren treffen bei ihrem Georgienbesuch Vertreter der Opposition und Präsident Saakashvili
Visiting
Republican Senator, John McCain, said in Batumi on January 11, that
Georgia and the United States were “confronted by common challenges”
and remained bound by common interests and democratic values.
John
McCain arrived in Georgia with two other Republican Senators, John
Barrasso and John Thune. Before meeting with President Saakashvili, the
delegation met in Batumi, Adjara Autonomous Republic, with some
opposition leaders, including Davit Usupashvili, leader of Republican
Party, part of Alliance for Georgia; MP Giorgi Targamadze, leader of
Christian-Democratic Movement and of parliamentary minority and Levan
Gachechiladze, a co-founder of public movement Defend Georgia.
President
Saakashvili said after meeting with the U.S. senators that John McCain
was Georgia long-time and firm supporter and awarded him with Georgia’s
highest state honor of National Hero.
Saakashvili said that during
the August, 2008 war “some friends of ours were telling us to sign
under every condition put forth by Putin [Russia’s PM] otherwise we
would have faced the threat of physical extermination.”
“They were
telling us to stop resistance… Lot’s of well-known world figures were
calling me with this [message],” Saakashvili said.
He said that when
John McCain, who at that time was a presidential candidate, called him
and told him “not to surrender and not to say no to freedom.”
“He
told me: ‘we will stand by Georgia and we all be Georgians’,”
Saakashvili said. “Senator McCain abandoned his presidential campaign
and was defending Georgia on international TV channels… We should never
forget it.”
“Of all the honors I’ve received in my life the National
Hero Award is among the most meaningful and it is one that I would
cherish for ever,” Senator McCain said in Batumi.
He said that this
award was an expression of “friendship between two leaders – myself and
President Saakashvili.” He also added that it was much more than that
and it was an expression of “partnership and solidarity between our two
nations.”
“Nations confronted by common challenges, bound by common
interests and united by common democratic values, individual liberty,
an equal justice, human rights and human dignity,” Senator McCain added.
“These
convictions join our nations in a friendship that is greater than any
one leader, greater than any one government, greater than events of
today and tomorrow. Our friendship is as enduring as our fidelity to
the indivisible values that we share,” he said.
Also on January 11,
Senator McCain traveled to town of Zugdidi at breakaway Abkhazia’s
administrative border where he visited a local field office of EU
Monitoring Mission and met with head of the mission Hansjörg Haber.
|
| 11 Jan. '10 | Mukhrovani-Urteil: Kobaladze teilweise freigesprochen, andere Schlüsselpersonen erhalten lange Haftstrafen
The
judge delivered on January 11 a split verdict into the trial known as
Mukhrovani mutiny clearing retired general Koba Kobaladze of coup
charges, but jailing other key defendants to a lengthy prison terms.
The
judge, however, found Kobaladze guilty of illegal keeping firearm and
hand-grenades and sentenced him of eight months in prison. But as
Kobaladze has been detained for eight months already, since May 5, he
was released from the courtroom immediately after judge Jemal Kopaliani
delivered the verdict. The prosecution wanted 13 years and six months
of prison term for Kobaladze for the both charges.
“I did not expect
such ruling by the judge; I though I would have continued my struggle
in Strasbourg [European Court of Human Rights],” Kobaladze told
Civil.Ge after he left the courtroom.
Koba Otanadze, a retired army
colonel, who was named by the prosecution as one of the key organizers
of the mutiny to overthrow the government, was found guilty of all
three charges and sentenced to 29 years in prison. Apart of mutiny and
coup charges he was also charged with illegal possession of arms and
disobedience.
Levan Amiridze, who at the time was a commander of
rangers’ battalion, was found guilty of mutiny to overthrow the
government and disobedience and sentenced to 28-year prison term.
Shota
(Mamuka) Gorgiashvili, who at the time was a commander of the tank
battalion in Mukhrovani, was found guilty of similar charges as
Amiridze and sentenced to 19-year prison term.
A former commander of
the Kutaisi-based 3rd brigade, Kakha Kobaidze, was found guilty of not
reporting the crime and sentenced to 3-year prison term and GEL 10,000
fine.
A former commander of the Gori-based 1st brigade, Davit
Sulkhanishvili, was also found guilty of not reporting the crime and
sentenced to 3-year conditional prison term and GEL 20,000 fine. Unlike
Kobaidze, Sulkhanishvili pleaded guilty.
Koba Kobaladze’s case was
the weakest point of the prosecution, as charges against him were
solely based on controversial testimonies by Gia Gvaladze, who was
convicted to two-years in prison through plea bargain in early October.
He was facing charges related with mutiny to overthrow the government.
Defense
lawyers of Otanadze, Amiridze and Gorgiashvili said they would appeal
the verdict to higher court as they disagree with coup-related charges.
They said the fact that the judge turned down Gvaladze’s testimonies in
respect of Kobaladze will be an important part of their case in the
court of appeals, as Gvaladze’s testimonies were also major evidence of
the prosecution against Otanadze, Amiridze and Gorgiashvili. But unlike
in Kobaladze’s case, in respect of three men and other co-defendants
the prosecution also put forth other evidence.
The judge’s ruling
actually means that he shared the prosecution’s version saying that
developments in Mukhrovani-based tank battalion eight months ago were
mutiny with an eventual goal to overthrow the government and not just
disobedience by several military commanders.
The judge has yet to
deliver a comprehensive justification of his verdict. After this
justification paper is delivered the defense lawyers will be able to
appeal to the higher court.
The judge also found guilty a former
pilot of MI-8 helicopter, Zurab Chalatashvili, who served in the
Alekseevka air base, of not reporting the crime and sentenced him to 3
years in prison.
Zurab Bzishvili, a former tank crew member from the
Mukhrovani base, was found guilty of disobedience and illegal
relocation of an armored vehicle and sentenced to nine years in prison.
In
another significant part of the verdict, in respect of seven civilians
who were charged with mutiny to overthrow the government, the judge
ruled that the crimes committed by them should be instead qualified as
providing assistance to disobedience. They were sentenced to prison
terms varying from ten to 15 years. They were also found guilty of
charges related with illegal possession of firearm.
Other five
civilians were found guilty of disobedience and illegal possession of
firearm and sentenced to prison terms varying from 9 to 10 years.
Also
on January 11, the judge approved a plea bargain between one more
civilian into the case, Zaza Sandodze, a relative of Koba Otanadze, and
the prosecution; as a result he was sentenced to two years in prison
for charges related with illegal possession of arms, not reporting the
crime and resisting the police orders.
|
| 9 Jan. '10 | Republikanische US-Senatoren John McCain, John Barrasso und John Thune besuchen Georgien
Republican
Senators John McCain, John Barrasso and John Thune will visit Batumi in
Adjara Autonomous Republic on January 10-11, the Georgian President’s
press office reported.
“The main goal of the senators’ visit is to
once again express the United States’ unwavering support to Georgia’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the President’s administration
said in a press release on Saturday.
“The visit also aims at strengthening the U.S.-Georgian strategic partnership,” it added.
|
| 7 Jan. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili besucht München
Dort
nimmt er an einer Konferenz "Georgien an einem neuen Scheideweg" teil,
die bis 10.1. andauert. Vertreter von der NATO, dem europäischen
Parlament und den "mit Georgien befreundeten Ländern" USA, Deutschland,
Frankreich, Tschechei, Litauen und Lettland sind Teilnehmer.
The President’s administration also
said that issues related with Georgia’s breakaway regions, relations
between Georgia and the west, reform process in Georgia, “need for
development of a new security model and the role of NATO, EU and the
U.S. in this process” would be discussed by the conference.
|
| 4 Jan. '10 | Levan Tarkhnishvili will sich wieder um den Vorsitz der Zentralen Wahlkommission bewerden
Nach
den Gesetzesänderungen vom Dezember wird der Präsident drei Kandidaten,
die als zertifizerte Beamte Prüfungen zu Wahlverfahren bestanden haben,
vorschlagen, aus denen dann die Opposition einen auswählt.
An outgoing chairman of Central Election Commission (CEC), Levan Tarkhnishvili, said he might again apply for the post.
According
to amendments to the election code, passed by the Parliament in
December, the President will nominate three candidates for the post of
CEC chairman and it will be up to the opposition members of CEC to
select one. If none of three candidates receive majority votes of
opposition CEC members then it will be up to the Parliament to elect
one among three candidates.
Only certified election officials –
those who have passed exams in election-related procedures – are
eligible to apply for the post.
Asked whether he would apply for the
post, Levan Tarkhnishvili told Rustavi 2 TV on January 4: “Let’s see; I
do not rule it out.”
Tarkhnishvili said that according to the procedures, the President would nominate three candidates by January 8.
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| 3 Jan. '10 | Georgiens öffentliches Fernsehen startet das Programm "Kaukasus 1" in russischer Sprache, im Internte als "www.1k-tv.com"
Georgian public broadcaster launched its third, Russian-language TV channel, First Caucasian, on the web at www.1k-tv.com.
As
Gia Chanturia, general-director of the public broadcaster, said last
month the plan was to launch the new channel, targeting
Russian-speaking audience in the post-Soviet space with focus on the
Caucasus region, first on the web and then to go out on satellite and
cable.
“We want to provide you with facts rather than assessment. We
also plan to talk about what remain beyond the screen on other
Russian-language TV stations,” the new TV channel, which will have four
news bulletins per day, announced on its website.
President
Saakashvili, who was interviewed by the First Caucasian, said he was
“glad that a powerful Russian-language TV channel has been launched in
Georgia.”
“It is important for Georgia, for the Georgian audience,
because we should not lose the Russian language; this is very important
layer of civilization, very important layer of culture,” he said. ...
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| 2 Jan. '10 | Russischer
Geheimdienst FSB sagt, dass Militante in Dagestan aus einigen
ausländischen Ländern - auch aus Georgien - Gelder erhielten
Militants
operating in Russia’s Dagestan are receiving funding from number of
foreign countries including from Georgia, Russia’s Federal Security
Service (FSB) unit in the North Caucasus republic said.
Russian news
agency, RIA Novosti, reported on January 1, that FSB found “a cashbook”
of four militants, killed by the federal forces in Khasavyurt on
December 31, which included information about funding and expanses of
the militant group, as well as information about “channels of money
transfers” from Georgia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Azerbaijan.
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| 1 Jan. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili hält Neujahrsansprache
Georgians
should continue building the country with one hand and hold a weapon in
another to protect it, President Saakashvili said in his New Year
address to the nation.
“If we want free children of Georgia to be
born on our soil – like it was for thousands of years – we should be
ready for holding a hoe in one hand and a weapon in another,” he said
in the televised address on New Year’s Eve.
“In one hand we should
be holding hoe, computer, book and other tools, which are require for
building of 21st and 22nd century, modern country… But, on the other
hand, in order to protect the country’s future and to protect what we
are building, we should always be ready for struggle and for protection
of the country,” he added.
In the 5-minute long address, Saakashvili also spoke of Georgia’s “enemy” in an obvious reference to Russia.
“These
days we had a chance to again see on TV screens our enemy’s mad and at
the same time very confused face. He can not understand why it was not
possible to kneel down Georgia despite of so many tricks and
provocations. He fails to understand that although it is possible to
kneel down a separate Georgian, but it is impossible to ever kneel down
the entire Georgian society,” he said.
On December 29, Russia’s PM,
Vladimir Putin, said that Moscow’s decision to recreate World War II
memorial, which was demolished by the Georgian authorities in Kutaisi,
would be “another punch on the nose” of the Georgian leadership.
“A
secret, a recipe of our survival is very simple – our strength is in
our unity,” Saakashvili continued, “in the unity of all ethnic groups
and all the citizens of Georgian, regardless of their origins and
religious beliefs.”
He said Georgia faced “huge challenges” in 2009,
involving consequence of the global economic crisis, months of
political instability and occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by
Russia.
“All these should have had a fatal impact for the country,
but Georgia survived, Georgia continues developing and for that I want
to thank each of you,” Saakashvili said.
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