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Übersicht >>Archiv - frühere Nachrichten >>Archiv - spätere Nachrichten| 21 Mar. '11 | Präsident Saakashvili äußert, dass der Aufbau des Staates für alle ethnischen Gruppen die größte Herausforderung sei
Having
a sense among various ethnic groups, living in the country, of being a
part of common Georgian state is the most important of all the
achievements made in recent years, President Saakashvili said on March
21.
“What makes me proud most of all… is that we have created the
unified body of Georgian state, where the people of all ethnicities, all
cultural origins and religion will feel themselves children of the
country, where they will never regret of having been born and which they
will build together, for which they will struggle and die,” he said.
Saakashvili
was speaking while addressing an outdoor gathering in the town of
Marneuli in Kvemo Kartli region, predominately populated by ethnic
Azerbaijani population, where he participated in Nowruz festivities.
Nowruz, a holiday marking spring equinox, which is widely celebrated by a
large Muslim community in Georgia, was declared as a national holiday
in Georgia last year.
“It is very important to maintain our
Azerbaijani culture, our Azerbaijani language, which is an integral part
of the Georgian culture and of the Georgian state,” Saakashvili said.
“At the same time, I am glad that you are learning the Georgian language
better at schools because this is a guarantee for your success in our
unified Georgian state.”
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| 11 Mar. '11 | Nächstes Treffen zur WTO im April erwartet
Georgian
and Russian negotiators are expected to hold next meeting to discuss
Moscow’s WTO bid in April, although no exact date is yet known, the
Georgian PM’s spokesman, Niko Mchedlishvili, told Civil.ge on Friday.
He declined to discuss details of the meeting, which was held between the negotiators in the Swiss capital Bern on March 10.
Georgian
PM’s senior aide Tamar Kovziridze and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergi
Kapanadze participated in the meeting with the Russian negotiators in
Bern.
The meeting was held with the facilitation of the Swiss side,
which acts as a diplomatic mediator between the two countries after
Georgia and Russia cut diplomatic ties following the August, 2008 war.
Washington
was “very proactive in encouraging” Russia and Georgia to sit down for
Swiss-mediated talks in Bern, but U.S. officials are playing no role in
the talks, The New York Times reported quoting a senior U.S.
administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
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| 11 Mar. '11 | US-Vizepräsident Biden in Moskau: Russland und USA sind über Georgien anderer Meinung
"Es ist noch viel Arbeit zu erledigen, um unsere Sicherheitszusammenarbeut und Nähe zu verbessern."
"Wir meinen, dass ein größeres Prinzip auf dem Spiel steht. Wie in
bereits München 2009 gesagt, ... 'unsere Sichtweise wird bleiben, dass
souveräne Staaten das Recht haben, ihre eigenen Entscheidungen zu
treffen und ihre eigenen Allianzen zu wählen.' Und weiterhin: 'Wir
werden anerkennen, dass irgendein Staat eine Einflusszone habe.' Und
nahezu ohne Rücksicht auf die Schwierigkeit - wir unterstützen keinen
Staat, welcher mit Gewalt veranlassen will, die Führschaft einer
gewählten - demokratisch gewählten Einzelperson zu ändern."
“Genuine
disagreement” remains between Russia and the United States over Georgia,
U.S. Vice President, Joe Biden, said while speaking at the State
University in Moscow on March 10.
In his speech he spoke about the
benefits Russia and the United States received in various areas two
years after pressing “reset button”; he, however, also said that there
“is still much work to be done to enhance our security cooperation and
closeness”.
“We have a genuine disagreement not only with your
[Russian] leadership but with the vast majority of the Russian people
over Georgia,” Biden told the audience at the Moscow State University.
“But there’s a larger principle at stake here in our view – and I want
to be straightforward because if friends cannot be straightforward with
friends, it really isn’t friendship based on mutual trust.”
“We think
there’s a larger principle at stake here. As I said when I announced
the reset at Munich [Security Conference in February, 2009] I said, ‘It
will remain our view that sovereign states have the right to make their
own decisions and choose their own alliances.’ And further: ‘We will not
recognize any state having a sphere of influence.’ And almost
regardless of the difficulty, we don't support any state deciding
through force changing the leadership of an elected – democratically
elected individual,” Biden said.
He said the U.S. had been working closely with Russia and Georgia “to reduce the threat of further conflict.”
“As
a result, Georgia recently restated its commitment non-use of force,
and commercial flights have resumed between Moscow and Tbilisi. But we
must do more to assist those displaced by the 2008 conflict and enable
normal travel and commerce to occur,” the U.S. Vice President added.
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| 11 Mar. '11 | US-Investor Donald Trump unterzeichnet Vertrag zur Entwicklung von zwei Bürotürmen im Wert von 300 Mio. USD
U.S.
real estate tycoon, Donald Trump, signed a deal at a ceremony in New
York in presence of President Saakashvili, to develop two towers in
Georgia with an estimated worth of up to USD 300 million.
Trump will
license his name in Georgia and his company will manage the two
properties, but so far he has no plans to put his own investment into
the deal, The New York Times reported.
“We’ll decide whether or not we want to invest,” Trump said.
The
Trump Organization, company in charge of Trump’s property development,
will work in Georgia with the Silk Road Group, Georgian conglomerate
with business interests in transportation, telecommunications, banking
and real estate, to line up financing for the project and market the
towers.
The planned projects involve the Trump Tower Tbilisi on Rose
Revolution Square, a formerly Republic Square; another is the Trump
Riviera in Batumi. Construction, which will be overseen by the Silk Road
Group, is scheduled to start in 2013, The New York Times reported.
After
the signing of the deal Donald Trump appeared at a joint news
conference with President Saakashvili at the Trump Tower in Manhattan on
a background of a large banner reading: “Trump Invests in Georgia”.
Trump
praised Georgia and its leadership saying: “This is a country with
amazing leadership.” Trump, who said was thinking about running for the
U.S. President in 2012 more seriously now than ever, criticized the
Obama administration and said he would decide whether to run or not by
June.
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| 10 Mar. '11 | Sprecher des russischen Außenministers äußert sich zu den WTO-Gesprächen mit Georgien
Georgien’s Versuche, Russlands WTO-Zutrittsbedingungen “zu politisieren”, sind “kategorisch inakzeptabel” für Moskau.
According
to Russian Prime Minister’s deputy chief of staff, Yuri Ushakov, the
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told PM Vladimir Putin at a meeting on
March 10 in Moscow that Washington had advised Tbilisi not to hinder
Moscow’s WTO bid.
“Americans had a conversation with [Tbilisi], that
there is no need to impede Russia’s [WTO] accession,” RIA Novosti news
agency reported quoting Ushakov.
He, however, said that “there was no direct promise” from the U.S. officials that they would resolve the issue with Georgians.
A
White House official said earlier this month that Georgia-Russia
dispute over WTO entry terms “is a bilateral issue, not a trilateral
issue.”
Russia’s PM’s deputy chief of staff also said that Russian PM
Putin told the U.S. Vice President that problems related to Russia’s
WTO entry were “political.”
“The Russian PM has candidly stressed,
that it was a political problem… and expressed satisfaction that with
the Americans all these issues are solved,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov was
also quoted as saying that during the meeting between Biden and Putin
talks in Switzerland, ongoing on Thursday, were also “mentioned” and a
hope was expressed that the problem would be resolved.
Georgia and Russian negotiators were due to launch talks in the Swiss capital Bern on March 10.
Meanwhile,
Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, told
reporters on March 10, that the issue was also discussed during the U.S.
Vice President’s meeting with Russia’s President, Dmitri Medvedev, on
March 9.
“The Russian President has stressed inadmissibility of
politicizing this issue, as well as the unacceptability of the Georgian
leadership’s attempts to introduce those elements into the discussions,
which are not related with the terms of WTO membership,” Lukashevich was
quoted by the Russian news agencies.
|
| 7 Mar. '11 | Regierung plant Anhebung der Mindestpension auf 100 GEL
Minimal
pension will be increased to GEL 100 starting from this September,
President Saakashvili said at a televised meeting with pensioners in
Rustavi on March 7.
Currently minimal monthly pension is GEL 80, plus
GEL 2 or GEL 10 depending on length of service of each pensioner.
Monthly pension is GEL 10 more for those pensioners residing in the
capital city Tbilisi. GEL 10 pension increase for only those pensioners
who live in the capital came ahead of the 2010 local elections.
President
Saakashvili pledged in 2008 to increase minimal monthly pension up to
USD 100. The authorities are frequently criticized by the opposition for
the failure to keep this promise.
Saakashvili told a group of
pensioners at the meeting in Rustavi on March 7, that in order to
increase minimal pension to USD 100 “a major” and “a serious pension
system reform” was needed. He said “hopefully” the government would be
able to meet that target by the first half of next year.
|
| 7 Mar. '11 | Georgien und Russland nehmen die WTO-Gespräche wieder auf
Negotiators
from Georgia and Russia over Moscow’s WTO bid will meet this week in
Bern, Nikoloz Vashakidze, the Georgian first deputy foreign minister,
said on March 7.
“We have received an official initiative from the
Russian side over launch of talks. As you are aware the Georgian side
has always been expressing readiness for negotiations and the Georgian
delegation will leave for Bern to participate in talks either on March 9
or March 10,” Vashakidze said, but declined to elaborate details of the
upcoming talks, saying it would be inappropriate to do so ahead of
negotiations.
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| 6 Mar. '11 | Russischer stellvertrender Außenminister: Tochka-U-Raketen nur "vorübergehend" in Südossetien stationiert
Russia
deployed its tactical-operational missile unit with Tochka-U rockets in
South Ossetia "temporarily" for training purposes, Grigory Karasin,
Russia's deputy foreign minister, told RIA Novosti news agency on March
4.
"Tochka-U installations were deployed on the territory of South
Ossetia for participation in the military exercises of our military
base; they were deployed there temporarily," he said.
Karasin, however, did not specify when the rockets would be withdrawn.
He
said that in the beginning of May Russia would submit to OSCE in frames
of Global Exchange of Military Information (GEMI) mechanism detailed
information about its military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
GEMI is an annual data exchange regime covering major weapons and
personnel stationed outside the territory of OSCE participating state.
Deployment
of Tochka-U (SS-21 Scarab B) short-range tactical ballistic missiles,
in South Ossetia was first reported in late January.
The Georgian
Foreign Ministry said at the time that the deployment of Tochka-U
rockets, which have maximum range of 120 kilometers, “points clearly to
the Russian Federation's plans to launch open military aggression
against Georgia.”
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| 5 Mar. '11 | 15. Runde der Genfer Gespräche beendet: Russland weigert sich weiterhin, sich selbst zum Gewaltverzicht zu verpflichten
Georgian
negotiators said after fifteenth round of Geneva talks on March 4, that
Russia continued refusing to engage in "substantial discussion" and to
commit itself to non-use of force.
"Russia's position on fundamental
issues remain unchanged," Sergi Kapanadze, the Georgian deputy foreign
minister told RFE/RL Georgian service after the talks. "They have no
intention to undertake non-use of force commitment."
Tbilisi is
insisting on Russia to reciprocate Georgia's non-use of force pledge
with a similar commitment, but Russia, arguing that it is not a party
into the conflict, refuses and instead calls on Tbilisi to sign, what it
calls, "legally binding non-use of force treaties" with Tskhinvali and
Sokhumi.
"There is no progress either in respect of international
security mechanisms." Kapanadze said. "At this stage they are against of
international presence in the occupied regions. But we hope that
progress will become possible in respect of international security
mechanisms during the following rounds [of Geneva talks],"
He also
expressed hope that some progress would be possible on "removing
restrictions movement across the occupation lines" during the next
rounds of talks.
The EU, OSCE and UN-mediated talks, involving
negotiators from Tbilisi, Moscow, Washington, Sokhumi and Tskhinvali,
were launched in Geneva two months after the August, 2008 war.
Pierre
Morel, EU's special representative and co-chair of the talks, said that
despite fundamental differences between participants, there was a
shared desire to continue the Geneva discussions. He said that there was
an improvement in the working methods with a more constructive and
operational approach.
Morel said that he and two other co-chairs from
OSCE and UN were determined to make progress on non-use force issue,
which, he said, was the central point of discussions.
Geneva
discussions are held in two working groups with the first one discussing
security-related issues and the second one - humanitarian issues.
OSCE
Lithuanian chairmanship's special representative, Giedrius Čekuolis,
said after the talks that preparations were completed for the
implementation of several projects to supply potable and irrigation
water to the population in in the areas affected by the August war.
However,
no progress had been made on gas supplies, said Čekuolis, who joined
the co-chairs in January when his country took over OSCE chairmanship
from Kazakhstan. Georgia shut down gas supply to the Akhalgori district
in South Ossetia, which was under Tbilisi's control before the August
war, as it does not want the gas it would provide to end up in the hands
of Russian troops stationed in the region.
The next, sixteenth round of talks will be held on June 7.
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| 4 Mar. '11 | US- Diplomat Philip H. Gordon zum Begriff 'besetzt': die Verwendung dieses Begriffes durch Washington sei nicht als "Provokation" gemeint, sondern einfach als eine Beschreibung der Situation vor Ort
U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Philip
H. Gordon, said that use of term 'occupied' by Washington in reference
to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was not meant to be a "provocation," but
simply description of situation on the ground.
"Secretary Clinton
referred to Russian occupation of Georgia. We don’t know what else to
call it," he said while speaking at the Global Security 2011 Forum in
Bratislava on March 3.
"We respect Georgia’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity. We believe that Russia used disproportionate
force and remains present in what we consider to be sovereign Georgia.
So it’s [use of term 'occupied'] not meant to be a particular
provocation, it’s just a description of what we think the situation is,"
he said and added that the U.S. had been "very active in the Geneva
talks and bilaterally with Russia to try to bring about an end to what
we consider to be a military occupation."
He made the remarks while
responding to a question about Georgia. Responding to the same question,
Gordon said that there was no basis for Georgians to think that
Washington abandoned its support to Georgia at the expense of its reset
policy with Moscow.
"We have some differences with Russia. We’re not
shy about expressing them. And one of them is Georgia, and I think we’ve
managed to have a better relationship with Russia in lots of important
ways but without, as I said here, sacrificing our principles or our
friends. Georgia is one of our friends and there are some important
principles involved in that relationship," Gordon said.
"We have an
intensive and active bilateral relationship. We raise Georgia’s
sovereignty and territorial integrity directly with the Russians pretty
much every time we see them. We don’t hesitate to do that. We’re clear
that we view it as an occupation," he said.
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| 3 Mar. '11 | "Freie Demokraten Georgiens" rufen dazu auf, einen "öffentlichen Rat" zur Überwachung der Polizei einzurichten
Our
Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) opposition party, led by Irakli Alasania,
has called for setting up a public council at the Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MIA) to provide democratic control of the police.
Alasania
said on March 3, that “de-politicization” of the police was one of the
key issues for creating fair and democratic electoral environment.
OGFD
said in a statement that public council was needed in order to react
and prevent cases of abuse of powers by the police, especially after
last year’s amendments to the law on police introducing stop-and-frisk
practice. OGFD has appealed to the Constitutional Court against the new
practice, giving police officers right to stop a person on the street
and to frisk the outer clothing if officer has “a reasonable suspicion”
that criminal activity is afoot.
OGFD said that public council would
help to effectively respond on citizens’ complains, as well as to react
on cases of police wrongdoings revealed by the media outlets more
effective and transparent.
|
| 3 Mar. '11 | 15. Runde der Genfer Gespräche: Bekenntnis zum Gewaltverzicht wieder auf der Agenda
Non-use of force commitment will again top the agenda of Geneva talks, fifteenth round of which will be held on March 4.
The
issue of non-use of force commitment and its modalities has long been
the major point of contention in the EU, OSCE and UN-mediated talks,
involving negotiators from Tbilisi, Moscow, Washington, Sokhumi and
Tskhinvali.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on March 2, that at
the fifteenth round of talks it would call on Russia to reciprocate
Tbilisi’s non-use of force pledge, voiced by President Saakashvili in
November and reiterated in written in letters to EU, OSCE, UN, NATO and
the United States.
“With this step Russia will demonstrate that its
intentions towards Georgia are peaceful and no further military
aggression is planned against its sovereign neighbor,” the Georgian
Foreign Ministry said.
Russia says that it has no intention to make
such pledge as it does not consider itself as a party into conflict and
instead calls on Tbilisi to agree on signing a non-use of force treaty
with Tskhinvali and Sokhumi.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a
statement on February 24, that although Tbilisi made unilateral pledge
on non-use of force in November, President Saakashvili’s “belligerent
statements” since then “significantly devalued” Georgia’s commitments
and triggered concern of Tskhinvali and Sokhumi.
“Leadership of these
republics [Abkhazia, South Ossetia] have stated, that they would seek
in Geneva concluding legally binding document on non-use of force,” the
Russian Foreign Ministry said and added that Moscow supported this
position.
Georgia says that Moscow’s insistence on non-use of force
treaty between Tbilisi and Sokhumi, as well as between Tbilisi and
Tskhinvali “has a sole aim of legitimizing the proxy regimes” and “is a
clumsy excuse to avoid its own responsibility of non-use of force.”
The
Georgian Foreign Ministry said on March 2, that the second issue it
would prioritize at the fifteenth round of Geneva discussions was
establishment of “international security arrangements in the occupied
Georgian regions.” Tbilisi wants to see presence of, what it calls,
“international peacekeeping and police forces” in the breakaway regions.
Return of displaced persons in safety and dignity will also be
discussed, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that “Russia has been
blocking the return process through various artificial reasons.”
“This
time, we hope that Moscow will unlock the process and substantial
discussions will take place on the modalities of return,” the Georgian
Foreign Ministry said.
|
| 3 Mar. '11 | Nino Burjanadze: Revolution unausweichlich
Nino
Burjanadze, former parliamentary speaker and leader of opposition
Democratic Movement-United Georgia party, said she was “absolutely sure
that events in Georgia will, unfortunately, develop through the
revolutionary scenario.”
“Saakashvili simply does not leave a chance
for other scenarios,” she said in an interview with the Georgian news
agency, InterPressNews, on March 2.
“We should spare no efforts in
order to make this revolution peaceful. More people in the streets will
create more guarantees that this revolution will really be peaceful and
Saakashvili will not dare” to use force against people, she added.
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| 2 Mar. '11 | Studie des "Zentrums für europ. polit. Studien" verurteilt den Ansatz der EU bei den Freihandelsgesprächen mit Georgien
EU
should reshape its current “bad” approach towards free trade agreement
with Georgia and open negotiations “without further delay” since Georgia
has “more than satisfied” the relevant preconditions, a study released
on March 1 by the Brussels-based think-tank Centre for European Policy
Studies (CEPS) says.
The 105-page study, conducted by researchers
from CEPS; Paris-based Groupe d’Economie Mondiale and Tbilisi-based
libertarian think-tank New Economic School-Georgia, says that the
European Commission is insisting on “a hugely demanding set of
preconditions” before agreeing to open negotiations with Georgia on deep
and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA).
Georgian Deputy
Foreign Minister, Tornike Gordadze, complained recently that discussions
on launch of DCFTA talks were “the most difficult” part of Association
Agreement negotiations between Georgia and the EU. He told the
Brussels-based EUobserver.com last month that during talks with European
Commission officials in charge of trade, he got the "impression that
they have changed the preconditions.”
“Now the ones that were set for
concluding the negotiations are the same for starting the
negotiations,” Gordadze, who is Georgia’s chief negotiator with EU,
said.
According to the study released by CEPS, in March 2009 the
European Commission sent to Georgia list of preconditions with some of
them to be fulfilled before the start of DCFTA talks and others – after
the formal launch of negotiations.
The study criticizes the European
Commission for use of, as it put it, “fuzzy” language without defining
what “sufficient”, “adequate”, “effective” or “proper implementation”
exactly means.
“The preconditions are written in an ‘open-ended’
language which gives to the Commission the absolute power to decide
whether the preconditions are met or not,” the study says.
According
to the study, in December 2010, the European Commission sent to Georgia a
new, separate document, which shifted some of the preconditions, which
initially were intended for implementation after the launch of the
negotiations, into the list of those preconditions, which have to be met
before formal launch of talks.
The study argues that the European
Commission’s approach is “bad” from number of perspectives, including
for development policy for Georgia, from commercial policy point of
view, as well as from the foreign policy perspective.
In terms of
development policy, the study says, “the burdensome regulatory changes
imposed on Georgia are equivalent to taxing Georgian production –
endangering her growth, the sustainability of her reforms and of her
successful fight against corruption which is so crucial for her long
term development.”
The study says that preconditions in sanitary and
phytosanitary measures would trigger an average price increase of 90%
for the key food products, which “would greatly endanger the political
stability and fuel an anti-European sentiment in Georgia.”
The study
criticizes the European Commission’s approach in terms of commerce
arguing that it would fail to promote trade between Georgia and EU.
“In
order to survive the vast majority of Georgian producers, which would
not be able to sell their products anymore on Georgian markets under EU
norms, would try to sell them to foreign markets using non-EU norms,
boosting artificially Georgia’s exports to non-EU countries,” according
to the study.
It also says that the approach is “bad” from the
foreign policy perspective, because the European Commission’s
preconditions “show the EU as being hegemonic towards its very much
smaller neighbour, not an enlightened and trustable anchor.”
In the
section where the study discusses potential motives behind the European
Commission’s approach, it says that one of the reasons behind putting
such preconditions before Georgia might be “a tactical maneuver” of the
Commission in order to control the timing of DCFTA negotiations.
“One
possible reason for such a motive is Russia’s accession to the World
Trade Organization (WTO),” the study reads. “The Commission may want to
start the negotiations on the DCFTA only after Russia’s WTO accession in
order to put pressure on Georgia’s position in the WTO,” the study
says, but it also adds that it was a “speculation” and does not
discusses it further.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister, Tornike
Gordadze, also raised this point in February interview with
EUobserver.com and said: “Some people also say the change [in European
Commission’s position by putting new preconditions for launching talks]
could be some sort of indirect pressure from the EU to drop our
objections in Russia's WTO bid.”
“I hope this is not the case,” Gordadze added.
The
study released by CEPS was authored by Prof. Patrick Messerlin and
Alexandre Le Vernoy from Groupe d’Economie Mondiale at Sciences Po;
Michael Emerson from CEPS and Gia Jandieri, the vice-president of New
Economic School-Georgia.
|
| 2 Mar. '11 | "Georgische Partei": 'Revolution unausweichlich, wenn Präsident Saakashvili Nein zu Veränderungen sagt'
Leaders
of the opposition Georgian Party, launched in October and led by former
public defender Sozar Subari, say that revolution will be inevitable in
Georgia if President Saakashvili refuses to soften his grip on power.
“Will
we have to carry out a revolution or will we be able to carry out
[changes] through elections? That is a question on which Saakashvili has
to give an answer, meaning will Saakashvili give up [control over]
justice system, media, political police and stop terrorizing business
and will he set electoral environment free? If his answer is ‘No’, then
only one mean becomes available for us – mounting political and people’s
pressure on this regime in order to make it go as soon as possible,”
Erosi Kitsmarishvili, the Georgian Party’s political secretary, told the
party activists on March 1.
Apart of Sozar Subari and Erosi
Kitsmarishvili, who is Georgia’s former ambassador to Russia, the party
was co-founded by several high-profile opposition figures, including
exiled ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili and Levan Gachechiladze,
an opposition presidential candidate in 2008 elections.
Speaking at
the same meeting with the party activists on March 1, Levan
Gachechiladze said that revolution would be inevitable if the
authorities fail to carry out real changes and the Georgian Party would
be in the forefront of this process. He also said that the process
similar to those in Egypt might take place “very soon” in Georgia too.
Koka
Guntsadze, one of co-founder of the party and its secretary general,
said at the same meeting: “People are waiting for changes and we should
fall this regime into pieces at any cost and we should put this country
on the path of irreversible progress.”
In recent months the Georgian
Party has been establishing its regional branches throughout the
country. Levan Gachechiladze described this process of building party
infrastructure as “building of political army to win the battle.”
Kitsmarishvili
said that the party was moving on next stage of its development
involving holding of congresses of regional branches “to foster active
engagement with the party activists.”
|
| 1 Mar. '11 | Russische Berichte: 'vorschnell, mit dem Finger auf Georgien zu zeigen wegen des Domodedovo-Anschlags'
Russian
news agency, Interfax, reported on March 1 quoting an unnamed
representative of Russia's National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NAK),
that it was premature to blame anyone, including Georgian leadership,
for masterminding January terrorist attack at Domodedovo airport in
Moscow.
"Before the investigation into this case is ongoing, any
version about who ordered it or about accomplices can be considered as a
personal opinion and nothing more," a representative of National
Counter-Terrorism Committee (NAK) was quoted.
Alexander Torshin,
deputy speaker of Russia's Federal Council and a member of NAK -
Russia's government body coordinating anti-terrorism policies, said in
February 25 newspaper interview, that he was sure the terrorist act at
Domodedovo was ordered by the Georgian leadership.
Georgian
President's spokesperson, Manan Manjgaladze, said on March 1 that this
allegation such "absurd" that it was not even worth of commenting.
Georgian
Deputy Foreign Minister, Nino Kalandadze, said on February 28, that the
it was a “purposeful provocation” and “absolutely groundless
allegation."
|
| 1 Mar. '11 | Kirchenoberhaupt
Ilia II ruft die russische und georgische Führung auf, "Weißheit zu
zeigen" und Gespräche auf verschiedensten Ebenen zwischen den beiden
Ländern zu starten
Head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II,
called on the Georgian and Russian leaders "to show wisdom" and launch
talks "on various levels" between the two countries.
The Georgian
President administration said on March 1, that the call was in line with
the Georgian authorities' willingness to start talks "anytime, anywhere
and on any issue".
“I call on the leaders of the both countries to
show wisdom, courage and start dialogue at various levels in order to
discuss and resolve accumulated difficult issues,” Ilia II said in a
written statement.
“We should spare no efforts in order to avoid
continued negative trends and their deepening... We should take into
consideration lessons of the past and look into the future with taking
into consideration interests of our people and countries… Enmity between
the neighbors is inadmissible,” the statement reads.
It also says that current negative rhetoric does not contribute to the rapprochement between the sides.
The
statement was released before a planned visit of the Georgian Orthodox
Church's delegation to Moscow. The delegation will be led by head of
foreign relations service of the Georgian church, Metropolitan Gerasime.
Manana Manjgaladze, the Georgian President's spokesperson, said on
March 1, that Ilia II's statement "fully voices aspiration, which the
Georgian authorities have."
"Position of the Georgian President is
well-known both for the Georgian population and the international
community. We reiterate our full readiness to launch a full-scale
dialogue with the Russian Federation anytime, anyplace on any issue,"
she said.
After President Saakashvili reiterated in his state of
nation address on February 11 his willingness to engage in a dialogue
with Russia, Moscow reacted by saying that Saakashvili's statement was
“a PR move" and "a new clumsy attempt to portray himself as a
constructive and peace-loving politician.”
“It is hardly possible to
perceive these statements seriously, at least because they are
accompanied by rude anti-Russian rhetoric, confrontational and insulting
attacks in address of the Russian Federation,” Russian Foreign
Ministry’s spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich, said on February 17.
|
| 28 Feb. '11 | US-Botschafter äußert sich zur Transparenz der Besitzverhältnisse des Rundfunks
U.S.
ambassador to Georgia, John Bass, said the draft law on transparency of
owners of broadcasters, currently under consideration in the
Parliament, was a step forward to improving media environment in the
country.
He said in an interview with Georgian Public Broadcaster’s
weekly talk-show Accents on February 27, that one of the problems, but
not the only one, was “ambiguity who exactly owns” media outlets, as
well as “who is making decisions about what stories are covered and what
stories are not covered.”
“I think that one of the first steps, it
is important to see, is additional transparency of media ownership. The
draft law that is in the Parliament obviously will be an important step
forward if it is approved,” Bass said.
He also said that he was
“encouraged” to hear from the Georgian officials that they were ready to
also consider a separate proposal pushed for by a group of legal and
media experts. The proposal addresses not only media ownership
transparency, but also broader media-related issues, including such as
measure to ease access to public information.
The U.S. ambassador said that both of these components were important for developing media and journalism in Georgia.
“Media
environment… is one of the most important elements to creating the
[electoral] campaign environment we all want to see next year to ensure
the parliamentary elections [in 2012] are competitive,” Bass said.
In the same interview he criticized the rule according to which broadcast licenses are issued based on content.
“That, to my mind, runs counter to how media regulation works in a democratic society,” the U.S. ambassador said.
Granting
of new broadcast licenses is currently suspended by the Georgian
National Communications Commission (GNCC) citing that it has not yet
concluded a public opinion survey to define in what type of media
content the public is interested so that to then decide on broadcast
license seekers’ applications shelved in GNCC.
|
| 27 Feb. '11 | Russischer Senator Alexander Torshin: 'Georgien bestellte den Domodedovo-Anschlag'
Senior
Russian senator’s statement that Georgia ordered Domodedovo airport
attack was a “purposeful provocation” and “absolutely groundless
allegation,” Nino Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said
at a news conference on February 28.
Alexander Torshin, deputy
speaker of Russia's upper house of the Parliament, Federal Council, said
in an interview with the Russian newspaper, that he did not believe
Islamist militants were behind the January terrorist act at the Moscow
airport and blamed Georgia for ordering the attack. Torshin is a member
of National Counter-terrorism Committee (NAK), which is Russia's
government body coordinating anti-terrorism policies.
“Even the
Russian law enforcement agencies have made not a single indication about
the Georgian trace,” the Georgian Foreign Minister said.
She said
that the allegation probably aimed at “serious intentions” going beyond
just voicing an opinion of an individual Russian official. Allegations
of this type, she said, were worth of attention both of Tbilisi and the
international community.
“These [allegations] seem to be the part of
Russian special service’s policy,” Kalandadze said and added that
instead of protecting its citizens the Russian special services were
“more skilled in organizing terrorist acts on the sovereign territory of
the neighbor.”
A senior Georgian lawmaker from the ruling party, Giorgi Gabashvili, said that Torshin’s allegation was “an impudent delirium.”
|
| 25 Feb. '11 | Präsident
Saakashvili anläßlich des "Tages der sowjetischen Okkupation":
‘sterbendes Reich träumt immer noch’ davon, Georgien zu besetzen
Russia
is still “dreaming” about taking over Georgia like the Bolshevik Red
Army did it on February 25 ninety years ago, President Saakashvili said.
He
was speaking in the Museum of Occupation in Tbilisi before students
from school of cadets, marking the day when the Bolshevik’s Red Army
took over Tbilisi in 1921. Last July, the Georgian Parliament declared
February 25 as the Day of Soviet Occupation.
“Significant parts of
Georgia are still occupied,” Saakashvili said. “The same empire, which
carried out February 25 of 1921, is dreaming about abolishing Georgia’s
sovereignty; how to repeat the February 25 is still discussed in those
same rooms, where that tragic day [February 25, 1921] was planned. I
remember that during our first meeting Putin proudly told me he was
sitting in Stalin’s room in the Kremlin.”
“The only difference is
that at that time [in 1921] this empire was being born and now it is
dying and is on the stage of waning; at that time it was starting moving
towards the world domination and on this road Georgia was one small
obstacle… now it has lost influence; its positions are weakening on
daily basis and Georgia is its last chance to maintain its positions or
at least some sort of illusive status of empire. So now we have to be
especially careful and mobilized,” Saakashvili said.
He said that
Georgia’s major achievement of recent years was establishment of
statehood with a political class for which Georgia was no longer
regarded as a province of any empire. He also said that in 1990s Georgia
would have avoided all those “traps”, which Russia placed, if the
country had the same political class.
“Today we have the state, state
institutions, citizens realize responsibility before the state and the
state fulfills its major commitments towards its citizens. That’s our
major achievement, which makes it impossible to reverse the history and
to repeat the February 25 of 1921,” Saakashvili said.
February 25 Declared Day of Soviet Occupation
|
| 23 Feb. '11 | Sokhumi fordert von Tbilisi die Freilassung von Merab Kolbaia, der wegen geplanter Anschläge verhaftet worden war
The
Abkhaz side indicated that Merab Kolbaia, who Tbilisi says is “one of
the key suspects” behind series of explosions last autumn, was arrested
by the Georgian police in the Gali district of the breakaway region.
Georgian
Interior Ministry announced about the arrest of Kolbaia on February 17
as a result of “special operation”, but declined to give a location
where he was arrested citing sensitivity of the operation.
Abkhaz
news agency, Apsnipress, reported that the Abkhaz side raised the issue
at the twenty fifth meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response
Mechanism (IPRM) in Gali on February 22.
“During the meeting the
Abkhaz side has again raised the issue of kidnapping of Abkhaz citizens
by the Georgian special services, in particular the arrest of a resident
of Gali district, Merab Kolbaia, on February 15 was discussed,”
Apsnipress reported. According to the same report the Georgian side
undertook two failed attempts in December, 2010 and in January, 2011 “to
kidnap so called suspects from the territory of Abkhazia.”
“The
Abkhaz side demanded release citizen of Abkhazia, Merab Kolbaia, and
stated that such subversive acts by Georgia lead to destabilization of
situation, which do not contribute constructive dialogue between the
sides,” Apsnipress reported.
|
| 22 Feb. '11 | Abgeordnete rufen dazu auf, den Tode des Präsidenten Sviad Gamsakhurdia's erneut zu untersuchen
Parliament
passed a resolution on February 22 asking the chief prosecutor’s office
“to react appropriately” on new facts and circumstances surrounding the
death of Georgia’s ousted President Zviad Gamsakhurdia seventeen years
ago.
The resolution was passed based on a report tabled by an ad hoc
parliamentary commission, chaired by MP Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, son of
the late President.
For more than a year the commission was studying
circumstances of Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s death in December, 1993 in a
remote village of western Georgian region of Samegrelo, less than two
years after he was ousted in a military coup. He died from a gunshot to
the head.
The official investigation, carried out in 1990s, found
that Gamsakhurdia committed suicide – the clam disputed by many of his
supporters.
The ad hoc commission was mandated with a task to find
out whether the suicide version was in line with actual facts and
circumstances; the commission had a mandate “to study” and not the
mandate “to investigate” – the latter gives more powers to ad hoc
parliamentary commissions.
According to the commission’s report the
investigation into Gamsakhurdia’s death was carried out with negligence
of crucial circumstances and through ignorance of major evidence. It
says that key evidence, including gun and also a bullet, from which
Gamsakhurdia allegedly committed suicide disappeared. According to the
report there are multiple inconsistencies in the official investigation,
which give a reason to cast doubt over its conclusions that
Gamsakhurdia committed suicide.
|
| 22 Feb. '11 | Ausscheidender EU-Gesandter Peter Semneby äußert sich zu Georgien: die nächsten Wahlen 2012/13 seien für die Reife der Demokratie in Georgien äußerst wichtig
# 'Next elections crucial';
# 'Georgia is a better place now';
# 'Ruling party’s overwhelming dominance';
# Georgia’s regional role;
# Needs for 'qualitative change' in Russo-Georgian ties;
# On term 'occupied' – 'labeling not the most important'
Next
elections, including parliamentary in 2012 and presidential in 2013,
would be “crucial for the maturity of the Georgian democracy,” Peter
Semneby, an outgoing EU’s Special Representative for South Caucasus,
said on February 22 in Tbilisi.
“It is very important that the
electoral legislature is agreed well beforehand [so] that it does not
become part of the electoral campaign itself. Georgia needs to establish
clear and stable rules of the game for the political competition
between the parties,” Semneby said.
It was the Swedish diplomat’s
last visit to Georgia in his capacity of the EU’s Special
Representative, as his mandate on the post, which he held since 2006,
expires on February 28.
The fate of the post is unclear yet as the
discussions about the mandate of Special Representatives were still
underway within EU, he said. “There certainly [will] be a gap before
this discussion is concluded,” Semneby said.
Semneby, whose tenure
coincided with Georgia’s several domestic political crises and the
August war, said that it had been “a very challenging period” for
Georgia.
“But I think Georgia is a better place now for many reasons,
than it was in the beginning of my term in this job and not least
thanks to the new stage that we have entered in relations between
Georgia and the European Union with the start of negotiations on
Association Agreement,” he said.
“I very strongly hope Georgia will
take these negotiations [on Association Agreement] seriously and Georgia
will approach these negotiations with diligence that they deserve,
because it is in a close relations with EU that Georgia can find the
best guarantees that are available for its sovereignty and security,”
Semneby said.
Semneby, who acted for number of times as a facilitator
between the Georgian authorities and the opposition during the internal
political tensions, involving series of mass street protests in
2007-2009, said that those events “had ultimately healthy influence on
the political discourse in general in Georgia.”
“They demonstrated by
balancing on the brink, on many occasions, what limits are on the use
of force as means in politics and I think Georgia is much healthier
place after these events were successfully dealt with,” he said.
'Overwhelming Dominance of Ruling Party'
Semneby
said that overwhelming dominance of the ruling National Movement Party
in government branches was putting on the authorities a large degree of
responsibility.
“The current governing party also needs to consider
how it uses the overwhelming domination that it has at the moment – with
the constitutional majority in the Parliament and control of all
municipal councils in the country – in a responsible way in order to
provide the oxygen for alternative political voices to be heard,” he
said.
Asked to elaborate further on the issue, Semneby said that he
was only making an observation that there was “quite an extraordinary
situation” in Georgia with one political force being “in a very, very,
exceptionally strong position” and “it puts a large degree of
responsibility on the political force that has this kind of dominance.”
Georgia’s Regional Role and Russia
Semneby
said that Georgia in many ways achieved progress that “goes beyond what
has been achieved by other countries in the region.”
“It’s important
to consider that for its international partners Georgia is important in
regional context, not just by itself and Georgia therefore needs to
make its own contribution to stability in this region,” he said.
“This
also includes relations with Russia where we need to find way -
Georgia’s partners are willing and I think able to help here – to do
more in terms of improving those relations without compromising on
existential positions, but nevertheless there needs to be a qualitative
change in these relationships.”
“Realistically speaking it will take
time to address all the conflict-related issues and in the meantime it
will be necessary and important to improve and develop relations between
Georgia and Russia even with such fundamental differences remaining,”
Semneby said.
He said that apart of human aspect and restoring
contacts between Russia and Georgia on “personal level”, there were
“lots of practical issues” that needed to be dealt, including the one
related to trade.
“If there is development of Georgian-Russian
relations in a broader sense it may – I say ‘may’, it’s not absolutely
certain that it would be the case – also improve conditions for
resolving very difficult political issues that still remain between the
two countries,” he said.
Abkhazia, S.Ossetia
Semneby, who has been
involved in developing EU’s “engagement without recognition” approach
towards Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, said
that EU had “much more extensive and much more intensive” interaction
with Sokhumi, than with Tskhinvali.
He said he had extensive
discussions both in Tbilisi and Sokhumi about where the greatest
opportunities for engagement were and “I would say that the area of
healthcare would provide important opportunities for further
engagement.”
Semneby said that many of the aspects of Tbilisi’s approach were mirroring those of the EU.
“We
have welcomed many of the initiatives taken by the Georgian government
and in particular the Action Plan” for Engagement, Semneby said
referring to a document which was approved by the Georgian government in
July, 2010 and which lays out steps for implementing goals outlined in
Tbilisi’s Strategy on Occupied Territories.
“We believe it [the
Action Plan for Engagement] contains very many interesting intentions
that clearly mirror priorities and views of the European Union… We are
obviously ready to make a contribution to supporting those parts of
Georgian plan that are in line with our own policies and convictions,”
Semneby said.
He said that Georgia needed international partners in
order to facilitate reconciliation. “Georgia also needs to trust its
international partners in this endeavor,” Semneby added.
Asked about
his shunning away from using term “occupied territories” in reference to
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Semneby said: “Labeling here is not the
most important issue.”
“The fact is that we have conflict situation
that needs to be dealt with in such a way that we ensure that certain
objectives are fulfilled. We should focus on tasks here to rebuild
contacts across the confrontation lines, we should address the
humanitarian issues, security-related issues including fulfillment of
the agreements that entered in August and September 2008,” he said.
|
| 21 Feb. '11 | Abchasien startet eine Volkszählung, wobei u.a. auch die ethnische Zugehörigkeit erfaßt wird
Breakaway Abkhazia launched on February 21 census of population, which more than halved since the armed conflict in early 90s.
Mainly
teachers have been recruited as census-takers in the process, which is
scheduled to last till February 28. Respondents are asked 16 questions
from Russian-language questionnaires, including details about education,
ethnic groups and employment, chairperson of the Abkhaz statistics
office, Zoia Avidzba, was quoted by the Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress.
She also said that persons who had been away for more than 12 months
would not be included. It was not clear when the results would be
announced.
According to the latest census, held in Abkhazia in 2003,
about 214,000 people lived in the breakaway region. The figures,
however, are source of controversy with various estimates ranging from
180,000 to 220,000.
Based on number of voters registered in Abkhazia
for 2005 elections, the Brussels-based think-tank International Crisis
Group suggested that population in Abkhazia was between 157,000 and
190,000.
According to the pre-war census held in 1989 population of
the region was 525,061, including 239,872 ethnic Georgians (45.7%),
93,267 Abkhaz (17.8%), 76,541 ethnic Armenians (14.6%) and 74,914 ethnic
Russians (14.3%).
|
| 20 Feb. '11 | Medvedev warnte vor Bedrohungen der olympischen Winterspiele 2014 in Sotschi und erwähnte dabei Georgien
Russian
President, Dmitry Medvedev, warned of threats to the 2014 Sochi Winter
Olympic Games and mentioned Georgia in this context on February 18.
"Forces
that would impede holding of the Olympic Games must be identified and
brought to justice if we are talking about the citizens of our country.
You all understand, that there also are certain problems related with
our neighbor - Georgia; so everything that requires heightened attention
should be done by the Foreign Minister, law enforcement agencies,
security structures. Appropriate barriers should be put on the way of
any provocations," Medvedev said.
He was speaking in Sochi at a meeting of Russia's National Security Council.
Head
of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in Russia's Republic of
Karachay-Cherkessia in the northwest of North Caucasus region, said in
December 16, that Georgia was trying to destabilize situation in the
border areas with Russia in order to thwart Sochi Olympics.
A group
of Georgian lawmakers from parliamentary committees on foreign affairs
and compatriots living abroad, as well as the parliamentary ad hoc
commission on territorial integrity discussed in November what should be
Georgia's position over holding of Olympics in Sochi. Although no
formal decision has yet been taken, after that meeting, ruling party
lawmakers said that it was necessary "to convince the international
Olympic Committee, National Olympic Committees and the international
community in the necessity of holding 2014 Winter Olympics in a
different country.”
Apart of the factor of occupation of Abkhazia, a
ruling party lawmaker Nugzar Tsiklauri said after that meeting in
November, Sochi Olympic Games “are planned to be held on the territory
considered to be a place of genocide of Circassians.”
“According to
the Olympic Charter, it is impossible to hold Olympic Games on the
territory where the genocide of a nation took place,” MP Tsiklauri said.
Also
in November Giorgi Baramidze, Georgia’s deputy prime minister and state
minister for Euro-Atlantic integration, said that he personally "shares
sentiments” of a group of Georgian lawmakers who expressed their
opposition to holding of the Olympics in Sochi.
“I personally express
solidarity with the members of parliament, because I understand
sentiments, I understand why they think that Russia does not deserve to
be the host of the Olympic Games - because the Olympic movement is
something different that Russia demonstrates," Baramidze said in
November.
Georgia was itself competing for hosting 2014 Winter
Olympic Games in Borjomi and Bakuriani. But after Georgia’s bid was
eliminated, President Saakashvili said in February, 2007, that Georgia
would support Russia’s bid to hold the Olympics in Sochi.
“Olympic
games in Sochi would foster peaceful processes in this region that has
always been associated with conflicts. So in this regard, [Olympic Games
in Sochi] will be a positive incentive for regional cooperation.”
Saakashvili said in 2007.
|
| 16 Feb. '11 | Stellvertretendender Außenminister Tornike Gordadze: Gespräche zum Freihandelsabkommen mit der EU bleiben 'schwierig'
Preliminary
talks on deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) are the
"most difficult" part of Association Agreement negotiations between
Georgia and the EU, Tornike Gordadze, the Georgian deputy foreign
minister, said in an interview with Brussels-based EUobserver.com on
February 12.
Gordadze, who was appointed on the post of deputy
foreign minister last summer, is Georgia’s chief negotiator in talks on
Association Agreement with EU.
"We had quite serious preconditions in
2008, which we considered we've fulfilled and even went beyond,”
Gordadze was quoted by EUobserver.com. “For instance, we've unilaterally
abolished import taxes on 86 percent of the goods from the EU and made
progress on food safety and intellectual property rights."
In July,
2010 when Georgia and EU launched Association Agreement, Saakashvili
said that he hoped to have deep and comprehensive free trade agreement
with EU in two years as a result of Association Agreement talks. But in
his annual state of the nation address on February 11, Saakashvili said
Georgia’s goal was to have free trade agreement with EU by 2015.
Gordadze
also said that during talks with European Commission officials in
charge of trade, he got the "impression that they have changed the
preconditions: Now the ones that were set for concluding the
negotiations are the same for starting the negotiations.”
“Some
people also say the change could be some sort of indirect pressure from
the EU to drop our objections in Russia's WTO bid. I hope this is not
the case,” Gordadze said.
Georgian officials have said for number of
times recently that Tbilisi’s position over Russia’s WTO entry remained
unchanged. Georgia says that it is not against of Russia's WTO entry,
but under the condition that Moscow makes border crossing points in
breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia “transparent”.
“We still do not
see much will from Russia to reach out to us,” Saakashvili told Reuters
in October, 2010. "We are ready for serious, meaningful talks about the
issues but we have certain issues that cannot be overlooked and cannot
be overcome by neglect.”
|
| 15 Feb. '11 | NATO-Gesandter James Appathurai nennt einige Details zu den georgischen Reformzielen
* 'Long and winding road';
* 'No arms embargo';
* 'Enduring, fundamental difference'
Increasing
democratic control of military and police are among those reform
targets, which Georgia submitted to NATO in frames of its Annual
National Programme, James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special
Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said in an interview
with Ekho Moskvy radio station on February 14.
Asked which of the
NATO standards Georgia was not yet meeting, James Appathurai responded,
that all of the partners working with NATO, including Georgia, “have
reforms they wish to make.”
“Georgia has just submitted to NATO the
annual plan for further reforms,” he said. “It includes upgrading and
increasing democratic control of the military, same is true about the
police; it means improving the management of them through government
ministries. It includes fighting corruption – that’s the area where
Georgia is doing very, very well. So there is lot to do and we continue
to help them to do that.”
Annual National Programme, introduced in
December 2008, is set of reform targets, which is drawn by the Georgian
government and reviewed annually by NATO. The recent plan was approved
by the Georgian government on February 4 and submitted to the alliance
on February 11.
'Long and Winding Road'
James Appathurai also said in the same radio interview, that Georgia had “a long and winding road” to go before joining NATO.
“If
I could give a date [when Georgia joins the alliance], it would go
against the principle of NATO enlargement and that is conditions-based –
the country has to meet the standards of the alliance. We have
political standards, military standards and economic liberty standards,”
he said.
“The NATO allies decided that Ukraine and Georgia… will
become NATO members when they meet those standards and if they so desire
of course.”
He said that NATO “respects 100%” Ukraine’s decision not
to join NATO. “Georgia is still working for membership and we’re
supporting them. But honestly speaking there is a long and winding road
to follow,” Appathurai said.
'No Arms Embargo'
Responding to a
listener’s question “why NATO is still arming Georgia,” NATO’s special
envoy said that “NATO does not arm anybody.”
“NATO as an organization
does not sell arms,” Appathurai said. “Individual allies of course are
free to sell arms to whom they wish as long as those sales meet
international law and norms. And there is no arms embargo, as far as I
am aware, on sales to Georgia. I must say I also don’t have information
about arms sales to Georgia, but if it is happening it is legal.”
'Fundamental Difference'
Asked
why NATO refused to listen to a report by EU-funded fact-finding
mission into the causes of the August war, Appathurai responded that the
report drew some conclusions about what events had triggered the
conflict in 2008.
“I’ve read the report and of course the [NATO]
Secretary General has read the report as well,” he said. “It says a lot
of things and I can’t say from my reading that it comes down clearly one
way or another.”
“But frankly speaking what now is becoming the most
enduring problem, when it comes to these two regions of Georgia
[Abkhazia and South Ossetia] is not who started it [the war], but the
fact of Russian recognition of these two republics, which no NATO ally
can agree to and which, we believe firmly, undermines the territorial
integrity of Georgia, which is going to be and is already enduring,
fundamental difference of view between allies and Russia,” Appathurai
said.
|
| 14 Feb. '11 | Tbilisi verurteilt lokale Wahlen im abtrünnigen Abchasien
Georgian
Foreign Ministry said on Monday that Tbilisi “condemns” local elections
held by “the proxy regime operating in Russian occupied region of
Abkhazia” on February 12.
"Considering the fact, that as a result of
ethnic cleansing executed in Abkhazia, Georgia the overwhelming majority
of local population was expelled from the places of original residence,
this pseudo-democratic political act represents yet another cynical
attempt to mislead the international community," the Georgian Foreign
Ministry said in a statement issued on February 14.
It also said that
“so called elections” were another step towards “legitimization of the
outcome of the ethnic cleansing” and called on the international
community “to give an adequate assessment to the illegal elections.”
Abkhaz
news agency, Apsnipress, reported that 38.8% of voters turned out at
the polling stations on February 12. Local councils are elected for
four-year terms. De facto president of the breakaway region appoints the
heads of towns and districts from members of the elected local
councils.
|
| 6 Feb. '11 | Präsident Saakashvili ruft den Westen auf, Moskau zurück an den Verhandlungstisch zu bringen
President
Saakashvili told the Munich Security Conference on Sunday that his call
for a dialogue was responded by Moscow with further military build-up
in Georgia’s “regions illegally occupied by the Russian troops.”
In
his speech at the conference he reiterated Georgia’s non-use of force
pledge and called on the EU and the United States “to bring those who
believe in military supremacy back to the table of negotiations.”
“I
came here today to repeat this simple message: Peace is the only
solution, and a comprehensive political dialogue is the only way to
achieve it,” Saakashvili said.
“But until now, how did the Russian
leaders respond to our call? Not only they refused to reciprocate the
non-use of force, they responded by accelerating the military build-up
in the occupied regions, announcing lastly the deployment of offensive
missiles 50 miles from our capital.”
He warned that ignoring the ongoing military build-ups “fueled by well-known foreign hands can lead to future disasters.”
“European
and American involvement is essential,” Saakashvili said. “With your
help, I am confident that we can transform this region marked by
old-fashioned logics of domination into an area of cooperation and
progress.”
Speaking at the same conference in Munich a day earlier,
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that resolving “chronic
conflicts” was a common interest. “To this end, we will need to discard
double standards and be objective about each situation taking into full
account positions of all parties,” Lavrov said.
On the sideline of
the Munich Security Conference, President Saakashvili met with German
Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 5, as well as with Australian
Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.
In Munich Saakashvili also met with
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey. Switzerland represents Russia's
diplomatic interests in Georgia and Georgia's interests in Russia after
the two countries cut diplomatic ties following the August, 2008 war.
The
Georgian President’s administration said that “one of the key issues”
discussed during the meeting with Micheline Calmy-Rey was
intensification of Switzerland’s role as a mediator between Georgia and
Russia.
|
| 6 Feb. '11 | Präsident Saakashvili's Rede auf der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz
February 6
Ladies and gentlemen,
Distinguished guests of the conference,
In the past 20 years, the world has learnt that history did not end in 1989 and that it remains tragic.
The
eclipse of the Cold War left behind a series of so-called “low
intensity conflicts”—an euphemism for “conflicts of little importance to
the international community.”
It is clear now to all of us in this
room that these conflicts can have global effects and that stable states
cannot preserve their own security while overlooking instability
abroad.
Having experienced and survived very uncertain times, we,
Georgians, believe not only that all people have the right to aspire to
stability, but also that it is our collective responsibility to project
this stability in areas where it does not exist.
This is why Georgia
has sent almost 1,000 troops to support some of the most dangerous
missions of the ISAF deployment in Afghanistan—to help the Afghan people
achieve a sustainable peace and to prevent terrorists from again using
that country as a base.
For Georgia, a country of just 4.7 millions
souls, whose territory is still partly occupied, such an effort
underscores our determination to be a provider—and not just a
consumer—of international security.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to stress today that we are facing a decisive moment for the future of our region.
The
arc of countries at the margin of what was not so long ago the Soviet
Empire can be defined both as an arc of crisis—or so-called “frozen
conflicts” - and as an area of opportunity for international
cooperation.
We, Georgians, have seen in 2008 how quickly a “frozen
conflict” can turn into a hot war and I cannot emphasize enough today
the danger of overlooking ongoing tensions in the South Caucasus and
beyond.
I came here to deliver one simple message: ignoring the
ongoing military build-ups fueled by well-known foreign hands can lead
to future disasters.
Ladies and gentlemen,
South Caucasus is the
only alternative road to bring the Central Asian energy to Europe, a
supply route for the ISAF mission, a region in which people are striving
for transatlantic integration and for European transformation.
But a
region, also, where the law of weapons has prevailed too many times in
the recent past, where some leaders of a former Empire still apply a
well known policy: “divide to rule”.
In order to avoid new confrontations, we should all take our responsibilities.
My
government is committed to take every possible step in order to defuse
tensions and pave the way to a just and lasting peace in the region.
In
the 80% of Georgia that we control, we have made in the last 7 years
considerable progress in building a multi-ethnic state where all
citizens have access to the government and the economy.
Towards the
regions illegally occupied by the Russian troops, we have adopted a
comprehensive strategy of peaceful engagement of all populations, trying
to rebuild the bridges between communities that the Soviet leaders and
their heirs have systematically destroyed.
We never took the Russian
refusal to comply with the August 12th 2008 cease-fire agreement as a
pretext and we went beyond our commitments as defined in the cease-fire
agreement, as well as in our cooperation with the essential European
Monitoring Mission.
The head of the EUMM, Hansjorg Haber, defined our policy as a “constructive unilateralism”.
This
“constructive unilateralism” has lead me to solemnly pledge last
November before the European Parliament that Georgia will never use
force in order to restore its territorial integrity, neither against the
occupation forces nor against their proxies.
This pledge - a legal obligation for Georgia - was accompanied by a call for dialogue.
I
came here today to repeat this simple message: Peace is the only
solution, and a comprehensive political dialogue is the only way to
achieve it.
But until now, how did the Russian leaders respond to our call?
Not
only they refused to reciprocate the non-use of force, they responded
by accelerating the military build-up in the occupied regions,
announcing lastly the deployment of offensive missiles 50 miles from our
capital.
Ladies and gentlemen,
European and American involvement
is essential, in Georgia and beyond our borders, to bring those who
believe in military supremacy back to the table of negotiations.
With
your help, I am confident that we can transform this region marked by
old-fashioned logics of domination into an area of cooperation and
progress.
What is at stake is more than just a nation of 4,7 millions
people dreaming of independence and transatlantic integration, and even
more that the South Caucasus at large.
What is at stake is this Europe whole and free that the end of the Cold War should have allowed to exist already.
It
is time to debunk the idea that so-called “frozen conflicts” are a
stalemate and that advantage can only be gained by using force.
It is time for peace,
Thank you very much.
Source: Munich Security Conference website.
|
| 5 Feb. '11 | Präsident Saakashvili trifft Kanzlerin Angela Merkel in München
Gesprächsthemen:
bilaterale Bezieheungen und regionale Sicherheitsfragen sowie Russlands
Aufstocken der militärischen Kräfte in den besetzten Regionen.
President
Saakashvili met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Munich on
February 5 on the sideline of the 47th Security Conference on February
4-6.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze told reporters
before the meeting that the sides would discuss bilateral relations and
regional security issues, as well as Russia’s military build-up in the
occupied regions.
“We will ask the German side once again to call on the Russian Federation to fulfill its commitments,” Kalandadze said.
President Saakashvili will address the Munich Security Conference on February 6.
|
| 4 Feb. '11 | Vier
US-Senatoren nennen Georgien den idealen Platz - besser als in der
Türkei - für ein Raketenabwehrradarsystem, ausgerichtet auf den Iran
Four
Republican Senators have called for considering Georgia as an
alternative site for placing NATO missile defense system-related radar,
instead of Turkey if the latter conditions deployment of the radar on
its soil to a refusal to share information gathered by the system with
Israel.
“We believe the Republic of Georgia's geographic location
would make it an ideal site for missile defense radar aimed at Iran, and
would offer clear advantages for the protection of the United States
from a long range missile launched from the nation as compared to
Turkey, or other potential locations in southeastern Europe,” a letter
by the four Senators to U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates reads.
The
letter dated February 3 and signed by Senators Jon Kyl, James Risch,
Mark Kirk and James Inhofe, was first reported by “The Cable” – a blog
of The Foreign Policy magazine.
The letter asks the U.S. Defense Secretary if the Obama Administration was considering Georgia as a potential host of the radar.
“The
Republic of Georgia should be a significant partner for future defense
cooperation with the U.S., whether as a future member of NATO or in
another capacity; it is already one of our nation's most loyal allies in
the NATO mission in Afghanistan,” the letter reads.
|
| 3 Feb. '11 | UNHCR äußert sich zur Zwangsräumung der intern vertriebenen Georgier
N
refugee agency (UNHCR) said on February 3, that despite some
shortcomings, "there have not been noted major violations of
international law or standards" during series of evictions of IDP
families from about two dozen of temporary shelters in Tbilisi in
January.
UNHCR said that it had marked "improvement of the relocation
process as compared to the situation in summer 2010", when eviction of
IDPs from several state-owned buildings was criticized by the UN refugee
agency. After the criticisms the authorities had to suspend the process
and agreed to develop together with UNHCR set of procedures to govern
the relocation process, which resumed in January.
UNHCR said that
shortcomings were related to the monitoring process, "in particular to
the observers free and unimpeded access to affected IDPs, and some
specific challenges related to communication."
Hundreds of IDP
families were evicted from temporary shelters in January; many of them
are displaced from Abkhazia as a result of conflict in early 1990s; they
occupied those buildings without the government's permission since the
August, 2008 war. There were families among them, who were displaced as a
result of the August war as well. These latter category was eligible to
financial compensation of USD 10,000 in case of refusal to accept an
alternative housing in the provincial regions. IDPs were against of
relocation in the provinces because of lack of job opportunities there.
UNHCR
said that any relocation or eviction from a place, which often had
become second home, "may have caused significant hardship". The refugee
agency, however, also said that international norms "does not give any
citizen, including IDPs, a right to be provided with housing at a
specific place of preference."
According to the Ministry for IDPs
from Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees about 10,000
families displaced from Abkhazia have been provided with houses in
private ownership in Tbilisi.
Unlike series of evictions in summer,
2010, UNHCR said, that in January "disproportionate use of force was
avoided", apart from one incident and IDPs were "in principle informed"
about the eviction.
"No one was left on the street. Financial
assistance was paid to those who are eligible and had completed their
application timely. Locations offered for relocation – to the extent
UNHCR and partner monitors had visited them – were prepared and
suitable to accommodate IDPs," the agency said.
"It is understandable
that all these mitigating measures, as effective they may alleviate
suffering, cannot make happy any IDP who prefers to stay in Tbilisi."
On
January 28 Amnesty International expressed concern that recent
evictions "failed to meet international standards". The statement was
rejected by the Georgian authorities as "biased and unfair".
On
February 3 a group of fifteen Georgian human rights and legal advocacy
organizations released a joint statement backing the Amnesty
International's conclusions. The group said that the authorities should
provide "adequate prior notice" informing IDPs about the planned
eviction and should protect "honor, dignity and ownership rights" of
IDPs during the eviction; it also called on the authorities to provide
all the eligible IDPs with timely compensation and relocated IDPs with
"adequate housing" options in the areas with job opportunities.
In
the statement UNHCR acknowledged that there "are still conflicting views
among Georgian lawyers on the full compatibility of the eviction
process with applicable national norms, and acknowledges that there is
room for different interpretations of norms and certain tensions and
inconsistencies between different relevant norms."
The UN refugee
agency also said that the day to day and "highly politicized debate" on
the evictions overshadowed bigger dimension of the problem related to
the
living conditions and integration of thousands of IDPs, in particular
those residing in rural areas. UNHCR said that those IDPs "still live
under terrible conditions" and for them "a durable solution is not yet
in sight."
"UNHCR is concerned over the high level of polarization of
the present debate. The plight of IDPs is too important to be abused
for quick political gain. We call on all political actors, government,
opposition and NGOs to engage in a constructive dialogue inspired by
humanitarian spirit in order to find best but also fundable and
realistic solutions for IDPs," it said.
UNHCR statement also involves
list of recommendations to the authorities, including to provide
relocated IDPs with vocational training opportunities and income
generation projects; to develop "a clear vision" on the future of the
remaining collective centers where IDPs are remaining. The agency also
recommended to minimize relocations and, where unavoidable, give IDPs
the choice between different alternative housing options.
|
| 2 Feb. '11 | Moskau spricht abfällig überr Präsident Saakashvili’s Bemerkungen über Russland
President
Saakashvili’s recent remarks on Russia cast doubt over sincerity of his
non-use of force pledge and make it difficult to continue serious
discussions on confidence-building measures, the Russian Foreign
Ministry said on February 1.
The reference was made on statements
made by President Saakashvili during his lengthy live televised question
and answer session with the public on January 25. He said he would use a
term “enemy” while referring to Russia and added that he was looking
forward to the time when he would no longer use this term in reference
to Russia. “You know there is a principle of boomerang and you know a
great tragedy happened yesterday in Moscow [terrorist act in Domodedovo
airport]; there is no justification for terrorism,” Saakashvili said. He
also said that Russia had “a political mentality, which is on the level
of reptile; like a crocodile ready to swallow you up.” He said the war
was not yet over and Georgia would win this war if the country remained
consolidated and continued its development. He described Russia’s North
Caucasus as “ghetto”, where, he said, local population was repressed.
“It
has been confirmed, that the Georgian authorities insistently continue
line of further deterioration of relations with Russia. At the same time
concerns of the Abkhaz and South Ossetian sides about their security in
the face of direct threat from the Georgian side are justified,” the
Russian Foreign Ministry said.
“After this kind of remarks by the
Georgian President it is difficult to continue serious discussions on
the issues related with confidence building and return of refugees, as
it is envisaged by the agenda of the Geneva Discussions on
Trans-Caucasus. Real stance of Tbilisi is not in line with the solemn
pledge [on non-use of force] made before the international audience in
Strasbourg [at the European Parliament] and in other Western cities.
With the efforts of the Georgian leadership Geneva [discussions] are
again being thrown back. With this in mind, it is clear that issue of
providing firm security to Abkhazia and South Ossetia and providing them
with guarantees of non-use of force from Georgia remain major
priorities for the Geneva Discussions. We will take it into
consideration in the process of preparation of 15th round of [Geneva
talks] scheduled for March 4. We hope that the international community
and first and foremost UN, OSCE and EU, as co-chairs of the Geneva
meetings, will give adequate assessment to the existing situation and
will support the Russian Federation’s efforts directed towards
strengthening still fragile security and stability in the region,” the
Russian Foreign ministry said.
|
| 1 Feb. '11 | Präsident Saakashvili: 'Singapur und Estland - Beispiele für Georgien'
President
Saakashvili reiterated on February 1 that Georgia should follow
Singapore's path of development and added that Estonia was also an
example.
"I am often saying that Georgia should follow suit of
Singapore and Georgia follows Estonia's suit in many things," he said in
televised speech at vocational education and training center in eastern
region of Kakheti.
"We are often told by the Europeans: 'Why are you
fixated on Singapore; there is totally different situation, there was
absolutely different regime; your country is moving on the path of the
European democracy' - and that's true, but democracy does not mean
instability," Saakashvili said.
"We say we learn from Singapore and
Estonia. Singapore was the country, or to say more precisely, a small
town. It lived much poorly than we do. It is smaller than Tbilisi by
size or maybe of the same size. It has seven square kilometers of access
to the sea - much less than we have and It was surrounded by hostile
environment – by big states, which were all ready to swallow up this
small country, which had neither agricultural lands, nor potable and
irrigation water and generally, its situation was absolutely hopeless,
it had no natural resources either. But this country managed to become
one of the richest countries in the world. Then what the hell is
happening with Georgia? We have such land, such natural resources, such
nature and such talented people," he said.
|
| 29 Jan. '11 | Amnesty
äußert Besorgnis über die Zwangsräumung intern Vertriebener: Behörden
hätten versäumt, im Voraus eine entsprechende Ankündigung herauszugeben,
wie finanzielle Unterstützung erfolgen wird und Beobachtern den ungehinderten vollen Zugang zu geben
Nach
Transparency International-Georgia, die die Zwangsräumungen
beobachteten, sei das Versäumnis der Regierung gewesen, öffentlich die
Komplexität dieser Angelegenheit einzugestehen.
Amnesty International
expressed concerned that recent evictions of internally displaced
families "failed to meet international standards."
"In particular,
Amnesty International is concerned that the authorities failed to give
adequate prior notice to those evicted, to ensure that all those
eligible were provided with financial assistance prior to their removal,
and to give full and unhindered access to monitors. Amnesty
International is also concerned by reports that not all the alternative
housing offered to those evicted by the government fully meets the
standards of adequate housing," the rights group said on January 28.
About
six hundred IDP families were evicted from some twenty two buildings in
Tbilisi since January 20. These families, many of them displaced from
Abkhazia as a result of conflict in early 1990s, occupied those
buildings without the government's permission since the August, 2008
war. There were families among them, who were displaced as a result of
the August war as well.
According to the Transparency
International-Georgia, which is monitoring IDPs housing process, this
complex problem involving eviction, resettlement and providing monetary
compensation "are politicized, generalized and misunderstood." According
to this watchdog group one of "the biggest shortcomings" has been
government’s failure to publicly acknowledge complexity of the issue and
to explain how and why it makes decisions on issues such as eviction.
"More effective public communication about decisions would go a long way towards allaying the public’s concerns," it said.
|
| 24 Jan. '11 | Tbilisi verurteilt die Aufstellung von Tochka-U Raketen im abtrünnigen Südossetien
Georgian
Foreign Ministry said reported deployment of short-range ballistic
missiles, Tochka-U (SS-21 Scarab B) and other offensive weapons in
breakaway South Ossetia “points clearly to the Russian Federation's
plans to launch open military aggression against Georgia.”
“The
deployment of the Tactical Operational Missile Complex "Tochka - U" and
the artillery battalion equipped with Smerch multiple-launch rocket
systems poses a direct and overt threat to the peaceful population and
territory of Georgia. By taking such actions Russia follows through with
its aggressive policy directed towards the destruction of the Georgian
statehood and elimination of the peaceful population of Georgia, as well
as towards causing large-scale instability in the Caucasus and
throughout the Black Sea Region,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a
statement on January 24.
Interfax news agency reported earlier on
January 24, quoting unnamed source from Russia’s Southern Military
District, that tactical-operational missile unit with Tochka-U rockets
with maximum range of 120 kilometers had been deployed in the Russian
military base in South Ossetia. The same news agency reported in
December, also quoting unnamed Russian military source, that Russia had
deployed Smerch (Tornado) multiple-launch rocket systems in vicinity of
Tskhinvali.
“It needs to be emphasized that it was with the use of
"Tochka - U" systems that the Russian Federation completely destroyed
the city of Bamut (Republic of Chechnya) and eliminated its peaceful
population. The Ballistic missiles of this system can be equipped with
cluster (consisting of 50 bomblets) and nuclear warheads,” the Georgian
Foreign Ministry said.
“The deployment of the offensive rocket
systems in the occupied region points clearly to the Russian
Federation's plans to launch open military aggression against Georgia.”
“[Georgia]
demands strongly from the international community, international
organizations and partner countries to adopt active and effective
measures in order to pressure Russia to end its aggressive policy
against Georgia, fulfill its international commitments, including 12
August 2008 ceasefire agreement, undertake a commitment on the non-use
of force and ensure the full and immediate de-occupation of the Georgian
territory,” it said.
|
| 24 Jan. '11 | Presseberichte:
Russland stellt im abtrünnigen Südosseteien taktisch-operative Raketen
vom Typ Tochka-U mit einer max. Reichweite von 120 km auf
Interfax
news agency reported on January 24, quoting unnamed source from
Russia’s Southern Military District, that tactical-operational missile
unit with Tochka-U rockets had been deployed in the Russian military
base in South Ossetia.
Tochka-U (SS-21 Scarab B) is a short-range tactical ballistic missile with maximum range of 120 kilometers.
The
source was quoted that “the Georgian special services have been
informed about the presence of the rockets in South Ossetia, which are
capable to effectively repel any aggression from Tbilisi.”
The
same news agency reported in December, also quoting unnamed Russian
military source, that Russia had deployed Smerch (Tornado)
multiple-launch rocket systems in vicinity of Tskhinvali. Tbilisi said
at the time that it was part of Moscow’s “aggressive policy” against
Georgia, posing threat to the entire region.
|
| 21 Jan. '11 | Tbilisi begrüßt die Verabschiedung einer Resolution im Europaparlament zu einer EU-Strategie in der Schwarzmeer-Region
Tbilisi welcomed European Parliament's resolution
passed on January 20 calling on the EU to draw up a strategy on the
Black Sea region to define its "comprehensive approach" to address
challenges in the area.
The resolution on an EU Strategy for the
Black Sea, among other things, calls on the EU for "more direct
engagement" and for taking "a leading role in the negotiations and
peace-making processes".
In respect of Georgia, the resolution calls
on EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton "to step up efforts to
encourage Russia to comply with the six-point Sarkozy Plan to stabilise
and resolve the conflict in Georgia."
It says that "human rights
violations are a daily occurrence in occupied South Ossetia and
Abkhazia" and calls on the EU "to respond actively to all kinds of human
rights violations in the Black Sea region."
In a statement released
shortly after the resolution was passed, the Georgian Foreign Ministry
said that it "highly appreciates the initiative to elaborate the Black
Sea Strategy."
"It is noteworthy that the European Parliament
referred to the Georgian regions as the 'occupied territories'," the
Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
In respect of conflicts, the
resolution, prepared based on a report by Romanian MEP Traian Ungureanu
from the European People's Party, also calls on the EU to strengthen its
monitoring systems and to develop an early-warning system as a
conflict-prevention and confidence-building tool in the Black Sea
region.
On energy security issues, the resolution stresses on the
importance of the Southern Corridor and "the significance" of Liquefied
Natural Gas (LNG) transportation to Europe in the form of the AGRI
project.
AGRI - Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Interconnection - refers
to the project, according to which Azerbaijani gas will be delivered
via pipelines to a terminal in Kulevi on Georgia’s Black Sea coast,
where it will be liquefied. Tankers would then ship the liquefied gas to
the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa and after regasification it
will be transported via pipelines further into Europe.
|
| 18 Jan. '11 | Georgiens
Delegation wies bei der Diskussion von PACE zu den "Folgen des
Augustkrieges" am 17.1. in Paris darauf hin, dass sie das Treffen für
einen Versuch halte, die Nicheinhaltung der Verpflichtungen aus der
Serie von Resolution zum Augustkrieg zu überspielen
A closed hearing, organized by
Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe
(PACE), was held in Paris on January 17 to discuss the issue of, as it
is called, “the consequences of the war between Georgia and Russia”.The
hearing was snubbed by the Georgian delegation in PACE, as Georgian
lawmakers viewed the meeting as an attempt by Russia to paper over its
non-compliance of obligations under the series of resolutions passed by
the PACE in respect of the August war. ‘We Should Not Argue About Past Anymore’
President of PACE, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
representatives from EU and UN, as well as from the Russian delegation
in PACE participated in the meeting, which was held upon the initiative
of Swiss lawmaker, Dick Marty, chairman of PACE’s monitoring committee.
The hearing behind the closed door was held to discuss, as PACE
reported, humanitarian situation, as well as perspectives of addressing
the consequences of the war and implementation of the Parliament
Assembly’s three resolutions in this regard.
Next day a statement by PACE President Mevlüt Çavusoglu was released.
He said: “We should not argue about the past anymore - we need to
discuss the future.”
“The cornerstone of building the future is of course a lasting
political settlement of the conflict in conformity with international
law and guaranteeing security and freedoms and rights of the populations
concerned. Until this lasting settlement is found the conflict will
continue to compromise both stability and economic development of the
whole region,” he said.
"We must, first of all, deal with the living conditions, human rights
and perspectives of the populations directly affected by these
conflicts. I am persuaded that, if we are really determined and
concerted, we can and must achieve concrete results on this
‘humanitarian dimension’ of the consequences of the war without further
delay,” PACE President added.
The issue known as “the consequences of the war between Georgia and
Russia” is debated time after time in the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly since October, 2008, when PACE adopted a resolution
on the consequences of the war, which, among other things, also calling
on Russia to withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Since then PACE monitoring committee has been following
implementation of the obligations in respect of Georgia and Russia
originating from that resolution. Two other resolutions were taken by
PACE since then on the same issue - one in January, 2009 and another one in September, 2009. This latter resolution was calling on Russia to fulfil obligations under the resolution by the end of 2009.
The Georgian delegation in PACE tried to keep the issue high on the
Assembly’s agenda, using the forum for pressing Russia over its
unfulfilled obligations, which Moscow was describing as politicized,
which were impossible to fulfill.
Dick Marty, chairman of PACE’s monitoring committee, who visited
Moscow and Tbilisi in December, proposed to hold a separate meeting to
discuss how to proceed further with the issue of “the consequences of
the war between Georgia and Russia”.
Georgia's Position
MP Davit Darchiashvili, a member of the Georgian delegation in PACE
and chairman of European integration committee in the Georgian
Parliament, spoke about the reasons why Georgian refused to take part in
the hearings in Paris in an interview with Tbilisi-based Maestro TV on
January 17.
He said that the Georgian side was skeptical about such meeting from
very beginning and told about it to Dick Marty when was in Tbilisi. But
despite skepticism, MP Darchiashvili said, at the time the Georgian side
agreed to participate on the condition that the hearing in Paris would
discuss how PACE was planning to address Russia’s failure to follow its
obligations under the PACE’s three resolutions.
“Impression was left that his [Dick Marty] intention was to focus
hearings mainly on the humanitarian aspects of the issue,” MP
Darchiashvili said adding that discussing humanitarian issues without
political aspects, involving PACE’s three resolutions, would not bring
results.
Georgian lawmakers say that “one suspicious” element also emerged
shortly after Dick Marty concluded his visit in Tbilisi in December,
which further increased Tbilisi’s skepticism about the Paris meeting. MP
Darchiashvili said that Dick Marty did not inform Georgian
interlocutors in Tbilisi that while visiting Moscow, prior to arriving
in Tbilisi, Russians arranged unscheduled meeting of senior lawmakers
from Abkhazia and South Ossetia with Marty over lunch. He said that the
Georgian officials only learned about it from the Russian media reports
shortly after Dick Marty concluded his visit in Tbilisi.
“In general Russians were interpreting this format [hearings in
Paris] as a tool for paving way for these entities [referring to
breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia] to gradually take seats in the
process as if they are part of international law,” MP Darchiashvili
said.
“There is a reasonable suspicion, that Russians want to use it for a
single purpose – to shift focus from the already adopted resolutions and
from the issue of non-compliance with those resolutions to such issues
like allowing its proxy regimes to be involved into the process as if
they represent any legitimate structures,” he said.
He also said “at this stage it seems that PACE’s resources” in
respect of the issue of consequences of the August war “are exhausted”.
“PACE has no levels to force Russia to follow its obligations… But we
should continue using the Parliamentary Assembly in order to constantly
remind Russia about its unfulfilled obligations. But at the same time
we should work in frames of other existing formats – Geneva discussions,
as well as in our relations with EU and the United States,”
Darchiashvili said.
MP Petre Tsiskarishvili, leader of parliamentary majority and a
member of Georgian delegation in PACE said on January 17: “If some
individual lawmakers or groups want to start some kind of a parallel
process beyond the Parliamentary Assembly [sessions], which does not
serve to the cause of demanding implementation of the obligations laid
out in those resolutions, it is not in our interests; to some extent it
gives Russia possibility to shun away from implementation of its
obligations.”
Russia’s Position
Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the international affairs committee
in Russia’s lower house of parliament, State Duma, and said in an
interview with the Russian state newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta,
published on January 18, that the meeting in Paris showed that there was
“sense of tiredness” in PACE about discussing the issue of consequences
of the war over and over again.
“It is hard for many PACE members to acknowledge erroneousness of
their initial conclusions laying responsibility for the conflict on
Russia. No one is trying to do that today. But on the other hand,
unfortunately, there are few people here who would openly agree that it
was a mistake and that Georgia is fully responsible. So many
parliamentarians prefer to leave that to the history and that there is
now need to talk about the present and future of the region,” Kosachev
said, adding that he disagreed with such approach because without proper
conclusions about what had happened in the past it would not be
possible to move forward.
He said that the meeting in Paris was issue-based and substantive.
“Tone of conversation was different from the previous ones; it was
much more constructive,” Kosachev said. “Probably it was for the first
time since the conflict I felt some kind of optimism that PACE will be
able to find its place in relevant discussions and that PACE will be
able to bring real benefit.”
He also said that PACE resolutions in respect of the consequences of
the war contained provisions “unrealistic” to be fulfilled and added
that those resolution would “lead to deadlock.”
“More and more sober-minded members of the organization understand it,” Kosachev said.
|
| 15 Jan. '11 | US-Präsident
Obama und US-Vizepräsident Biden treffen sich mit Präsident Saakashvili
zu einem mehr als 25-minütigen Gespräch in Washington
Gesprächsthemen
waren Georgiens Anstrengen, in seiner wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung
fortzuschreiten und den Handel zu steigern, Sicherheitsherausforderungen
im Kaukasus und die Zusammenarbeit der ISAF-Streitkräfte beider Länder
in Afghanistan.
Präsident Saakashvili traf auch die Kongresspolitiker
David Dreier und Bill Shuster sowie den Senator Joe Lieberman, den er
mit dem "St. George’s Victory Order" auszeichnete. Weiterrhin traf er
auf Senator Richard G. Lugar, den Spitzenvertreter der Republikaner im
Komitee für Auslandsbeziehungen und Carl Levin, den Vorsitzenden des
Senatsausschusses für die parlamentarische Kontrolle des
US-Verteidigungsministeriums.
U.S. President Barack Obama met his
Georgian counterpart Mikheil Saakashvili in Washington on January 14
after the two leaders attended a memorial service for a veteran U.S.
diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who died in December.
“Vice President Biden joined him for the conversation,” the White House said in a statement.
“The
leaders discussed Georgia’s efforts to advance its economic development
and increase trade. They also discussed security challenges in the
Caucasus and the work of ISAF forces in Afghanistan, where brave
Georgians stand shoulder to shoulder with American forces,” it said.
The
White House also said that President Obama thanked Saakashvili for
making the trip to Washington for the memorial service and for the award
that the Georgian President had bestowed on Richard Holbrooke.
The
U.S. diplomat was awarded with Saint George's Victory Order posthumously
for “promoting peace and democracy throughout the world, for his
personal shares in strengthening Georgian-American relations, for his
special support provided for Georgia.” Shortly after Holbrooke’s death
President Saakashvili also announced about renaming one of the streets
in Tbilisi after Holbrooke, calling him his “trusted friend and
confidant.”
The Georgian President’s administration said in a
statement, that the meeting, which lasted “more than 25 minutes”, was
held “upon the initiative of the White House.”
“Barack Obama
reiterated steadfast political support towards Georgia,” the Georgian
President’s administration said. “During the meeting, the leaders of two
countries have agreed on a meeting in frames of a broader format.”
“The
U.S. President tasked the National Security Council to continue
cooperation to report on every concrete issue raised by the Georgian
leader,” it said.
The first face-to-face meeting between Obama and Saakashvili was held on the sideline of NATO summit in Lisbon in November.
In Washington President Saakashvili also met with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker, John Boehner, on January 12.
Saakashvili
also met with Republican Congressmen David Dreier and Bill Shuster, as
well as Senator Joe Lieberman, who he awarded with St. George’s Victory
Order. Saakashvili also met with Senator Richard G. Lugar, the top
Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee and Senate Armed Services
Chairman Carl Levin.
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| 14 Jan. '11 | Russischer Armeeoffizier David Aliyev vom südlichen Militärdistrikt und seine Mutter vom FSB wegen 'Spionageverdachts für Georgien' verhaftet
Sie sollen geheime Informationen über den Militärdistrikt für Georgien gesammelt haben.
Russian
Federal Security Service (FSB) said a Russian army officer and his
mother were arrested on suspicion of spying for Georgia, the Russian
media sources reported on January 14.
“A serviceman of one of the
military unites in the Southern Military District, Senior Lieutenant
David Aliyev, was arrested on suspicion of treason in a form of
espionage; he was tasked by the Georgian special services to gather
secret information about the military district,” an official from the
Russian FSB was quoted by the Russian news agencies.
According to the
same reports Aliyev’s mother, Irina Aliyeva, was also arrested as “she
was intending to deliver information, gathered by her son, to Georgia.”
During last two years Russia imprisoned at least six persons charged with spying in favor of Georgia.
In
March 2010 Russia’s North Caucasus Military Court found one Georgian
and two Russian citizens guilty of spying in favor of Georgia through
gathering information about military facilities in North Caucasus.
In
December 2009 the court in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic found a
Russian citizen of Georgian origin guilty of spying in favor of Tbilisi
and sentenced him to eight years in prison.
In October 2009 a Russian
military court found a serviceman of the Russian armed forces guilty of
spying in favor of Georgia and sentenced him to nine years in prison,
while in August 2009 the same military court sentenced former deputy
commander of one of Russia’s military units of North Caucasus Military
District, Lt.-Col Mikhail Khachidze, to six years in prison.
|
| 14 Jan. '11 | Von der eigenen Partei gefeuert; Ex-Premierminister Zurab Nogaideli plant, eine neue Partei zu gründen
Ex-PM
Zurab Nogaideli, who has been demoted from the leadership of the
opposition party he founded two years ago, said on January 14 he would
launch a new party.
Last year a group of activists from the Movement
for Fair Georgia, which was chaired by Nogaideli, accused the party
leader of a failure to pay salaries for the work carried out by them
during the campaign ahead of the May, 2010 local elections.
The group
convened the party congress in December, 2010 in which it was reported
that 3,500 activists participated and voted to sack Nogaideli from the
post of the party chairmanship, although leaving him as one of the
members of the party’s governing body.
On January 11 the Georgian
Justice Ministry said that the congress was legally eligible to take
such decision as it was held in line with procedures and officially
registered the decision, meaning that Nogaideli was no longer entitled
to lead the party.
Speaking at a news conference on January 14,
Nogaideli said that the group, which confronted him and their campaign,
which eventually led to his sacking was orchestrated by the authorities,
in particular by Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and Justice
Minister Zurab Adeishvili.
He said that “the illegal decision” by the
Justice Ministry to formalize decision by “illegal party congress”
would not stop him from political activities.
“We will set up a
movement, which will be old by its content, but formally it will be a
new on in order to overthrow, destroy and dismantle [President]
Saakashvili’s regime,” Nogaideli said.
Movement for Fair Georgia was established by Nogaideli in December, 2008.
The
party participated in the 2010 local elections in a coalition with
Conservatives and Party of People; the bloc garnered 8.26% of votes in
the capital city.
Nogaideli, who served as prime minister in
Saakashvili's administration from 2005 till November 2007, signed on
behalf of Movement for Fair Georgia a cooperation agreement with the
Russia’s ruling party, United Russia, in February 2010. He met with
Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin for at least twice since December, 2009. He
was strongly criticized for his links with the Russian leadership by the
authorities and by some opposition parties as well.
|
| 14 Jan. '11 | 46
Mio. EUR Unterstützung für Georgien für 2011 durch EU-Kommission
vorgeschlagen als Teil des 500 Mio. EUR-Paketes, das nach dem
Augustkrieg versprochen wurde
The European Commission proposed on
January 13 to provide Georgia with another EUR 46 million in
macro-financial assistance for this year as part of EUR 500 million aid
package pledged by EU after the August war.
The assistance, with EUR
23 million in grants and another half in loan, “follows the successful
implementation during 2009-10 of a macro-financial assistance of the
same amount” and “will contribute to cover Georgia's external financing
needs in 2011,” the European Commission said.
It said that the
assistance was conditional on satisfactory progress under Georgia’s
ongoing economic programme supported by International Monetary Fund
(IMF) and “on the implementation of a number of reform measures to be
agreed between the EU and Georgia.”
“While the economic recovery is
taking hold, the country's external situation remains vulnerable as the
financing of the large current account deficit remains uncertain.
Georgia's exports continue to suffer from the trade embargo imposed by
Russia, while FDI inflows, negatively affected by the crisis, remain
low,” the European Commission said.
The assistance would be provided in two installments, tentatively in the second and the fourth quarter of 2011.
|
| 14 Jan. '11 | US-Organisation
"Freedom House": Georgien bleibt bei 'teilweise frei' eingestuft, aber
bei den Demokratie-Indikatoren sei 2010 eine leichte Verbesserung zu
sehen'
Georgia remains "partly free", but its democracy
indicators saw a slight improvement last year, according to an annual
survey by the U.S.-based rights group, Freedom House, released on
January 13.
Freedom in the World 2011 examines the political and
civil rights in 194 countries and 14 territories around the world and
covers developments in 2010. Each country or territory is given a status
“free”, “partly free” or “not free” based on points in political rights
and civil liberties categories on a scale from 1 to 7 with 1
representing the most free and 7 the least free.
Georgia's score in
political rights category remains unchanged and like in previous report
it still stands at 4; but in the recent survey Georgia's score in the
category of civil liberties is improved from 4 to 3.
Freedom House
attributed this improvement to "a reduction in the political instability
the country confronted in the aftermath of the 2008 Russian invasion."
Another
reason behind the improvement, according to the survey, is "greater
media diversity, including the launch of satellite broadcasts by the
opposition television station Maestro."
Georgian National
Communications Commission (GNCC) granted Maestro TV a satellite
broadcast license for a ten-year term in mid-2009. Maestro TV launched
satellite broadcasting in May, 2010; but it had to suspend it, remaining
available through cable, several months later, citing financial
problems.
Similar survey by the Freedom House, covering 2008,
disqualified Georgia from the list of electoral democracies “due to
flaws in the presidential and parliamentary election process.” In the
recent survey Georgia still remains out of electoral democracies.
The
annual report by Freedom House also ranks breakaway South Ossetia and
Abkhazia under the category of “disputed territories." Like in previous
reports South Ossetia is ranked as “not free” and Abkhazia as “partly
free.”
According to the survey’s findings, Freedom House said, 2010
was the fifth consecutive year in which global freedom suffered a
decline.
|
| 13 Jan. '11 | Internationaler Währungsfonds IWF zahlt 153 Mio. USD Hilfe an Georgien aus
Weiterhin begrüßt der IWF die Zusage der Regiereung, die Staatsausgaben für 2011 zu deckeln.
Georgia’s
economic recovery has strengthened as evidenced by
“better-than-expected growth”, but “significant downside medium-term
external risks remain” related to the uncertainty in foreign direct
investment inflows, International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.
IMF
executive board completed the seventh and eighth reviews of Georgia's
economic performance and allocated USD 153 million as part of Stand-By
Arrangement (SBA) approved in September, 2008 with initial amount of USD
750 million and increased to about USD 1 billion in 2009 and extended
to June, 2011.
IMF said that the Georgian government indicated they were not intending to draw the amount.
“We can use these funds anytime we need it; we do not need it yet,” PM Nika Gilauri said at a government session on January 13.
IMF
welcomed decision by the Georgian authorities to introduce, as it put
it, “an escape clause” in the constitutional amendment subjecting tax
increase to a referendum.
The Parliament passed the constitutional
amendment with its third and final reading on December 15, requiring a
referendum in case the government decides to increase taxes (except of
excise and local taxes).
But unlike initial draft, the final version
contains a reservation according to which a separate, organic law should
define those cases in which the government will still be able to
increase taxes without calling a referendum. The amendment will go into
force in late 2013.
“This clause will provide the authorities with
more flexibility in implementing the consolidation efforts necessary
over the medium term,” IMF said.
IMF also hailed the Georgian
authorities commitment to cap expenditure in 2011; it also said that
2011 state budget, which provides for a further reduction of the deficit
of about 2.5% of GDP, was consistent with the government’s objective of
reestablishing fiscal sustainability.
IMF warned that while the
recent increase in the policy rate and the decision to tighten reserve
requirements would help to bring down inflation in 2011, “the
authorities should stand ready to tighten monetary policy further should
inflationary pressures persist.”
|
| 13 Jan. '11 | Litauischer
OSZE-Vorsitzender Audronius Ažubalis ruft auf der permanten
Ratsversammlung in Wien zu einem gemeinsamen Bekenntnis zur Lösung von
sich hinziehenden Konflikten auf
Lithuanian Foreign Minister
Audronius Ažubalis, who is OSCE’s new chairman-in-office, called on the
56-member state organization for a joint commitment to resolve
protracted conflicts.
Speaking at the OSCE Permanent Council in
Vienna on January 13, Ažubalis, who outlined the Lithuanian
chairmanship’s priorities, said: “Resolving existing conflicts in the
OSCE area in a peaceful and negotiated manner must be our highest joint
commitment.”
He said that the Lithuanian OSCE chairmanship would use
the Geneva process – talks launched after the August war and co-chaired
by EU, OSCE and UN – “to rebuild trust and will work to restore a
meaningful OSCE presence in Georgia.”
In reference to conflict in
Georgia, as well as in Moldova and Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, he said
that “conflicts being addressed at the Geneva discussions, in the OSCE
Minsk conference and ‘5+2’ negotiations remain unresolved” and the OSCE
member states “must resolve to meet these challenges, not shy away from
them.”
The Lithuanian Foreign Minister said that by December, 2011,
when OSCE ministerial will be held in Vilnius, the organization has “to
register tangible progress in addressing protracted conflicts.”
|
| 13 Jan. '11 | Sprecher des US-Repräsentantenhaus John Boehner trifft Präsident Saakashvili
U.S.
House of Representatives Speaker, John Boehner, met on January 12 with
President Saakashvili in Washington and said he had a constructive
conversation with him “about the importance of ensuring Georgia’s
commitment to freedom and democracy is not undermined.”
The Republican John Boehner was elected the new Speaker of the House on January 5.
“The
American people will continue to stand with others struggling for
democracy over the forces of despotism, dignity over degradation, and
freedom over subjugation,” the House Speaker said in a statement
released after the meeting.
He thanked Georgia for being “an
important ally in our campaign against terrorism and radical extremism”
and for contributing troops in Afghanistan.
“In our discussion we
also reaffirmed other cherished values, including the role and
involvement of citizens in petitioning their government, and the
necessity of peaceful resolutions to political conflict,” John Boehner
said.
President Saakashvili is in Washington to attend a memorial
service for a veteran U.S. diplomat, Richard Holbrooke, who died in
December. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and rotating presidency
of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo will be among the participants
of the event at the Kennedy Center on Friday. Among the foreign
ministers attending is Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt. President
Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are expected to
speak at the memorial service.
Shortly after Holbrooke’s death
President Saakashvili announced about the plans to rename one of the
streets in Tbilisi after the late U.S. diplomat calling him his “trusted
friend and confidant.”
In Washington Saakashvili also met with
Republican Congressmen David Dreier and Bill Shuster, as well as Senator
Joe Lieberman, according to the Georgian President’s press office.
Saakashvili, according to this report, awarded Sen. Lieberman with St.
George’s Victory Order.
|
| 12 Jan. '11 | Regelmäßige "Versammlung mit Geschäftleuten" im Parliament geplant, um die Kommunikation untereinander zu fördern
It
was announced after a meeting between parliamentary chairman Davit
Bakradze and representatives from the Business Association of Georgian
on January 12, that Business Council would be established to foster
better communication between the lawmakers, government and business.
Participants
said that the council, which will consist of senior lawmakers and
business representatives, would address problems, including in
legislature, facing business people.
“The Parliament plays an
important role in what kind of tax and business environment we will
have. Therefore, we want such meetings to be held periodically in order
to listen to your recommendations, your remarks, your advices and you
will hear from us what is happening in the country, what are our
assessments and what particular plans we have,” Bakradze told
businessmen.
A new tax code, which went into force from January, was also discussed during the meeting, the participants said.
President
of Business Association of Georgian (BAG) and CEO of IT company, UGT,
Giorgi Chirakadze, said after the meeting that the new tax code was a
step forward, but shortcomings still remained. He said BAG would
continue close cooperation with the Parliament and government to address
those shortcomings.
President Saakashvili acknowledged in December,
that the state still had “lots of shortcomings” in the relations with
businesses. “The entrepreneurs often fairly have a perception that the
state does not do enough to make business environment better," he said.
|
| 11 Jan. '11 | Drei Soldaten bei einer Explosion in der Krtsanisi-Basis getötet
An
explosion at the Ministry of Defense’s Krtsanisi National Training
Center outside Tbilisi on January 11 killed three and injured thirteen
soldiers.
120mm mortar shell exploded at about 11am local time, when
the soldiers from the mortar battalion company of the first artillery
brigade were undergoing training in Krtsanisi.
“Blast of 120 mm
mortar was supposedly caused by the technical mistake during the
exercises,” the Defense Ministry said. “Military Police and General
Inspection of Ministry of Defence have already started investigation of
the case.”
|
| 7 Jan. '11 | Russischer Patriarch Kirill läßt bei einer Weihnachtsbotschaft an Patriarch Ilia II seinen neuen Titel als "Metropolit von Tskhum-Abkhazia und Bichvinta" aus
The
Russian Patriarch Kirill skipped over “Abkhazia” from an official title
of the Georgian Orthodox Church leader in a Christmas congratulation
message.
In an apparent move to emphasize that Abkhazia is part of
the Georgian Orthodox Church’s canonical borders, its main
decision-making body, the Holy Synod, decided on December 21 to also
make the Patriarch Ilia II Metropolitan of Tskhum-Abkhazia and Bichvinta
(Pitsunda).
But in the letter sent to Ilia II to congratulate the
Christmas, Russian Patriarch refers to the Georgian Church leader with
his previous title: “Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop
of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II”.
The same
was when Kirill sent a message to Ilia II on December 25, congratulating
the head of Georgian Orthodox Church on 33-year anniversary of his
enthronement. At the time a spokesman for the Georgian Orthodox Church
tried to downplay that omission of “Abkhazia” in the title as “a
technical mistake.” The Georgian Patriarchate’s spokesman was not
immediately available on January 7 for the comment.
Head of the
Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, raised his new title in his written
Christmas message released on January 7 and said that the decision of
the Holy Synod to make him Metropolitan bishop of Tskhum-Abkhazia and
Bichvinta (Pitsunda) “is reiteration of the historic reality and
declaration that Abkhaz has always been integral part of Georgia and the
population of Abkhaz – spiritual children of the Georgian Church... The
same is about the Tskhinvali region.”
“We should also note that
during the whole course of our history, regardless of infringement of
the country’s territorial integrity, borders of Georgian Church’s
jurisdiction have not changed,” the message reads.
“What has happened
between us and the Abkhazians, between us and the Ossetians from
Samachablo (Tskhinvali region) is the result of political intrigues and
it has nothing to do with the relationships between our peoples” the
message says, adding that multi-century close ties between the peoples
is source of hope that “old friendship with Abkhazians and Ossetians
will be restored.”
The Georgian Orthodox Church leader also said in
the same message that the policy of “divide and rule” applied by the
Russian empire towards Georgia in 19th century “still continues more or
less covertly and it certainly serves to the interests of foreign
countries.”
Formally the Russian Orthodox Church recognizes canonical
borders of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which also includes Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. But when the Russian Patriarch congratulated South
Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, with the region's "independence day" in
September, the Georgian Church said it was "surprised" with this move.
|
| 4 Jan. '11 | Polizei gibt Erklärung zur Auflösung des Hungerstreiks einiger Veteranen heraus
The
Georgian Interior Ministry released a statement on Tuesday saying that
the police had to arrest 11 participants of the protest rally on Heroes’
Square on January 3 after the protesters resisted police orders.
“[Detainees]
were holding a rally and installed self-made tents at the memorial of
heroes fallen for the unity of Georgia. Participants of the rally
refused to obey requests of Patrol Police to remove tents, offered
resistance and verbally insulted police officers. Some of the rally
participants were extremely active, who were under obvious alcohol
influence,” the Interior Ministry’s statement reads, adding that tests
showed two of the detainees were under the influence of alcohol.
Detainees
are charged with petty hooliganism and disobedience to police orders,
facing either fine or maximum 90-day jail term. The Tbilisi City Court
will hear their case on January 4.
Tbilisi-based legal advocacy
group, Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) said in a statement on
Tuesday that break up of hunger strike by the police “with use of
excessive force” on January 3 amounted “to illegal restriction” of
constitutionally guaranteed right of assembly. It said, that said that
there was no legal ground whatsoever to disperse the rally, which was
held fully in line with the law.
|
| 1 Jan. '11 | Präsident
Saakashvili's Ansprache zum Neuen Jahr: "2010 ernsthafter Wendepenkt
für die georgische Politik, da sie sich von der Straße in das Parlament
und die TV Studios bewegt habe"
President Saakashvili said in his
New Year address to the nation that 2010 was "a turning point" for the
country and wished the citizens "to continue moving forward united like a
fist towards victorious Georgia" in following years.
Saakashvili
said, that despite high rate of inflation and unemployment, "serious
growth of economy, as well as investments in the Georgian economy has
resumed" in 2010.
"This trend will definitely be continued in 2011
with even larger pace," he said in the recorded televised address on New
Year’s Eve.
He said that 2010 was "a serious turning point" for the
Georgian politics as it "moved from streets into the parliamentary
chamber and into TV studios". He said the politics "became more
civilized" and it became "based on dialogue."
"One part of
politicians started doing openly what they have been doing previously
covertly and it is very useful, because people have seen everything
which was covert previously and everything has been unveiled and this is
a very healthy process for the Georgian politics," he said.
"There
was a serious turning point in the foreign policy. If in 2009 there
still were some question marks, the term 'occupation' has eventually
been established on the international arena [in 2010], which is a firm
foundation for Georgia's future de-occupation and for Georgia's
reunification. Our enemies' unimaginable attempts to put Georgia into
isolation has suffered an absolute failure and we can boldly state that
we have never had such unanimous support - despite this huge pressure -
like we we had it in 2010. Of course we should further strengthen this
support in following years."
He said the May 30 local elections were
"very important" and added that the elections were "recognized by the
entire world as a step forward in democracy" and "our people expressed
support towards the course of the Rose Revolution."
He said that 2010
brought Georgia "many moments of pride" and listed, among others,
winning a bid by Tbilisi to host European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF)
in 2015. In what appeared to be a reference to allegations that Russia
won its bid to host 2018 World Cup through bribery, Saakashvili said
Tbilisi won its bid to host EYOF "really without fixing".
"Georgia
managed to respond occupation and destruction with construction and
development - not every nation is cable of doing it," Saakashvili said.
Saakashvili,
who was standing on the background of medieval tower-houses in Mestia,
highlighted importance of tourism infrastructure development projects,
in particular one of combining ski resort in Mestia in high-mountainous
region of Svaneti and resort on Black Sea coast in Anaklia.
"We
should make the turning point launched in 2010 into larger success in
2011. We expect 6% economic growth next year, which means more
investments, better business environment and more employment and what is
the most important, it means continuation of our modernization - the
path which will lead us to civilized world and turn us into its
full-fledged members," Saakashvili said.
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