Civil Georgia-Nachrichtenticker - Archiv: 01.04.2010 - 30.06.2010 >>
>>aktuell >>Archiv -
Übersicht >>Archiv - frühere Nachrichten >>Archiv - spätere Nachrichten30 Jun. '10 | Neuer Gesetzesentwurf für den Verkauf der Nord-Süd-Gaspipeline von der Regierungspartei vorgelegt A
new draft law tabled by lawmakers from the ruling party, which, if
approved, will allow the government to sell Georgia’s north-south gas
pipeline system, is likely to revitalize debates on the country’s
“strategic assets” already seen for number of times in the past. MP
Pavle Kublashvili, chairman of parliamentary committee for legal affairs
and his deputy MP Lasha Tordia have sponsored a proposal, which
envisages unification of four separate laws related to privatization of
state assets into one legislature. The draft law also envisages
removing north-south gas pipeline from the list of those state assets,
which are currently banned from being privatized. Georgia’s main
trunkline is used for the transmission of natural gas from Russia into
Armenia and also to Georgia and the Georgian authorities have undertaken
commitment before the United States in frames of large-scale
infrastructure rehabilitation aid program not to sell the pipeline at
least before April, 2011. “In general, the principle is very simple –
any enterprise is managed much better by a private sector then by the
government. That’s the fact; that’s an axiom for those who are
proponents of free economy. So there should be not a single enterprise
excluded from privatization list,” MP Kublashvili told Civil.Ge on June
30. Asked if his legislative initiative meant that the authorities
plan to sell the north-south gas pipeline, MP Kublashvili responded:
“That’s not an issue that requires to be decided today. I think that the
law should not impose restrictions [on privatization]. When it may
happen and how and when the government may decide to sell [the pipeline]
that’s an issue for future [discussions]”. He said that the Parliament would discuss his initiative in July and if approved it would go into force this September. The
issue of privatization of the pipeline was raised by the authorities
for number of times in the past. Debates were triggered on the matter in
February, 2005 when President Saakashvili told the Italian La Stampa
that Tbilisi was discussing with Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom,
possible sale of the pipeline. At the time the U.S. officials have warned Tbilisi to show cautious before taking such a decision. In
September, 2005 Georgia and the United States, through its Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC), signed an agreement on USD 295.3 million
five-year aid program (further USD 100 million was added to this program
in 2008). The program, among other infrastructure development projects,
also envisaged rehabilitation of the north-south gas pipeline system. Under
that five-year agreement, which went into force in April, 2006, the
Georgian government has undertaken commitment not to “sell or transfer,
or permit to be sold or transferred” the pipeline or a controlling
interest in the a state-run company which operates the gas pipeline
system, until the expiration of this agreement term, hence until April,
2011. Since then the U.S. has invested USD 35 million in rehabilitation at 22 sites of the pipeline. In
case the Georgian government does not comply with the non-transfer
condition of the agreement with MCC, it will have "to reimburse
promptly" to MCC funding allocated for the pipeline rehabilitation. In
that case MCC will also have the right to suspend all or a portion of
further disbursements in connection with the pipeline rehabilitation or
other project activities under the Millennium Challenge Account aid
program. |
30 Jun. '10 | US-Organisation "Freedom
House" stuft Georgiens Wertung für Demokratie gleich ein wie im Vorjahr Georgia’s
democracy score remained unchanged in 2009 over the previous year,
which is the lowers since 2005, according to a study by the U.S.-based
Freedom House. Nations in Transit 2010, an annual research, covers 29
former communist European and Eurasian countries, covering events of
2009. Scores in the survey are based on a 1 to 7 scale, with 1
representing the highest level of democratic development and 7 the
lowest. Georgia’s overall democracy score, according to this recent
survey, is 4.93, the same as it was for 2008, which is down from 4.79
for 2007 and 4.17 in 1999-2000. In the similar study released by Freedom
House in 2005 Georgia’s overall score was 4.96. An overall democracy
score is an average of ratings for separate categories, involving
electoral process (no election was held in Georgia in 2009; conduct of
May 30, 2010 local elections will be reflected in next year’s survey);
civil society, independent media, national and local governance;
judiciary and corruption – scores in all these separate categories also
remained unchanged. Christopher Walker, director of studies at
Freedom House, writes in an overview of Nations in Transit 2010, that of
the 12 non-Baltic former Soviet republics, eight are “consolidated
authoritarian regimes”; two – Armenia and Moldova, are
“semi-consolidated authoritarian systems” and remaining two – Georgia
and Ukraine are “classified as transitional-hybrid systems.” According
to Freedom House the ratings for separate countries reflect the
consensus of the organization, its academic advisers, and the authors of
country reports (Davit Aprasidze, professor of political sciences at
the Tbilisi-based Ilia State University, in case of Georgia report). |
30 Jun. '10 | US-Sekretär für Europa und Asien Philip Gordon: ‘Wir haben kein Waffen-Embargo gegenüber Georgia’ A
senior U.S. diplomat has strongly denied any assumption that Washington
had arms embargo on Georgia, but also said on June 29 that arms sale
was not a solution to Georgia’s problems. “Let me first clarify that
we don’t have an arms embargo on Georgia,” said Philip Gordon, the
assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, who
briefed reporters in Washington about upcoming trip of the U.S.
Secretary State to Eastern Europe. “We are pursuing security
cooperation with Georgia. Georgia is making a very significant
contribution in Afghanistan, which we value… and we are helping them
with training for that mission.” “All sovereign, independent
countries in Europe and elsewhere have the right to self-defense and to
seek the alliances of their choosing without a third party having a veto
over it,” he said. When further pressed on the matter and asked why
the U.S. had not fulfilled any of Georgia’s request for arms in last
couple of years, Gordon responded, that Washington’s focus after the
August war was “reducing tensions” and trying to get Russian to follow
its commitments under the August 12, 2008 ceasefire agreement and to
respect Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. “We don’t
think that arms sales and military equipment is the path to the
situation in Georgia that we’re trying to get to,” Gordon said. “We
have engaged very closely with our friends in Georgia to develop their
democracy and prosperity because we believe that the real long-term
situation – solution in Georgia is not going to be a military one based
on the sale of this or that military equipment. There’s not a military
fix to this problem. It is, through Georgia, becoming a stronger
democracy, a more prosperous country, so that the residents of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia agree that they should be part of that unified
Georgia. That is what our focus has been on. That’s what this trip [by
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Georgia on July 5] will focus on,”
he said. On June 28, the Jane’s Defence Weekly (JDW) reported citing
Georgian officials, as well as representatives of US and Israeli
companies present at Eurosatory defence exhibition in Paris in mid-June,
that after the August, 2008 war Georgia was not able to buy defense
equipment, on the one hand because of the U.S. policies and on the other
hand because of Russia’s pressure. Citing senior Georgian defense
ministry official JDW reported that Georgia was in need of
over-the-horizon radars that can give an advance warning of any Russian
movement, man-portable anti-tank weapons and more current-day
communication systems. “However, none of these systems have been made
available for the Georgians to purchase, according to US and NATO
personnel based in Tbilisi,” Jane’s Defense Weekly reported. "No one
can understand what the US government's goal is in blocking these sales.
Radios and radars are not offensive weapons," JDW reported quoting
unnamed Tbilisi-based defence contractor, whose company is involved in
training the Georgian military. In late 2006 Georgia contracted the
U.S. defense communications and information technology company, Harris
Corp., on supply of communication systems. But as former chief of staff
of the armed forces, Zaza Gogava, told in November, 2008 the Georgian
parliamentary special commission studying the August war, the Georgian
armed forces had problems with communication and blamed not having
enough time to train personnel in use of those communication systems. According
to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, after the August
war Georgia purchased 70 Ejder armored wheeled vehicles from Turkey,
which were first publicly displayed last September and twelve T-84
battle tanks from Ukraine. |
30 Jun. '10 | US-Sekretär
für Europa und Asien Philip Gordon sagt, dass beim Besuch von
US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton in Georgien den Fortschritt in der
strategischen Partnerschaft und die lokalen Wahlen besprechen wird Secretary
of State, Hillary Clinton, will review the progress of U.S.-Georgia
strategic partnership and results of the May 30 local elections when she
visits Georgia on July 5, Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary of
state for European and Eurasian affairs, said. Clinton starts trip to Eastern Europe from July 1 with Ukraine, followed by Poland and then Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. In
Tbilisi the U.S. Secretary of State will meet with President
Saakashvili, Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze, opposition and civil
society representatives, as well as women’s leaders, Philip Gordon said. “Any
trip like this in multiple countries you have multiple goals,” he said
on June 29, while briefing reporters in Washington about the upcoming
visit. “I think a common theme that stretches across all of them is this
theme of democracy.” Gordon also said that he did not see this trip
as “a sort of reassurance tour”, following the U.S. reset policy with
Russia; he said there was no lack of understanding among the United
States’ Eastern European partners that “the better relationship with
Russia does not come at the expense of our relationship with sovereign,
independent countries that are near Russia.” “I suspect in both
places [Ukraine and Georgia] the Secretary will talk to her counterparts
about Russia, but I wouldn’t see it as the purpose of the trip,” he
said. “We don’t think that anybody should have any concerns about the
new and better relationship with Russia… But to the extent that anyone
has concerns about our Russia policy, we’re happy to discuss them and,
again, I’m sure in Poland, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the
issue of Russia will come up.” He also reiterated that the U.S.
continues calling on Russia to abide by its commitments undertaken under
the August 12 six-point ceasefire agreement and to secure transparency
in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia through allowing international
presence in those regions. “We are dissatisfied with the situation
there and we’ve made this clear. The President made it clear to
President Medvedev last week and we’ve been consistent in noting that we
respect Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Gordon said. |
29 Jun. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili betont nochmals, dass das weiße Haus Abchasien und Südossetien "besetzte Gebiete" genannt hat * ‘Our foreign policy intensified’; * ‘French FM to visit Georgia in mid-July’; * ‘Ready for talks with Russia’; * ‘Russian leadership elected in violation of int’l norms’; * ‘Launch of Association Agreement talks with EU in July historic’ On
June 29 President Saakashvili again spoke on importance of describing
Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “occupied regions” by the White House,
saying that it creates “absolutely new reality” in connection with those
regions. Speaking at an extended session of the National Security
Council in presence of some opposition politicians, Saakashvili said
that Tbilisi would continue its drive to achieve adoption of this term
in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia by individual EU-member
states, as well as by EU itself. “You are well aware that the term
‘occupation’ has been used very rarely in the course of 20th century...
This term means that occupation will end sooner or later. It means
giving a temporary status to presence of [occupying force] on those
territories; it means that those people [Russian forces] are there
illegally; it means that property transactions are illegal… For example,
I want tell some imprudent Russians: you are illegally buying houses
[in Abkhazia] in illegally occupied territory of Georgia, as it is
recognized by the international community and Russian forces there are
occupants,” Saakashvili said. “The Russian people, which itself
experienced Nazi occupation during the World War II, because of its
leadership’s short-sighted and reckless policy now has to live in the
country, which is occupant,” Saakashvili said. He also said that
despite Moscow’s statements that they would not negotiate with Georgia’s
current leadership, Tbilisi was “fully ready to hold comprehensive
talks with Russia without any pre-conditions on normalization of
relations.” “This normalization means [talks] on return of 500,000
displaced persons back to their homes and restoration of their property
rights, as well as on other issues related with bilateral relations,
including political, economic, diplomatic and humanitarian aspects,”
Saakashvili said. “We have no interest in having confrontation with
Russia; we are ready to talk with the Russian leadership, which unlike
the Georgian one is elected through violation of all the international
norms and that’s observed by international organizations; despite of
that it is the Russian leadership and we recognize it as partner in
negotiations and we want to have talks with them providing that Georgia
should be recognized as united, sovereign, independent state,”
Saakashvili said. In his live televised opening remarks at the
National Security Council, Saakashvili also said that Georgia’s foreign
policy has intensified significantly recently. “After some time of
calmness, there have been series of foreign visits. We have recently
hosted Austrian Foreign Minister, the Poland’s Foreign Minister will
visit Georgia and then the U.S. Secretary of State will visit Georgia.
On July 14, French Foreign Minister [Bernard Kouchner] will be
celebrating the French national day here in Tbilisi together with us –
at least according to the information that was available yesterday - and
on July 15 we are formally launching negotiations with EU on
Association Agreement. A high-level EU delegation will be visiting
Georgia; this is a historic moment – without any exaggeration – for
launch of Georgia’s European integration. We expect opening of talks
with EU on comprehensive free trade agreement in early autumn. We have
already signed visa facilitation with EU… and we hope that along with
Association Agreement we also start moving towards visa-free regime
[with EU]… It is Georgia among EU Eastern Partnership countries, which
has most of the chances to meet EU visa-free criteria in the nearest
future,” Saakashvili said. |
29 Jun. '10 | Präsident
Saakashvili lädt die Opposition ein, die Strategie zu Abchasien und Südossetien zu diskutieren President
Saakashvili has invited opposition representatives at an extended
session of National Security Council to discuss an action plan laying
out Tbilisi’s proposals on how to implement the government’s State
Strategy on Occupied Territories: Engagement through Cooperation. Representatives
of parliamentary minority have confirmed readiness to participate in
the meeting scheduled for late afternoon on Tuesday. Representative from
Industrialist Party, a non-parliamentary opposition group, will also
take part. “An in-depth discussion of action plan, which is already
developed, will take place,” Eka Tkeshelashvili, secretary of National
Security Council, told Imedi TV. National-Democratic Party, which has
one representative in the Parliament, said that during the meeting it
would raise the issue of setting up “of a high-level commission” to
develop a new election code in line with international recommendations. An
inter-party working group worked on amendments to the election code
ahead of the local elections, which failed to reach consensus on key
elements of rule of electing Tbilisi city mayor. In their most recent
report released this month co-rapporteurs on Georgia within Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) have called for resumption of the
election working group. “The current Electoral Code and other laws
that govern the elections have seen multiple cycles of amendments to
address shortcomings noted during elections. This has led to a
significant number of contradictory or ambiguous provisions in the
Electoral Code. A new electoral code therefore needs to be drafted which
includes an election system that has the consensus of as many as
possible political forces in Georgia. This is a priority task for the
election working group that should be finalised well before the next
parliamentary elections,” according to the report. Davit Bakradze,
the Georgian parliamentary chairman, said on June 19, that he expected
the election working group to be resumed by autumn. |
29 Jun. '10 | Ankläger des int. Gerichtshofs im Zusammenhang mit dem Augustkrieg 2008: ‘Keine Straflosigkeit von Verbrechen in Georgien’ A
delegation from the Office of Prosecutor of International Criminal
Court (ICC), which visited Georgia last week, received an update on
national investigation being carried out by the Georgian prosecutor’s
office into alleged crimes committed during the August war, ICC’s
Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release. “The Rome Statute
ensures the end of impunity,” ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, said
referring to the statute, which entered into force in 2002, establishing
ICC. “States have the primary responsibility to investigate and
prosecute; the Court only steps in if there are no genuine national
proceedings,” he said. Shortly after the war, the ICC Prosecutor
announced on August 20, 2008 about the preliminary examination of the
situation in Georgia. During the preliminary examination ICC
Prosecutor’s Office assesses if an investigation should be opened. “The
Court potentially has jurisdiction over ICC crimes allegedly committed
on the territory of Georgia, including forced displacement of civilians,
killing of peacekeepers and attacks against civilian targets,” the ICC
Prosecutor’s Office said on June 25 in a press release headlined “No
impunity for crimes committed in Georgia.” During the visit on June
22-24, the ICC Prosecutor’s Office delegation met with Georgia’s chief
prosecutor, the Chairman of Supreme Court, the State Minister for
Reintegration, senior officials from the Ministries of Justice, Foreign
Affairs and Defence, as well as representatives from non-governmental
organizations. “We appreciate the co-operation of the Georgian
authorities,” ICC Prosecutor said. “It is mandatory that those most
responsible for serious crimes be investigated.” His office said that
both Georgia and Russia were providing “substantial information” on
their respective national investigations. The delegation from ICC
Prosecutor’s Office paid its previous visit to Georgia in November, 2008
and to Russia in March, 2010.
|
25 Jun. '10 | Präsident
Saakashvili
über den Dialog USA-Russland: dass Präsident Obama in einem zehnseitigen
Positionspapier den Begriff "Okkupation" verwendet in Bezug auf
Abchasien und Südossetien sei ein "wichtiger Schritt vorwärts" President
Saakashvili said on June 25 it was “an important step forward” in
Tbilisi’s drive to internationally recognize Russia as occupying power,
when the White House used the term “occupation” in reference to Abkhazia
and South Ossetia. A ten-page fact sheet,
released by the White House on June 24, detailing how President Obama
has "reset" the relationship with Russia, says that the Washington
continues “to call for Russia to end its occupation of the Georgian
territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” It also reads that the Obama
administration continues “to press for… a return of international
observers to the two occupied regions of Georgia.” President
Saakashvili also said that Tbilisi welcomed U.S.-Russia dialogue and
added that the U.S. remained committed to its principles in its policy
of “reset” of relations with Russia and it was “a precondition for us
that this dialogue will yield desirable results for everybody, including
for those about 500,000 of our citizens, who cannot return to their own
homes. Below is a full transcript of Saakashvili’s statement on the matter: “For
the first time, at this level, the U.S. President and his
administration have officially described the presence of Russian troops
in Georgia as occupation and [described] our regions [of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia] as Georgia’s occupied regions. We have been working
for already two years to establish [use] this term in international
practice [in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia]. It is not and it
was not a simple task because a term ‘occupation’ means concrete legal
consequences and historically it was very rarely used in international
practice as well as such outrageous actions, which Russia carries out in
Georgia, are very rare. We had constant consultations with our American
partners during recent months, including on this issue. We welcome
that yesterday an exact legal evaluation was given to what is happening
in Georgia. This is a very important step forward. As far as
legal-political assessment is concerned, from now on it is now precisely
defined on the highest international level that we have to deal with
the occupation and that the Russian troops in Georgia represent
occupants. Any occupation is temporary and sooner or later each occupant will have to leave the territory occupied by them. At
the same time, we welcome holding of a dialogue between Russia and the
United States. We welcome President Obama’s course in this direction. The
fact that under conditions of this dialogue the United States remains
committed to its principle position, based on the values which the
United States has, is a precondition for us that this dialogue will
yield desirable results for everybody, including for those about 500,000
of our citizens, who cannot return to their own homes. Despite the
rhetoric full of threats by the Russian leadership, Georgia always was,
is and will be ready to hold a in-depth dialogue with Russia on the
return of about 500,000 citizens of any ethnicities, who were expelled
from their homes, as well as on de-occupation of Georgia and full-scale
normalization of bilateral relations. It was not Georgia, who
launched confrontation with Russia and Georgia is not interested in
continuation of this confrontation, of course, provided that Russia
should respect our borders, the choice of the Georgian people, our
multi-ethnic society and let the displaced persons of all the
ethnicities to return back to their homes, while its occupation troops
should leave Georgia’s territory. I repeat – a term ‘occupation’ is no
longer my term; it is an internally established term, especially after
yesterday.” |
25 Jun. '10 | Kabinett umbesetzt auf fünf Positionen * Economy Minister replaced; * New chief of Presidents administration; * New Deputy Foreign Minister; * New Ministry for Youth and Sports proposed; * New Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure; President
Saakashvili announced on June 25 about number staff changes in the
government and his administration, as well as about proposed changes in
the structure of the government resulting in establishment of a new
ministry in charge of youth affairs and sports. He explained the proposed changes with the need “of renewal staff, especially with young and professional cadre.” Saakashvili
said that Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure, Davit
Tkeshelashvili, replaced head of his administration. Former head of the
president’s administration, Davit Janashia, will become chief of the
state guard service, an agency in charge of providing security of senior
officials and premises of state agencies. A long-time journalist
with Rustavi 2 TV, Irma Nadirashvili, who until recently was head of the
television station’s newsroom, was appointed as Tkeshelashvili’s deputy
in charge of communication with media. Tkeshelashvili, who is a
long-time ally of the President and member of ruling party, was replaced
on the post of Minister for Regional Development and Infrastructure by
Ramaz Nikolaishvili, who was head of the road infrastructure agency. Economy Minister, Zurab Pololikashvili, was replaced by Vera Kobalia, a newcomer in the government. Vera
Kobalia, who is in her late twenties, has lived in Canada until
recently, where her family, displaced from Abkhazia as a result of armed
conflict in early 90s, emigrated over a decade ago. Until late last year Kobalia worked for Vancouver-based European Breads Bakery, established by her father in 2001. After
return to Georgia she co-established Coalition for Justice, a
non-governmental organization with a declared goal to protect rights of
Georgian IDPs and to increase international awareness about Georgian
IDPs. The NGO and personally Kobalia have been gaining significant
publicity recently. Saakashvili also said that a young scholar,
Tornike Gordadze, who has lived in France for over a decade, was
appointed as new Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of European affairs. Gordadze,
who was a director of Caucasus Studies at the French Institute of
Anatolian Studies, was described by Saakashvili as “a very prominent
political scholar in Paris”. He said that Gordadze would be in charge
of leading talks with Brussels on EU-Georgia Association Agreement, as
well as on free trade treaty with the European Union. He said that talks
on Association Agreement with EU would launch in mid-July, when a
delegation from Brussels was expected to arrive in Tbilisi. Saakashvili
also said that Gordadze would be in charge of “the French direction of
our foreign policy.” With Gordadze's appointment the Foreign Minister
will now have six deputies instead of previous five. The President
also said that as part of the government’s structural changes, a
department for youth and sports affairs would be separated from the
Ministry for Culture, Sports and Protection of Monuments and would be
established as a separate ministry. Governor of Shida Kartli region,
Lado Vardzelashvili, will lead the new ministry. In another
structural change, the United Transport Administration will be separated
from the Ministry for Regional Development and Infrastructure and will
merge with the Ministry of Economy and the latter will be renamed into
Ministry for Economy and Sustainable Development. “As you can see the
government is very stable. Practically, the changes occur much more
rarely, than it was happening during the first presidential term,”
Saakashvili said and added, that cabinet members’ performance was
assessed based on their results. “If a person cannot achieve any results
in particular direction, the one should be sent in charge of some other
direction.” The changes in the cabinet, as well as proposed
government’s structural changes have yet to be approved by the
Parliament, expected for next week. |
24 Jun. '10 | Außenminister Vashadze:
Moskau versucht die Genfer Gespräche zu unterminieren Moscow
tries to undermine Geneva talks using its “puppets” in Sokhumi, Grigol
Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 24. In an
English-language statement released on June 23, the Abkhaz leader’s
senior aide said Sokhumi was “temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva
talks, as negotiations launched after the August war "have not produced
tangible progress." “It is an outstanding example that Russia does
not need peace, stability and security in South Caucasus and Georgia.
The so called government of Abkhazia is simply a puppet in the hands of
Moscow,” the Georgian Foreign Minister told journalists. “The
international community will have to exert pressure on Russia to make it
– not Abkhazia but Russia – return to Geneva talks and to stop attempts
of destruction of this only existing format of peace talks,” Vashadze
said. The next, twelfth round of Geneva talks, launched after the August war, is scheduled for July 27. Sokhumi
said in the statement, which mainly is addressed to co-mediators of
Geneva talks – EU, OSCE and UN, that it would return to Geneva talks
after co-mediators present a document “that includes propositions from
all of the parties and enables open discussion and debate." The
statement does not give specifics, but says that “the co-moderators have
consistently failed to facilitate the talks in a constructive and
impartial manner.” |
24 Jun. '10 | Außenminister
Vashadze zu den "Beziehungen zwischen Netzwerken des organisierten
Verbrechens und Gruppen der außerparlamentarischen Opposition in
Georgien", was zuvor in der dt. Presse berichtet wurde The
Georgian authorities were aware of links between Europe-based
Georgian-organized crime network and “marginal opposition” groups in
Georgian opposition well before it was reported in the German press,
Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 24. The
German daily, Frankfurter Rundschau, reported this week, citing a
66-page report by the Austrian Federal Criminal Police Office, that last
year Georgian opposition groups, whose identities are not revealed in
the article, were in contact with the Georgian-organized crime network
through an owner of a Georgian restaurant in Vienna, who acted as a
go-between. According to the same report the Austrian police concluded
based on phone tapping records, that the criminal network aimed at using
the opposition street protest last spring and summer, to overthrow
President Saakashvili’s government. According to the same report the
network tried to use assistance from “senior Interior Ministry
officials” as well in reaching its goal. Vienna-based members of the
network were also in contact with Georgian embassy and consulate
employees, receiving information from them, according to the report. “Our
[diplomatic] mission in Vienna had a meeting with relevant Austrian
authorities and the Austrian side expressed deep regret that the
information was leaked to the media, before these materials were sent to
court,” Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said at a joint
news conference with his Austrian counterpart, Michael Spindelegger, in
Tbilisi. “As far as links between Vienna-based some criminals and so
called opposition, marginal opposition is concerned, we’ve been
speaking about it for a long time already and there is nothing
surprising in [this report],” Vashadze added. The Austrian Foreign
Minister said that he was not aware of details of this report, but would
request information about it from the Austrian Interior Ministry after
he returns back to Vienna. The Frankfurter Rundschau also reported,
citing the Austrian police report, that the owner of Georgian restaurant
in Vienna, who acted a go-between, was also in contact with
Moscow-based ex-Georgian security chief, Igor Giorgadze, who is wanted
in Georgia for assassination attempt against ex-President Eduard
Shevardnadze fifteen years ago. Dozens of persons, identified as
members of Georgian mafia in Europe, were arrested in a coordinated
operation in Europe in mid-March, 2010. The arrests, which took place in
Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain and Italy, were part of a
year-long operation codenamed Java. Lasha Shushanashvili, identified
as boss of the Georgian-organized crime network in Europe, could escape
the arrest in Greece. The Frankfurter Rundschau reported, citing the
Austrian police report, that attempts by the Shushanashvili’s network to
meddle in Georgia’s political developments was revealed as a result of
investigations in frames of Java operation. The Frankfurter Rundschau
wrote that the Austrian police was well aware of political sensitivity
of the matter and it was not yet clear whether phone tapping records
would be sent to court along with other evidence against the Georgian
criminal network members. |
24 Jun. '10 | Bagapsh: Suchumi zieht sich "vorübergehend" aus den Genfer Gespräche zurück Sokhumi
is "temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva talks, as negotiations
launched after the August war "have not produced tangible progress,"
Nadir Bitiev, a senior aide to Abkhaz leader, Sergey Bagapsh, said in an
English-language statement released on Wednesday evening. Bitiev,
who is among the group of Abkhaz negotiators at the Geneva talks, said
that Sokhumi had already "informed the Office of the Secretariat
overseeing the five-party talks" about its decision. “My government
believes the concept of the Geneva talks is sound, and we want to be
active participants in a series of discussions which are productive. We
regret having to make this decision at this time. We have done so
because the co-moderators have consistently failed to facilitate the
talks in a constructive and impartial manner," Bitiev's statement reads. He
also said that the Abkhaz side would "return to the proceedings when
the co-moderators present a concrete document that includes propositions
from all of the parties and enables open discussion and debate." "We hope that such a document will be forthcoming in a reasonable timeframe," he said. The
most recent, eleventh round of Geneva talks, with participation of
negotiators from Georgia, Russia, United States, as well as from Sokhumi
and Tskhinvali, was held on June 8 and the only concrete agreement
reached during that meeting was about the date of the next round of
talks - on July 27. Declaration, or a treaty on non-use of force is a
key point of contention. Moscow insists on Tbilisi to sign this
commitment, along with Sokhumi and Tskhinvali. Russia says it can not be
part of this declaration as it does not consider itself as a party into
conflict. Tbilisi says that although it has already committed itself
not to use force under the August 12, 2008 ceasefire agreement, it is
ready to sign an additional, separate non-use of force treaty, but on
the condition if Russia is also part of it. Georgia also wants the new
treaty to also reflect the commitments Russia has already undertaken
under the six-point agreement, envisaging withdrawal of Russian forces
to pre-August war positions. The Georgian Foreign Ministry has said
for number of times, including after the recent round of talks, that
despite Russia's "unconstructive" position, Geneva talks were "a
valuable forum" and expressed readiness "to continue full and
constructive engagement in the talks with an aim of discussing all
outstanding issues, including the most sensitive and controversial
ones." |
23 Jun. '10 | Russische Truppen in Abchasien halten Übungen ab Russian
troops deployed in breakaway Abkhazia launched three-day military
exercises on June 23, the Russian news agency, Itar-Tass, reported. Drills
are taking place at Nagvalou firing range in Ochamchire district with
involvement of battle tanks, armored vehicles and air defense systems, a
spokesman for the Russia’s North Caucasus Military District, Andrey
Borbun, told Itar-Tass. He said that the troops would practice in
carrying out military operations in mountainous areas, “in search and
liquidation of terrorist groups” and “in perfection of interoperability”
between land forces deployed in Abkhazia, Russian Black Sea Fleet,
Abkhazia-based border guard troops of Russian Federal Security Service
and local Abkhaz military. The scenario of military exercises also
includes repelling enemy’s artillery and air attacks, as well as attack
from sea, the Russian military official was quoted. |
22 Jun. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili:
Wenn Georgien sein Entwicklungstempo beibeahlten kann, wird es in 5-7 Jahren wie Dubai sein If
Georgia keeps its pace of development, it will reach the level of Dubai
in five or seven years, President Saakashvili said in Batumi late on
Monday evening. "I have recently been in Dubai and I want to tell you
without any exaggeration - it is said about me that I love exaggerating
- but I can say without any hyperbolization, that if Georgia continues
developing like it does now, we'll be there, where Dubai is now in five,
six, or seven years," he said. "On the one hand we are the country,
which has incredible poverty... and on the other hand, here is the
leading Ukrainian magazine, Korrespondent [showing the magazine's one of
the recent issues], which speaks in its cover story about the Georgian
miracle... 'Georgian youth turns the country into Singapore and Hong
Kong' - these are not my words, this is [the magazine's] enthusiastic
story about Georgia." Saakashvili said that the Ukrainian authorities were willing to learn from Georgia's experience of reforms. "We
also learn from the experience of countries, which are smaller than us -
Singapore, towards which we aspire, is smaller with territory than
Georgia, Dubai is also smaller than [Georgia]," he said. He also said
that with a landslide victory in the local elections, the ruling
National Movement party could now afford itself "to spend popularity" on
reforms and first of all in education system, in particular "on
modernization of the entire society through education." He said that
the elections showed authorities' course of reforms enjoyed with support
and added that 80% of young voters, between the age of 18 to 25, as
well as "the poorest part of our society" were the strongest voter base
of the ruling party.
|
13 Jun. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: Konstitution wird nicht auf Personen zugeschnitten - "Georgien wird 2013 einen neuen Präsident haben" - "Es ist nicht mein Ziel, in der Politik zu bleiben" - "Das Ziel ist die Fortsetzung der Reformen" # "Georgia will have new President" in 2013; # "My goal is not to remain in politics"; # "Goal is continuation of reforms" President
Saakashvili said on June 12 that the new constitution "will not be
tailored on personalities" and his goal was not staying in power, but
securing continuation of reforms launched by the current leadership. The
state commission on constitutional reform endorsed on May 11 a basic
draft of the constitution, which envisages giving more powers to PM at
the expense of the President. The draft, which has yet to be endorsed by
the Parliament - no formal deadlines are set when it should happen and
the document is still the initial draft, which may undergo further
amendments - triggered lots of speculation recently that Saakashvili was
paving way for remaining in power after expiration of his presidential
term by eying PM's post. These speculation were further fueled by
Saakashvili remarks in an interview with the French daily Le Monde in
which he said, that he had thought of becoming PM, but “too many
uncertainties remain for now.” "With the local elections over, now a
new issue is being debated - what will happen in 2013," Saakashvili said
while speaking at Kutaisi-based School of Public Administration. He
said that some already started questioning whether it would be possible
"not to see this horrible Saakashvili any more from 2013?. "I want
to tell you that we will never be Bantustan where constitution and laws
are tailored on personalities. The constitutional model, which will be
created in Georgia, will be democratic, European and the best one. It
means that maximum possible number of people will be able to participate
in the process of country's governing, regardless of where do they live
and regardless of thier origins," he said. "Of course many new
leaders will emerge; of course Georgia will have a new President; of
course Georgia will have maximally representative government and for
sure it will be the government, which will represent the interests of
the Georgian people and which will be under the Georgian people's
control." "Who will be these people [in the government]? Of course I
wish the reformers' team to continue its work, so that not to hinder
these reforms. But at the same time I wish these reforms to be accepted
by maximally large number of political parties" in order to secure
continuation of reforms even in case they come into the government,
Saakashvili said. "My goal is not to keep myself or any of my allies
in the politics - God saves us from that. Our goal is to maintain these
reforms," he said. }We have proved that this country belongs not to
personalities like Shevardnadze, Saakashvili... It belongs to us all." He
also said that Georgia major goal was "to develop fast", as moving
forward "slowly" would not be enough to strengthen the country. "The
country faces serious challenges and threats. We have managed to create
something which is different from everything that is around us [in
Georgia's neighborhood] and for that reason we face even more threats -
we have established modern statehood for the first time in many hundreds
of years in the Caucasus," Saakashvili said. |
12 Jun. '10 |
Vorsitzender der nationalen US-Nuklearsicherheitsadministration besucht Georgien
Thomas P. D’Agostino, head of the U.S. department of energy’s
national nuclear security administration (NNSA), will arrive in Georgia
on Sunday for a two day visit, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said. During
the meetings with government officials, including from the Interior
Ministry, he will discuss the U.S.-Georgia cooperation “on improving
Georgia's capabilities to combat nuclear smuggling,” the embassy said. NNSA
has been cooperating with the Georgian Border Police and Customs since
2005 in frames of Second Line of Defense Program, designed to help U.S.
partner countries strengthen the capabilities to deter, detect and
prevent illicit trafficking of nuclear materials. Since then the U.S.
is providing Georgia radiation detection equipment and sustainable
training for screening at airports, seaports and its land border
crossings. “Upon program completion, an estimated 98% of trans-border
traffic will be screened for nuclear and other radioactive materials out
of regulatory control,” the embassy said. |
11 Jun. '10 |
Russischer Außenminister Lavrov: die Frage bezüglich Südossetien und Abchasien ist "endgültig und irreversibel"
The issue of South Ossetia and Abkhazia is already solved “finally
and irreversibly” not only for Russia, but for “other serious countries”
as well, Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said. “They
simply can not acknowledge because of political correctness or some
other political reasons,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Russian
daily, Kommersant, published on June 11. “I have said numerously that
it was not our choice and all the complaints should be addressed to
Mikheil Saakashvili, who trampled the territorial integrity of Georgia.” Asked
what did he mean when he said recently that immediately after the
August, 2008, Georgia still had a chance to maintain possibility for
restoration of territorial integrity, Lavrov responded: “When the
purpose of the operation aimed at suppressing the aggression was
fulfilled and the Russian President ordered to suspend a military
operation, the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan was agreed, which laid the
foundation for future actions. Its sixth point contained a provision on
the need to launch international discussions over defining the status of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia and ensuring their security. We have
undersigned it. So, on August 12, 2008 the Russian President agreed that
the status of these regions needed to be discussed on an international
level.” He said that from that point Russia was ready to continue discussions about the status of these two regions. “The
document was agreed. French President Nicolas Sarkozy took it to
Tbilisi. Then he called and said that Saakashvili was categorically
against discussing the status of these republics and that for him the
status was in itself already obvious and this phrase should be removed
[from the six-point agreement]. We agreed [to remove it],” Lavrov said. “By
the way, Saakashvili was also manipulating with other parts of the
Medvedev-Sarkozy plan. Six points were preceded by a preamble, which
said: the Presidents of Russian Federation and France approve the
underwritten principles and call on the sides to fulfill them. In the
document, which Saakashvili finally agreed to sign, he not only removed
the phrase about the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but he also
edited out the preamble and is now saying that the document calls,
including on Russia, to stop doing various things. The preamble was
unambiguously saying that the two Presidents were calling on the sides
to do this and that. That is why it is called the Medvedev-Sarkozy
plan.” Responding to a question about calls on Russia to fully
fulfill its obligations under the six-point plan, in particular in
respect of pulling troops to pre-August war positions, Lavrov said that
Russia had already withdrawn its forces, which were sent during the war. “By
that time discussions on the status have been thwarted and revanchist
statements, like the war is not yet over, were heard from Tbilisi , so
by the end of August [2008] it was decided that there was no other way
to provide the security and survival of Abkhazians and South Ossetians,
rather than to recognize their independence,” Lavrov said. “Currently
Russian troops are stationed in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia are
stationed there based on agreements between Russia and two states
recognized by it. Russia has fulfilled the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan in this
part.” “By the way, those people, who say that we should return to
the pre-August 8 line, forget that before August 8, 2008 our troops were
stationed deep into the Georgia territory, because the peacekeepers
were deployed not only in South Ossetia, which was then a part of
Georgia, but also beyond its limits. The same situation was respect of
Abkhazia. Therefore, if they call on us to move beyond South Ossetia and
Abkhazia and to locate on the line, where the security was provided by
our peacekeepers before August 8, 2008, I would be glad if we were told
about it directly,” Lavrov said. |
11 Jun. '10 |
Ukrainischer Präsident trifft Außenminister Grigol Vashadze in Kiew
Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, met on June 11 with Georgian
Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, who pays a working visit to Kiev. "We
are eager to further develop cooperation with Georgia and our mutually
beneficial trade and economic relations," Yanukovych said, adding that a
potential for increasing economic cooperation between the two countries
was not fully used. "We believe that there are promising
opportunities to develop our trade and economic relations and create
favorable conditions for growth of the turnover between Ukraine and
Georgia," he said. Yanukovych also said that inter-governmental
commission of Ukraine and Georgia should elaborate concrete steps on how
to boost trade and economic ties between the two countries. Ukraine
was Georgia’s third largest trading partner with USD 502.3 million, down
from USD 791,8 million in 2008. In the first quarter of 2010 trade
turnover between Georgia and Ukraine was USD 127 million – the third
after Turkey and Azerbaijan, according to the Georgian statistics
agency. |
11 Jun. '10 |
US-Politiker
Michael McFaul über die Obama-Politik des "Reset-Button" Gegenüber
Russland: ‘Wir übergehen Georgien nicht ... wir tun diese Dinge
parallel, aber wir verbinden sie nicht ... wir beenden nicht unsere
Unstützung für Georgien ...’
It remains the Obama administration’s foreign policy objective “to
end Russian occupation” of parts of Georgian territory, although there
is no progress in pursuing this objective, a senior White House adviser
on Russia said on June 10. Michael McFaul, the U.S. President’s
special assistant and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs
at the National Security Council, has strongly rejected a notion that
Washington was abandoning Georgia, at the expense of hitting a reset
button with Russia. Speaking at Washington-based Peterson Institute
for International Economics McFaul laid out key principles of the Obama
administration’s reset policy with Russia saying that from the very
start of his presidential tenure Obama’s “principle observation” was
that the dangerous drift in the U.S.-Russia relations, which started
even before “Russian invasion of Georgia” in August, 2008, was not in
the Washington’s nation interests. He said that most of the central
challenges of the U.S. national interests were not at all at odds with
those of the Russian Federation, including on issues like Afghanistan,
nonproliferation, reducing nuclear arsenal. McFaul said that an
important part of the Obama administration’s Russia policy was “to
deliberately avoid linkage between issue areas that have nothing to do
with each other” – for example, he said, it was not a precondition to
negotiate START treaty for release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, imprisoned
former Yukos oil tycoon. As another example he brought Georgia’s
case and said: “We are deliberately not pushing for the end of the
occupation of Georgia to resubmit 123 agreement” – a peaceful nuclear
treaty with Russia. When President Obama resubmitted the treaty to
the Congress on May 10 he wrote in the message to lawmakers that “the
situation in Georgia need no longer be considered an obstacle to
proceeding with the proposed Agreement.” Remarks were criticized by
Obama’s former presidential challenger, senator John McCain, saying that
such stance was fueling sentiments that Washington “is selling” Georgia
“out to Moscow as the price of our ‘hitting the reset button’.” But
as McFaul said the Administration’s strategy “does not mean that we are
ignoring Georgia… We are doing these things in parallel, but we are not
linking them.” At the same time, he said, the Administration was not “allowing our Russian colleagues to link things that they want to link.” “So
we are not ending our assistance to Georgia [and] throwing Georgians
under the bus in the name of UN Security Council resolution – that was a
proposition put to us a long time ago and we said: ‘we're not gonna
play that game’,” McFaul said. After speaking about the issues on
which he thought progress had been achieved with Russia as part of reset
policy, McFaul then listed areas where no progress was observed. “On the top of my list are Georgia and democracy [in Russia],” McFaul said. “Is
it a foreign policy objective of the Obama administration to help end
Russia’s occupation of Georgia in a peaceful manner and restore Georgia
territorial integrity? Absolutely yes; that’s the objective we have. We
have other goals with Georgia as well: we have a goal of enhancing
stability in Georgia and in the region; we have a goal of enhancing
democracy and we have a goal of enhancing economic growth in Georgia and
we are doing all those things simultaneously.” “Have we made
progress on that central objective? My answer is ‘no’; we have not;
that’s the truth. So we have the goal, we have the strategy that we are
pursuing and we’ll pursue that when President Medvedev is here [this
month]. And have we made real progress in restoring Georgia’s
sovereignty? My answer is ‘no’.” he said. Also on June 10, the U.S.
Department of State spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, told a news briefing
in Washington that Georgia and in particular situation in its breakaway
regions remained a source of disagreement between the U.S. and Russia. “We
still do not see eye-to-eye on all aspects of that,” Crowley said.
“We’ve certainly not forgotten what happened in the crisis between
Georgia and Russia. We continue to make clear to Russia that the
situation needs to change. And we continue to support Georgia in terms
of its territorial integrity and its rights in the region.” He also said that Washington was “actively engaged” with Russia on these issues. “Regional security issues are an inherent part of our ongoing dialogue with Russia,” Crowley said. |
10 Jun. '10 |
Regierung schlägt Budgetänderungen vor: durch Steuermehreinnahmen und EU-Hilfen sollen 215 Mio. GEL mehr ausgegeben werden ...
According to the draft, the government will allocate additional GEL 24,
2 million for housing program for internally displaced persons and GEL
3.4 million for covering their utility tariffs. GEL 9.4 will be
allocated for rehabilitation and construction of facilities in
penitentiary system; GEL 12.5 million – for rehabilitation of water
supply systems; GEL 23.8 million – for tourism and road infrastructure;
GEL 20 million – for co-funding of construction of high-voltage power
transmission line; GEL 2.6 million will be spent to purchase of the
building of Georgian Embassy in Germany, according to the draft.
|
10 Jun. '10 |
weitere Ergebnisse aus der Wahlbeobachtung von Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) vorgelegt During
five weeks in run up to the May 30 local elections and a week after the
polling day, Kavkasia TV has allocated more airtime to Tbilisi mayoral
candidates and parties in its main news bulletins, then other five TV
channels, which were monitored in frames of project supported by EU
Delegation to Georgia and UN Development Programme (UNDP). In a
period from April 26 to June 6 Imedi TV dedicated almost half of its
election-related overage to the incumbent Tbilisi mayor candidate, Gigi
Ugulava - more than any other five television stations. Ugulava’s
coverage dominated on other TV channels as well, except of Kavkasia TV,
which allocated almost equal time to the incumbent and leader of
Alliance for Georgia, Irakli Alasania. Follow links below to view details of monitoring results: Length of coverage time allocated to candidates and coverage tone April 26-June 6 – pdf Media monitoring was carried out by Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC). According
to a separate media monitoring, carried out by the OSCE/ODIHR
international observation mission, covering six weeks before the
election day, the Georgian Public Broadcaster’s First Channel offered
viewers “a balanced picture of the campaign in its news.” “The campaign coverage in news programs of all other monitored television channels lacked balance,” according to the report. Rustavi
2, Imedi TV, as well as Adjara TV and local Tbilisi station Real TV
demonstrated support for the ruling party and its Tbilisi mayoral
candidate with Real TV also producing programs “discrediting opposition
candidates,” according to OSCE/ODIHR report. Kavkasia TV and Maestro TV,
by contrast, served as a platform for the opposition, in particular the
Alliance for Georgia, it said.
|
9 Jun. '10 |
Russischer Präsident Putin: Keine Notwendigkeit Kriegsschiff "Mistral" gegen Georgien zu gebrauchen Russia
has no need to use French warships, Mistral, which it plans to buy,
against Georgia, Russian PM Vladimir Putin said ahead of his visit to
France. “I hope events will never again lead to military conflict
between Russia and Georgia, never. We have been doing everything
previously and are intending to do everything for preventing
reoccurrence of this tragedy. Modern offensive systems make it possible
to carry out any military operation deep into the entire territory of
Georgia from the Russian territory and no Mistral is needed for that,”
Putin said in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) and France 2
television. “[Mistral] is an offensive weapon. Has France such
helicopter carriers [Mistrals] in its armament? Yes, it has. Whom is
France going to attack? No one. Why do people automatically assume that
Russia will of course have to use this to attack someone? If you mean –
and let’s put it bluntly – for example, our Georgian neighbors… Georgia
has a huge land border with Russia. As a result of a criminal action,
which was launched by President Saakashvili two years ago, people have
died. And Russia had to defend the lives of its peacekeepers and
citizens of South Ossetia. And, as it is known, Russia had, I want to
stress it, to use its armed forces for defensive purposes,” the Russian
PM said. “We have stopped [Russian army’s advance] 20-15 kilometers
from Tbilisi, and not because we could not enter Tbilisi, but because we
did not want it. We did not want any hostilities at all. Just that is
why our peacekeepers were staying there,” he said.
|
9 Jun. '10 |
Angespannte Gespräche in der elften Runde der Genfer Gespräche ...
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that "despite the unconstructiveness
of some participants, Geneva Discussions represent a valuable forum"
and expressed readiness "to continue full and constructive engagement in
the talks with an aim of discussing all outstanding issues, including
the most sensitive and controversial ones." ...
|
8 Jun. '10 |
EUMM besorgte über die Vorfälle in Gali EU
Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said it was “concerned” about
reports of recent incidents in Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia,
which had resulted in the deaths of three local officials, injuries to
others, various detentions and reports of some homes being set on fire. Abkhaz
sources reported that an Abkhaz customs officer was killed in an attack
in Gali district on June 1 and in a separate shooting incident head of
the local administration of a village in Gali district was killed on
June 3. The Georgian sources reported on June 6 that the Abkhaz
militia set on fire several houses in the village of Dikhazurga of the
Gali district and arrested several local residents there. “This is a
rapidly changing situation and the details remain unclear,” EUMM said in
a statement on June 7. “As EUMM has no direct access to the area, it
can not ascertain the exact nature or dynamics of these incidents.
Whilst local investigations are underway though, it is very important
that all sides refrain from comments that could further increase tension
in the area. Restraint is needed to ensure that the confidence of the
local population is not harmed and stability not endangered.” The mission has called on the sides to hold a meeting “as soon as possible to ensure co-operation in resolving this situation.”
|
7 Jun. '10 |
International Crisis Group (ICG) legt Bericht zur Abhängigkeit Tskhinvali’s von Russland vor "... wandelt sich in eine russische Garnison, da das russische Militär schon ein Sechstel der Bevölkerung stellt ..." Recognition
of breakaway South Ossetia by Moscow, where the Russian military
already accounts for about one sixth of the region’s declining
population, has “consolidated its dependence” on Russia, a
Brussels-based think tank, International Crisis Group (ICG), said in its report released on June 7. Like
ICG’s report on Abkhazia, released this February, the report on South
Ossetia - Burden of Recognition - reviews key developments in the
breakaway region after its recognition by Russia and analyses the
economic, political situation in the region, as well as issues related
to population and Russia’s military build up following the August war. South
Ossetia, the report says, lacks even true political, economic or
military autonomy, where Moscow staffs over half the government, donates
99% of the budget and provides security. “Since recognition, South
Ossetia has increasingly come to resemble a North Caucasus republic, and
Moscow’s approach to it is similar. The main difference is that in
South Ossetia the president is elected rather than appointed by the
Russian president,” the report reads. It also says that Russia has
“inherited another volatile region in the Caucasus that it must
subsidise for the sake of stability.” Russia’s decision to recognize South Ossetia “seemed poorly thought out and impulsive,” according to the report. It
says that in private conversations, Russian diplomats and analysts
question the wisdom of this decision “that not only damaged Russia’s
international image but could also potentially spur secessionist
sentiment in the North Caucasus.” Citing Russian and South Ossetian
analysts, the report says that without development of economy, the
region will “in effect turn into a Russian garrison, since the military
already accounts for about one sixth of the population.” According to
the report, western analysts estimate there are 3,000-4,500 Russian
troops in South Ossetia, in addition to 900 Federal Security Service
(FSB) border guards. Citing Russian sources, the report says, that
Russian bases in South Ossetia have T-72 and T-90 Tanks, 150 BMP-2,
12-mm BM-21 Grad, 152mm howitzer 2C3 and S-300 air defense systems. FSB,
according to the report, is building twenty frontier posts across the
administrative border line, not least to monitor Georgian military
communications and movements. Setting up of these posts are expected to
be completed by 2011. “Confident of Russian protection,” the report
says, authorities in the breakaway region plan to substantially downsize
its military. “To avoid turning South Ossetia into a ‘no man’s
land’, all sides should address the needs and grievances of the
population on the ground. Politicising issues such as freedom of
movement and access for humanitarian and development organisations and
observer missions comes at a high cost for the population,” the report
reads.
|
4 Jun. '10 |
Abchasischer
Beamter in Gali getötet, nach georgischen TV-Berichten aufgrund von
Auseinandersetzungen von abchasischen Beamten mit russischen Truppen um
Geld, das von der ansäßigen georgischen Bevölkerung eingetrieben wurde Head
of local administration of the village of Rep in Gali district of
breakaway Abkhazia, Dmitry Katsia, was shot dead late on Thursday
evening, the Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on June 4. According
to this report, Katsia’s car was attacked by armed men between the
villages of Rep and Primorskoe, when he was on his way to the town of
Gali at about 8:30pm local time. “Presumably, fire was opened by
three persons… Katsia died from wounds inflicted on his head,” Otar
Khetsia, the breakaway region’s interior minister, was quoted by
Apsnipress. Two days earlier before this murder, one Abkhaz customs
officer was killed and two others were wounded when their car was
attacked close to the village of Saberio in the Gali district. Abkhaz
leader, Sergey Bagapsh, who summoned national security council session
on June 4, said “the Georgian trace in quite obvious” in both of these
incidents, Apsnipress reported. He instructed the breakaway region’s
foreign ministry to raise the issue of “frequent terrorist acts” at the
upcoming eleventh round of Geneva talks, planned for June 8. “It
should be stated clearly that if the Georgian side does not stop
subversive acts, we will have to take adequate measures. The organizers
of terrorist acts should understand that local destabilization may cause
the aggravation of already uneasy situation in the region where the
refugees have returned,” he said referring to Gali district,
predominately populated by ethnic Georgians. Meanwhile, the Georgian
television stations reported that like in case of attack on Abkhaz
customs officers, the recent incident was also a result of a clash
between the Abkhaz officials and the Russian troops, which was triggered
by disagreement about money seized from the local Georgian population. Rustavi
2 TV and Georgian Public Broadcaster also aired remarks by a Georgian
official from the Abkhaz government-in-exile, Tornike Kilanava, who
often acts as an official speaker commenting on Gali-related
developments. He said: “They [Abkhaz officials and Russian soldiers]
were sharing money seized from the local population, which resulted into
[shootout] and death of Dmitry Katsia, who was notorious for his
cruelty against Georgians; he led several punitive operations against
the local population, intimidating and terrorizing the local population
[of Gali district].” In a separate Gali-related report also on June
4, the Georgian television stations said that week ago an attack
occurred on a Georgian family in the village of Otobaia; the Georgian
Public Broadcaster reported that attackers “tortured” a man and his wife
in an attempt to extort money from the family. Victims were able to
arrive in Zugdidi hospital only after a week from the attack, “as
Russian occupants were not allowing” them to cross the administrative
border.
|
4 Jun. '10 |
Ukrainischer
Präsident Yanukovych: Anerkennung von Abchasien, Südossetien und Kosovo
seien eine Verletzung internationaler Gesetze und Normen Recognition
of breakaway Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo as independent states
is “a violation of international laws and norms,” Ukrainian President
Victor Yanukovych said on June 4, as quoted by the Russian news
agencies. “I have never recognized Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo
as independent states,” he said at a news conference. “There are
international norms and laws which prohibit infringement of territorial
integrity of any state. We have no right to welcome those processes in
the world, where violation of territorial integrity of a country is
taking place.”
|
4 Jun. '10 |
NATO-Generalsekretär
Anders Fogh Rasmussen zu lokalen Wahlen in Georgien: "... frei und fair
... mit positiver Wirkung für die NATO-Beziehungen ..." The way
how May 30 local elections were held in Georgia will have “a positive
impact” on NATO-Georgia relations, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO secretary
general, said while speaking at a session of the NATO Parliamentary
Assembly in Riga on June 1. He made the remarks in response to a
question asked by a Georgian lawmaker from the ruling party, Giorgi
Kandelaki, during the question and answer session. “We appreciate
that elections took place in a way, which has been recognized as free
and fair by the international community. You asked me which impact these
elections will have on Georgia’s relationship with NATO. Of course the
positive impact. But I have also to say, we had expected these elections
to take place in a way which could be considered as free and fair. It
is of course an important element in Georgia’s fulfillment of the
requirement within NATO-Georgia Commission and the Annual National
Programme [a document, laying out the country’s reform targets],”
Rasmussen said.
|
4 Jun. '10 |
"Alliance for Georgia" zweifelt das Ergebnis in einem Wahldistrikt in Tbilisi an Davit
Saganelidze von der "New Rights Party" reklamiert Wahlfälschung, obwohl
Vakhtang Natsvlishvili bereits vorher einen knappen Vorsprung hatte. Alliance
for Georgia said it was challenging early results of elections in one
of Tbilisi’s single-mandate constituencies in an attempt to secure one
more seat in the Tbilisi City Council. Davit Saganelidze of New
Rights Party, part of Alliance for Georgia, was running in majoritarian
contest in one of single mandate constituencies of Tbilisi’s Vake
district. According to the early results a ruling party candidate,
Vakhtang Natsvlishvili, has a narrow lead over Saganelidze; but the
latter claims that his rival candidate gained more votes only as a
result of “falsification” that occurred during the vote count in several
precincts of the constituency, which should become a reason for a
repeat vote. As of late June 3, according to Central Election
Commission, vote results of only five precincts have been annulled - all
in provinces, including three in Lagodekhi, Mestia and Mtskheta
districts and two precincts in Sagarejo district. Voting for
majoritarian candidates was not held at all in three precincts, located
in Tsalka, Tsageri and Oni districts, because of the problems related to
majoritarian contest ballot papers. Repeat elections in all of these precincts will be held tentatively on June 12, according to the Central Election Commission.
|
3 Jun. '10 |
Polizei
hat fünf Mitglieder eines "internationalen Drogenkartells" verhaftet,
welche Kokain in großen Mengen von Südamerika über Georgien in die
Türkei schmuggeln Georgian Interior Ministry said on Thursday it
had detained five members of “international drug cartel” engaged in
trafficking of large amount of cocaine from Latin America into Turkey
via Georgia. The most recent case of trafficking by the group, the
ministry said, occurred in July 2009, when 90 kilos of cocaine, hidden
among scrap metal on cargo vessel, was shipped to Georgia’s Black Sea
port of Poti. Reported shipped cocaine was not seized. The ministry said
that cocaine, hidden in a car’s bumper, was then smuggled to Turkey.
Police said it seized EUR 1.7 million hidden in the ground of yard of a
house in western Georgia, belonging to one of the arrested persons. Police
said a Georgian-born Greek citizen, now living in Spain, led the group,
organizing shipments. The Interior Ministry said that his five
accomplices in Georgia were arrested. “This is the first case when
such large amount of cocaine emerged on the Georgian market,” Shota
Utiashvili, head of the interior ministry’s information and analytical
department, said. He said that operation was not coordinated with
foreign law enforcement agencies, although added that the Georgian
Interior Ministry planned to send investigators to Spain as part of
ongoing investigation into the case.
|
3 Jun. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili besucht Rumänien mit Gesprächen über ein Pipeline-Projekt Aserbaidschan-Georgien-Rumänien ...
He said that the Romanian-proposed project to transport Caspian gas to
Europe via Georgia, known as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania
Interconnection (AGRI) was “an important” part of discussions. Last
month state energy companies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania agreed
to set up a Bucharest-based joint venture to proceed with the project,
which envisages transportation of about 7 billion cubic meters of
Azerbaijani gas through pipeline to Georgia’s port of Poti and then to
Romanian port of Constanţa via Black Sea on tankers. ...
|
3 Jun. '10 |
USA über die lokalen Wahlen in Georgien: Fortschritte zu int. Standards Echoing
OSCE observation mission’s findings, the U.S. Department of State said
Georgia’s May 30 local elections marked progress towards meeting
international standards for democratic elections. “But we also agree
with the OSCE that significant shortcomings need to be addressed,”
Philip J. Crowley, a spokesman for the Department of State, said on June
2. “We are encouraged by the Central Election Commission’s efforts
to increase transparency and responsiveness to electoral concerns,” he
said. The Central Election Commission (CEC) said on June 2 that
results in five precincts were annulled, because of violations observed
during the vote count in those polling stations and in one case –
precinct in Mestia district - vote summary protocol was missing. CEC has time to approve final vote tally protocol till June 23.
|
3 Jun. '10 |
Alasania
nennt das Wahlergebnis "noch weit entfernt von einem Erfolg, aber
schafft eine Basis für einen Erfolg bei den Parlamentswahlen 2012" Irakli
Alasania, leader of four-party Alliance for Georgia (AFG), said the
local election result was far from being a success for his coalition,
but it created opportunity on which success could be built for 2012
parliamentary elections. "Improvement of the current electoral
environment and winning the parliamentary elections - these are the
issues on which we are now focused," he told Tbilisi-based Maestro TV's
program, Straightforward Conversation, late on June 2. Alasania came second in the Tbilisi mayoral race after the incumbent with 19% of votes. Referring
to President Saakashvili's remarks made earlier on June 2 about the
next elections, Alasania warned the authorities not to try "to tailor
new constitution on thier own interests." President Saakashvili said
at government session: “The nearest elections will not be held within,
at least, two years or even more – I do not know exactly how [new]
constitution will be formulated." "I want to warn the authorities,
that our patience also has limits," Alasania said. "If the authorities
started to tailor the constitution on thier own interests, it will have
irreconcilable response from us, as well as from the international
community." He also said that new constitution should be endorsed
through referendum and the new constitution's "legitimacy will be
doubtful" if it was passed by the sitting parliament. He said that
the results of the local elections took AFG on the top of the opposition
forces making it "a leading opposition force in the country." But
AFG's claims on this status are challenged by Christian-Democratic
Movement (CDM), a leading party in the parliamentary minority. Although
CDM came third in Tbilisi elections with 12% after the ruling party
(52.5%) and AFG (18%), it has out-polled other opposition parties,
including AFG in majority of provincial municipalities. CDM also
received much more votes in large towns - Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and
Poti - than AFG (for details see the results on the map). MP Giorgi Targamadze, the leader of CDM, said after the elections that the results were success for his party. “If
any political organization has a firm ground to talk about success, it
is us, the Christian-Democratic Movement, which gained the firm first
place on the opposition front throughout Georgia,” he said. Alasania,
however, said that his alliance received in the provinces more than he
expected. "It was a surprise for me," he said and added that the
Alliance was making focus mainly on the contest in Tbilisi and it had
not enough financial and human resources to properly campaign in the
regions. In general all the parties were making major focus on the
Tbilisi contest, but the ruling party and CDM carried out more active
campaigning in the regions than any other political party. Alasania
said that as part of preparing for the next elections, his coalition and
in particular his party, Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD), which he
established year ago, would also focus on building party infrastructure
in the regions. He acknowledged that he was a bit disappointed with
voter turnout in Tbilisi, 46.6%, as he expected about 60% or even 65%.
Alasania said that some opposition parties' stance, apparently referring
to those who were boycotting the elections, contributed to "nihilism"
among part of opposition-minded voters. He also said that the major
achievement of the elections was that the developments had eventually
moved "from stone-throwing into political process". "There is no other
alternative rather than elections in order to change the government," he
said.
|
2 Jun. '10 |
Parteigruppierung
"National Council" über die lokalen Wahlen: ... nennenswerte
Verletzungen, Druck auf Wähler, weit entfernt von frei und fair ... National
Council, a coalition uniting Conservative Party, Party of People and
ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia, said local elections
were marred by significant violations including pressure on voters and
the polls could not be considered as free and fair. “Hence, the
National Council is not joining congratulations extended to the ruling
party, because the election results are not based on free choice of the
Georgian citizens,” the National Council said in a statement on June 2. It
also said that the coalition would continue to address violations
observed during the elections through legal means including court
proceedings. The National Council said the opposition’s failure to
unit and challenge the ruling party with united front was “the major
reason” of the opposition’s failure in the local elections. With
slightly over 8%, the National Council was fourth in Tbilisi after the
ruling National Movement party, Alliance for Georgia and
Christian-Democratic Movement. The National Council performed better
in some provincial constituencies. It outpolled other opposition parties
in at least seven provincial constituencies coming second after the
ruling party in Adjara Autonomous Republic’s Kobuleti and Khulo, as well
as in mountainous districts of Dusheti, Kazbegi, Tianeti. According to
the results available as of now, the National Council has cleared 5%
threshold, necessary for endorsing its candidates through party-list,
proportional system in at least 23 municipalities. (For details see the
map of election results). “The National Council does not deem
clearing threshold as a success in the local elections. The only success
in today’s Georgia can be change of the Saakashvili’s regime… The
National Council will continue fight for the change of the Saakashvili
regime and is ready to cooperate with everyone, whose goal is a real
change of these authorities,” the coalition said.
|
2 Jun. '10 |
Litauisches Parlament verurteilt die "Okkupation" von Abchasien und Südossetien in einer neuen Resolution Lithuanian Parliament passed a resolution on June 1 condemning “aggression” and “occupation” parts of Georgian territories by Russia. The
resolution was welcomed in Tbilisi with officials highlighting the fact
that the resolution describes breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
occupied territories. Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, Davit
Bakradze, said that use of term “occupation” in the Lithuanian
Parliament’s resolution “is very important, especially in the view that
it is the Parliament of EU and NATO member country.” “We are very
grateful to our Lithuanian friends,” he said. “We will continue our
efforts directed towards having this term – occupation – mentioned by
the Parliaments of other countries – that means that Russia would
eventually be forced to withdraw from Georgia like it from Eastern
Europe and the Baltic States.” Georgian parliamentary committee for foreign relations has recently sent a letter
to lawmakers from 31 countries requesting to “declare the two Georgian
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian
occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia”. “This
process has started with Lithuania, which is the first European country
to pass such resolution; this is the first and others will follow; I
promise the similar resolutions will be passed by the parliaments of
many countries and even by the European Parliament,” Grigol Vashadze,
the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 2. The European
Parliament last month was considering using term “occupied territories”
in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia in its resolution on South
Caucasus, but the term was removed from the draft and not included in
the final text adopted on May 20.
|
21 May. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili: ‘Wahlen sollten Beispiel sein’ President
Saakashvili said on May 21, that the upcoming local elections should be
“exemplary” as they have huge importance for country’s security. “I
think that we, as the best organized and leading political force in
Georgia, have a double responsibility,” Saakashvili said in televised
remarks made at a meeting with lawmakers from his ruling National
Movement party. “The first is to maintain the existing course of
reforms – despite all difficulties, despite the fact that a new wave of
economic crisis is raging in the world – and to bring the launched work
to the end. And the second is to hold exemplary elections so that nobody
has a reason to put a justified blame on us, as [these local elections]
have a great internal and external political importance in terms of our
security,” he said. “I think that many steps were made forward by
the election commission recently. There is unimaginable accessibility to
media outlets. I do not know any election campaigns in many places of
the world where all parties can talk on all TV channels for so many
hours, where all parties can put their ads on all TV channels, including
unprofitably for these channels, and of course, it has not remained
unnoticed, including for foreign observers.” He criticized opposition for making, as he said, unrealistic election promises of “cosmic scales”. “I
want to call on various political forces for more responsibility. I no
not mean those people, who are openly linked with Georgia’s enemy, with
the occupant of the Georgian territory… Calling them for responsibility
is not our business; I think the society will rule its verdict against
them,” Saakashvili said. “I am talking about those political forces, who
have ambitions that they are participants of Georgia’s internal
political processes, who act in favor of the country’s interests and
observe the rules of the game.” “We also were in the opposition and
you remember that our promises were quite minimalistic because we were
promising only what we thought would be easy to fulfill. And you know
that more has been done then we promised, but our [the ruling party’s
election campaign] slogan says ‘a lot remains to be done’.” “When
[politicians] are in panic because of their decreasing ratings and when
they promise everything – probably they will soon even promise a trip to
the Mars and the Moon – it goes beyond limits. They promise free
healthcare, free medicines, free food, free travel, free life – a
highest level of communism,” Saakashvili said. “Of course, people
live in hardship, but no one should think that it is easy to fool people
if they live in hardship. We have many poor people but we really do not
have uninformed society. Why do they think that our people is so naïve
that they will swallow these [promises].” “The main political capital
of the National Movement, accumulated over these years, is that we will
never give empty promises,” he continued. “It’s Better to promise less
and fulfill more. We should never tell a lie. The key political culture,
which I think, the National Movement has established in Georgia… is
that we always say the truth or at least we do not tell a lie. Nobody
should ever be able to turn a lie into a tool of making politics.” In an apparent reference to Russia, Saakashvili said that “one force and the leadership of one country wants to ruin Georgia.” “But
despite of these attempts we will hold these elections in an organized
way and calmly. We all know that some people will definitely start
shouting in advance that the elections were rigged,” he said. “We
have made election administrations transparent, media outlets and
televisions have become completely available. So, let us make the
election day process transparent for everybody.” He also said it was a
positive trend that “more professional, business-like” political
discussions were ongoing ahead of the elections. “No radicalism is fashionable among politicians,” he said. “It proves that the society has developed and gained experience.”
|
21 May. '10 |
Übersicht zur lokalen Wahl Voters in Georgia will elect 64 new municipal councils in May 30 local elections for a four-year term. The
major focus of the local elections is made on contest in the capital
city, Tbilisi, which will directly elect its mayor for the first time. Outcome
of mayoral contest, as well as of party contest for Tbilisi Sakrebulo
(City Council), in the capital city, where one-third of the country’s
voters are concentrated, is believed to largely determine the country’s
political landscape in run up to presidential elections in 2013, when
Mikheil Saakashvili’s second and final term in office expires. Municipal Councils (Sakrebulo) Formally
there are 69 local municipal councils (Sakrebulo), but authority of
five of them will be automatically prolonged without elections; these
are those five councils, which before the August, 2008 were located in
the Georgian-controlled areas of breakaway Abkhazia (in Kodori gorge)
and South Ossetia (Eredvi, Tigvi, Kurta and Akhalgori). All the Councils are composed through both majoritarian and party-list, proportional system. Proportional Contest The
seats allocated under the proportional system are distributed to the
parties and election blocs, which clear a 5% threshold in provincial
regions. Lower threshold of 4% is set for Tbilisi City Council proportional contest. Number of seats in majority of Councils distributed through proportional system is 10. Exception
is the capital city, where total of 25 proportional seats are for grab
and three other major cities – Kutaisi, Batumi and Rustavi, where 15
seats in each are contested. There are total of 670 proportional seats for grab in all 64 Councils. Majoritarian Contest Number of majoritarian seats varies in various municipal councils, depending on their size. The largest is Tbilisi, where 25 majoritarian seats are for grab (there is total of 50 seats in the Tbilisi City Council). In
Tbilisi total of 228 majoritarian candidates have been nominated by
about dozen of political parties and election blocs. Number of
contenders in each of 25 single-mandate constituencies varies from at
least 7 to 11. Councils of three other major cities – Kutaisi,
Rustavi and Batumi – have 10 majoritarian seats each and there are five
majoritarian seats in Poti. There are total of 1,025 majoritarian seats for grab in all 64 Councils. Mayoral Race Tbilisi is the only city in Georgia where mayor is elected through direct vote. Mayors
of four other major cities – Kutaisi, Rustavi, Batumi and Poti – are
elected by the local municipal Councils. The same rule was applied for
Tbilisi as well, but it was changed as a result of amendments to the
election code in December, 2009. In other provincial municipalities, a
head of district (Gamgebeli as it is called in Georgian) is appointed
through the approval of local Councils. There are nine candidates running for the Tbilisi mayoral office: * Gigi Ugulava, an incumbent Tbilisi mayor, nominated by the ruling party; * Irakli Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia; * Giorgi Chanturia, nominated by Christian-Democratic Movement; * Gogi Topadze, leader of Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists);
* Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party, nominated by a
coalition, which also includes Party of People and ex-PM Zurab
Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia; * Davit Iakobidze, nominated by Democratic Party of Georgia; * Nika Ivanishvili, head nominated by his newly established party Popular Democrats; * Tamaz Vashadze, nominated by Solidarity party; * Giorgi Lagidze, leader of Future Georgia party. A
candidate, who receives no less than 30% votes will be declared winner.
If no one clears the 30% threshold, a run off will take place within a
month between the two candidates who obtain the highest number of votes. Election Administration Central Election Commission (CEC) is the main body administering elections. CEC
is composed of 13 members, including its chairman Zurab Kharatishvili,
who was elected on the post by the Parliament in January, 2010. Seven
members of CEC are from following political parties: ruling National
Movement party; Labor Party (the party boycotts the local elections);
Conservative Party; Industrialists; Republican Party (part of Alliance
for Georgia); On Our Own party and Christian-Democratic Movement – these
two latter parties have formed an election bloc to run in the elections
on a joint ticket. Five remaining CEC members were nominated by the President and appointed by the Parliament. There are 73 District Election Commissions (DEC) – middle-level election administrations. There
are over 3,600 Precinct Election Commissions (PEC), which are the
lowest level of election administrations, but of crucial importance as
they are in charge of administering polling stations and are first
bodies to count votes. Like CEC, each PEC and DEC has 13 members and
distribution of seats in PECs and DECs among the political parties is
similar to the one in CEC.
|
20 May. '10 |
Innenministerium: Sprengfalle verwundet einen Mann an der Verwaltungsgrenze zu Südossetien A
26-year-old Georgian man was badly wounded in what the Georgian
Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said was "a hand-grenade booby trap"
explosion close to the breakaway South Ossetia's administrative border
on May 19. "Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia condemns the fact
of attack on civilian population and calls Russian occupants for
stopping attacks on civilians," the ministry said in a statement. Meanwhile,
the authorities in breakaway region said that they had detained six
Georgian citizens for "violation of the South Ossetian border" on May
18. They also said that two Georgian teenagers were also detained on the
same day for the same reason; they were "warned against the illegal
border crossing" and released, a website of the breakaway region's
authorities reported on May 19.
|
19 May. '10 |
Europäisches Parlament wird Südkaukasus-Resolution diskutieren * ‘Authorities in occupied territories block’ EUMM; * ‘Democratization of paramount importance’ * ‘Clarify situation regarding media ownership’ * ‘Concerned’ over Eutelsat’s decision European Parliament will discuss on May 20 a draft resolution on EU’s strategy for South Caucasus three countries. The
draft resolution, which addresses conflicts, human rights and
democratization as well as economic issues of the region, in respect of
Georgia calls for EU’s “further engagement” in order to secure “full
implementation” of ceasefire agreements. The document, which condemns
Russia’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, says that “Russia
and the de facto authorities of the occupied territories, which are
under Russian effective control, are blocking” full implementation of a
mandate by EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia, which is not able to access
the breakaway regions. The draft “calls for increased EU action to
persuade Russia and the relevant de facto authorities to stop blocking
the EUMM from entering South Ossetia and Abkhazia.” According to the
draft resolution retaining of the status quo in the conflicts “bears the
constant risk of an escalation of tensions and a resumption of armed
hostilities.” It welcomes a report by EU-funded fact-finding mission
on August war, led by Heidi Tagliavini, and says it expects extensive
background information provided by the report “can be used for legal
proceedings at the International Criminal Court and by individual
citizens as regards infringements of the European Convention on Human
Rights.” The draft resolution also says that isolation of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia is “counterproductive” and in this context welcomes
the Georgian government’s strategy for engagement with the breakaway
regions. The draft resolution recommends for setting up of
“Conference on Security and Cooperation in the South Caucasus” with the
view to develop a Stability Pact for the South Caucasus. The document
stresses that “democratisation, good governance, political pluralism,
the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms are of paramount
importance” for determining EU’s future relations with Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia. It says that EU funding and assistance to the
region should be carried out based on the principle of conditionality
and calls on the European Commission to ensure that the commitments by
the Georgian government “to inject new momentum into democratic reforms”
are respected. It also “warns against the possibility for
governments to misuse conflicts to distract the interest of the
international community from domestic issues.” The draft resolution
calls on the Georgian authorities “to clarify the situation regarding
media ownership and the granting of media licences.” It also “notes the
initiative of the Georgian Parliament to extend the Public Broadcaster
Board to include more opposition and civil society representatives and
expects results in this respect.” The document expresses European
Parliament’s concern over “refusal” of Europe’s leading satellite
operator, Eutelsat, to host the Georgian Public Broadcaster’s
Russian-language First Caucasian Channel. “This refusal appears to be
politically motivated… This refusal leaves de facto satellite
transmission monopoly over the regional Russian-speaking audience to
[Moscow-based] Intersputnik and its main client, Gazprom Media Group,”
the document says, adding that ”it is of the utmost importance that in a
democratic and pluralistic society the airing of independent media is
not impeded.”
|
19 May. '10 |
US-Senator McCain kritisiert Präsident Obama bezüglich Georgien Republican
Senator John McCain criticized the Obama administration saying that
support for liberty and human rights is "mostly missing" from the U.S.
foreign policy and as one of the examples, among others, the Senator
brought situation in Georgia vis-à-vis Russia. "Not only are Russian
forces still occupying sovereign Georgian territory; they are digging in
their military presence. But last week, the President resubmitted to
Congress a civil-nuclear agreement with Russia, stating, and I quote,
‘the situation in Georgia is no longer an obstacle...’ And some wonder
why the Georgians feel that Washington is selling them out to Moscow as
the price of our ‘hitting the reset button’," Senator McCain, who
visited Georgia this January, told a conference at the Nixon Center,
according to his prepared remarks. After the August, 2008 war between
Georgia and Russia, the Bush administration froze nuclear treaty with
Russia, citing that Russia's actions were "incompatible with peaceful
relations with its sovereign and democratic neighbor, Georgia." On
May 10, in a message to the Congress requesting for the support to this
treaty with Russia, President Obama said that he had reviewed the
situation and concluded, that "the situation in Georgia need no longer
be considered an obstacle to proceeding with the proposed Agreement." "The
sad thing is, it’s not just the Georgians. Ask the Poles, or the
Czechs, or others in central Europe, and you’ll hear the same anxiety
about American abandonment," Senator McCain said. In the context of
the Obama administration's stance on Syria and Lebanon, McCain said:
"There is nothing wrong with engagement, but it’s a tactic, not a
foreign policy, and we should never give the impression that engagement
with our enemies comes at the expense of the sovereignty and
independence of our friends." On May 15 The Washington Post ran an
op-ed under the headline "U.S. Abandoning Russia's Neighbors" by David
J. Kramer, who is a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the
United States and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for
European and Eurasian affairs in the George W. Bush administration. "The
administration seems to have moved toward a "Russia only" approach,
neglecting and even abandoning other countries in the region," he wrote
and suggested that "the most glaring example of this trend" was
President Obama's message to the Congress. "It would be one thing to
resubmit the... treaty noting that the United States still has serious
disagreements with Russia over Georgia. Instead, by stating so baldly
that the situation in Georgia is no longer an obstacle to advancing
Russian-American relations, the administration is essentially abandoning
the Georgians and giving Russia a green light to continue to engage in
provocative behavior along its borders," David J. Kramer wrote. On
May 18 the issue was further discussed in a piece published on the
Huffington Post by Moscow-based TIME Magazine reporter, Simon Shuster,
under the headline "Obama's Betrayal of Georgia Kind of Makes Sense". In
the article the author, who interviewed President Saakashvili and some
of his advisors more than a month ago, discusses the issue in the
context of Georgia's internal developments, making focus on President
Saakashvili's personality and looking into his alleged role in Imedi
TV's notorious fake news report, suggesting that "Saakashvili showed
himself to be impulsive, even erratic, and a dangerous partner for the
United States."
|
18 May. '10 |
Präsident Medvedev: Russland will die Schwarzmeerflotte nicht gegen Nachbarn einsetzen Russia
is “a peaceful country” and has no intention to use its Black Sea
fleet, based in Ukraine’s Sevastopol, against “adjacent states”, Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev said. "Will Russia use its Black Sea fleet
to attack adjacent states? No, it will not," Medvedev said while
speaking at the Kiev State University on May 18. Russia used part of
its Sevastopol-based Black Sea fleet, including flagship, guided missile
cruiser Moskva, during the August, 2008 war with Georgia. In what
appeared to be an allusion to U.S. warships’ regular port calls to
Georgia, Medvedev said visits of “foreign ships” in Black Sea were
source of concern. “It strains us – and I know it also strains Turks –
when foreign ships, which have nothing to do with our Black Sea basin,
come and demonstrate something,” he said. “You know various
developments took place, including grave ones – there was Caucasian
crisis in 2008 [reference to Georgia-Russia war]; so more the situation
is stable in the Black Sea basin, it’s better for everyone, including
for NATO,” Medvedev said and added that it was the main reason behind
the prolongation of an agreement with Ukraine on Russian navy base in
Sevastopol. He also said that main guarantee that Russia would not
use its Black Sea fleet against neighbors was “system of international
relations, including our commitments within UN, as well as commitments
under the international conventions, including under the Helsinki Final
Act of 1975”. “Will we ignore the international law? Of course we
will not, because it’s not favorable for Russia. Russia is a huge
country, which has multiple interests and it will affect us if we start
dropping out from the international community,” Medvedev added.
|
17 May. '10 |
Georgien in den Vorschlägen für NATO’s Strategisches Konzept NATO
enlargement for states, which have expressed desire to join the
alliance, “should move forward as each state fulfils the requirements
for membership,” says a report by a group of experts, which lays out
proposals for NATO’s strategic concept for next decade. Recommendations
were developed by a group of 12 top experts, led by former U.S.
Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who presented the report to NATO
officials in Brussels on May 17. The part of the report under
subtitle “Partnership with Georgia and Ukraine” says that “one of the
major failures of NATO’s partnership structure” was the August, 2008
between Russia and Georgia. It says that NATO’s channels of
communication with these two countries through NATO-Georgia Commission
and NATO-Ukraine Commission “are excellent.” “The Allies should make
regular use of the NATO-Ukraine and NATO-Georgia commissions to discuss
mutual security concerns and to foster practical cooperation, including
on defence reforms. The clearer NATO articulates its position to the
partners and the more accurately it can assess their perceptions, the
more adept the Allies will be at defusing crises and building trust,”
the report reads. “The Allies should also employ NATO’s crisis
management mechanisms, in association with the partnership commissions,
to assess and monitor security developments affecting these two
countries,” it says. The expert group’s report will provide the basis
for discussions at NATO's summit in Lisbon in November, which is
expected to approve the alliance’s updated strategic concept.
|
16 May. '10 |
Die Kirche fordert ein "Gesetz gegen Unanständigkeit" und welches "religiöse Gefühle" verteidigt The
Georgian Orthodox Church called on the authorities on May 15 "to
promptly" adopt a law, which would "defend religious feelings" and
"defend population from indecency". The Georgian Patriarchate said in
the statement that "struggle against national values, as well as
against the Georgian Orthodox Church is ongoing for several years
already" and "the recent presentation of 'book' was part of the new plan
developed for that purpose." The book, which the statement refers to
and which is put in scare quotes, is Saidumlo Siroba - the name is a
wordplay on the Georgian for Last Supper and its most widespread
translation now is "Holy Crap". Presentation of the highly-provocative
book, written by a 20-year-old author, Erekle Deisadze, was held in
Tbilisi-based Ilia State University in mid-April. Less than three week
later, on May 3, a hardline Orthodox Christian groups, including Union
of Orthodox Christian Parents, rallied outside the university condemning
the book and demanding resignation of Ilia State University's rector,
Gigi Tevzadze, who they claimed was promoting "anti-Orthodox ideology"
by allowing to hold the book's promotional presentation in the
university building. Next day a small group of campaigners held a
demonstration - a counter-rally to the previous day's protest, under the
slogans "Freedom of Speech" and "No to Fascism". The May 4 rally,
however, was disrupted by hardline Orthodox Christian groups, which
verbally and then physically assaulting demonstrators. A similar
incident of smaller scale again took place outside the same university
few days later and the the row eventually culminated into a fistfight
during a live on-air talk show on Tbilisi-based Kavkasia TV late on May
7. The Georgian Orthodox Church kept silence on the matter throughout
these weeks. The first indication of its position, however, came just
two days after the incident in Kavkasia TV, when Patriarch of the
Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, awarded one of the priests, who is
regarded as a spiritual leader of Union of Orthodox Christian Parents.
The same priest was among those several clergies, who made their way
into the Kavkasia TV studio together with several supporters, when the
station’s talk show was on air, shortly after the fistfight erupted
outside the TV studio. In the statement released on May 15, the
Patriarchate, however, also says that "not a single Orthodox
organization is established upon the initiative of the Patriarchate." The
Patriarchate also said in the statement that the incident in Kavkasia
TV was also part of provocation against the Church. Although the
Patriarchate itself did not put a blame on the TV station on stirring up
the fistfight, but these allegations were voiced towards the station by
priests, who are behind Union of Orthodox Christian Parents. "Attempts
are being made today to redirect all the public attention on the
confrontation, which took place in Kavkasia TV, while less is being
spoken about the reasons, which triggered this [incident]," the Georgian
Orthodox Church said in the statement. "Physical confrontation in fact
was triggered by moral and psychological violence, expressed through
publishing of and direct or indirect support to the book." "We
believe that there is no need to start claiming, that based on Christian
morality, the Georgian Church will never support violence, no matter
from whom it might be coming." "The Church aspires and advocates for
mutual understanding, unity and peace (our commitment towards these
principles have been demonstrated for number of times in recent
history), but the Church can not support propaganda of immorality,
indecency, licentiousness and satanism. Of course we do respect and
share democratic values, but it is also a fact that freedom does not
mean to have the right for everything. That is why in almost all the
traditional European countries freedom of expression and the right to
dignity are equally protected." "For that reason it is universally
recognized that freedom of expression ends where violation of rights of
others starts and that the freedom of speech does not mean the right for
provoking strife and confrontation, the right for insulting the Church
and religious feelings and [the right] for humiliating the state
symbols," the statement reads. It also says that the entire row over
the book was staged with the author being "a blind weapon, implementing
orders" from others in order "to provoke" a harsh reaction from
believers and to then "strike directly" the Church. "This 'book' and
its presentation were a bait, a trap, which was further demonstrated in
consequent developments. For that reason the Patriarchate did not get
involved in the debates and called on the population for restraint," the
Patriarchate said. "Now, when emotions have relatively simmered down
and people are capable to act more intelligibly, we believe that we are
obliged to warn the authorities and the society about the threat, which
the current approach towards this matter poses: if religious feelings
of absolute majority are insulted like this (appealing the court can not
compensate degree of moral damage) in the country, which is already in a
difficult situation, there is no guarantee that external or internal
enemy will not use this situation and through persons like Deisadze will
deliberately insult feelings of followers of other religions, which may
serve as a reason for civil confrontation, leading to irreparable
consequences." "For that reason we appeal the authorities to give a
real assessment to what has happened and to promptly adopt a law, which
will appropriately defend population from indecency, defend dignity and
religious feelings of the society and of a person. By doing that we will
protect peace and welfare of citizens of our country," the statement
reads. Georgia decriminalized defamation in 2004. It was made subject
to civil action and the burden of proof was placed on the plaintiff.
|
13 May. '10 |
EU-Kommissar Štefan Füle sagt, dass Georgien sich dem EU-Partnerschaftsprogramm voll verpflichtet habe Štefan
Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood
policy, said on May 12 he had witnessed in Tbilisi Georgia’s full
commitment to take up opportunities offered by EU through its Eastern
Partnership and European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). Füle, who visited
Georgia in early April, however, also said that some of the ideas of
“ultra-liberal economic environment” in Georgia were not in line with
“pillars” of EU-Georgia future partnership. “We had discussion [in
Tbilisi] on what it means to be fully involved in the Eastern
Partnership and to use fully the instruments being offered through the
Eastern Partnership; here I am talking about Association Agreement, Deep
and Comprehensive Free Trade Area [DCFTA] and the Mobility
[Partnership],” Füle said. “I think we were able to explain them [the
Georgian authorities] that, particularly these first two [Association
Agreement and DCFTA] pillars of our future partnership require a full
engagement from them [the Georgian authorities] and it might not be
fully compatible with some of the ideas of ultra-liberal economic
environment to be created in Georgia,” he said. Füle said that during
meeting with senior Georgian officials in Tbilisi he had witnessed “a
full commitment” that the Georgian authorities would fulfill set of
measures, which were required for launching talks on DCFTA and
Association Agreement. He was speaking at a news conference after
presenting a review of European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), launched in
2004. The progress reports released on May 12 about fulfillment of
commitments by ENP participant countries also includes Georgia. The
progress report on Georgia, among other issues, also says that starting
from second half of 2009 Tbilisi “showed determination to fulfil key
EU's recommendations” required for starting negotiations with EU on
DCFTA. “As a result, some progress was achieved, notably the
preparation of the first drafts of the necessary strategic reform
plans,” the report says. During the press conference, Füle said that
this year countries in ENP would receive total of EUR 1,6 billion of
targeted assistance this year and funding would increase to EUR 2
billion in 2013. He said the biggest funding increases would be
allocated for Morocco, Moldova and Ukraine – the states he described as
“the most engaged partners in European Neighborhood Policy cooperation.” “Higher
our partners ambitions – the stronger our response. Partners like
Morocco, Moldova and Ukraine have immediately realized the potential for
closer relations and are making significant use of [European
Neighborhood] Policy. Others have taken up some elements of the offer
immediately, but are reluctant on others. The Policy allows for that
flexibility,” the EU commissioner said. “Protracted conflicts,” he said, continued to hinder security and economic growth of EU’s neighborhood.
|
12 May. '10 |
EU-Fortschrittsbericht zu Georgiens Europäischer Nachbarschaftspolitik(ENP)-Aktionsplan Georgien
machte 2009 in allen Gebieten Fortschritte, es bleiben aber
Herausforderungen bezüglich der Konsolidierung der demokratischen
Institutionen. In overall Georgia made progress in the implementation
of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan priorities
throughout 2009, but challenges remain in consolidation of democratic
institutions, according EU report released on May 12. The document
reports on progress made in the implementation of Georgia’s commitments
undertaken under the EU-Georgia ENP Action Plan and it covers 2009. Report
notes progress in areas such as rule of law, reform of the justice
system, fight against petty corruption, trade facilitation and
improvement of business climate. “Georgia will need to continue its
democratic reform efforts and consolidation of democratic institutions,
especially political pluralism and media freedom,” the report reads.
“Other major future challenges include poverty reduction, employment and
social policies, agricultural development including sanitary and
phytosanitary issues and civil service reform.” The report says that
“polarisation of political life” remains “a serious obstacle to genuine
political reform and inclusiveness.” The document says that the May
30 local elections will be “an important indicator” of progress on
implementation of Georgia’s international recommendations, as well as a
test for the reformed election code, which was emended by the Parliament
in December, 2009. “The amended code does not adequately address potential abuse of administrative resources during elections,” the report says. On
last year’s lengthy street protest rallies by the opposition, report
notes about low profile, which the authorities kept “marking progress
from similar events in 2007”, when hundreds were injured after riot
police dispersed anti-government demonstrations. The report, however,
also notes about the cases of attacks on opposition activists, which
“were not thoroughly investigated by the government and no perpetrators
were identified or brought to justice.” “During the demonstrations
some political opponents were arrested and sentenced on alleged
politically motivated charges. Thorough investigation of all these
alleged crimes and charges would be a solid indicator of the improved
independence of the judiciary,” the report says. The report says that
although the Parliament “took careful note” of the Public Defender’s
reports in 2009, “the real impact indicator of the Public Defender’s
Office will be the actual implementation of the Ombudsman's
recommendations by the relevant government bodies.” According to the
report overcrowding in prisons remain among areas of concern and it also
criticizes amendment of the code of administrative violations made in
July, 2009, which increased administrative imprisonment from 30 to 90
days. The amendment “is not fully in compliance with international human
rights standards,” the report reads. On media, the report says that
broadcasters remain “an issue of major concern.” “The television
environment is reported to be highly polarised and biased,” the document
reads. It also notes problems with lack of transparency in respect of
broadcast media ownership. The report says that granting of nation-wide
satellite broadcasting to TV stations (it Tbilisi-based Maestro TV,
which obtained such license) “only had a limited impact, since the high
prices of satellite licenses constitute a problem for opposition-minded
TV channels which struggle for funding and revenues from
advertisements.” The report notes Georgia’s “determination to fulfil
key EU's recommendations” on Tbilisi’s preparedness for starting
negotiations with EU on deep and comprehensive free trade agreement. “As
a result, some progress was achieved, notably the preparation of the
first drafts of the necessary strategic reform plans,” the report says.
|
12 May. '10 |
Der
50-sitzige Stadtradt von Tbilisi wird mit Kandidaten aus jetzt 25
Bezirken mehrheitlich und 25 Kandidaten über die Parteilisten
proportional gewählt Im Artikel ist eine Liste der Kandidaten für die Stadtbezirke angehängt. 50-seat
Tbilisi City Council will consist of 25 members elected through
party-list, proportional system and another 25 members elected from the
capital city’s single-mandate, majoritarian constituencies. Previously
existing ten constituencies in the capital city were divided into
smaller ones so to match a total number of 25. Only three constituencies
(Mtatsminda, Krtsanisi and Chukhureti) remain in their previous
electoral borders. Total of 228 majoritarian candidates have been
nominated by about dozen of political parties and election blocs with
number of contenders in each constituency varying from at least 7 to 11. Candidates
are elected based on winner-takes-all system, wherein a contender
receiving more votes than others is declared an outright winner.
|
11 May. '10 |
Staatskommission für konstitutionelle Reformen stimmt einem Entwurf zu, der als Basis für eine neue Verfassung dienen soll State commission on constitutional reform agreed on May 11 on a draft, which should serve as a basis for the new constitution. If
approved the draft, which has yet to face multiple discussions, will
significantly increase Prime Minister’s powers at the expense of the
presidential authority. The draft, which was passed at a commission
meeting with 31 votes to 10, is co-authored by the commission chairman,
Avtandil Demetrashvili, a former chair of the Constitutional Court and
commission secretary Tengiz Sharmanashvili of the National-Democratic
Party. Authors of the draft describe it as "a mixed governance" where
the President will act as "an arbiter" between the legislative body and
executive government, led by Prime Minister elected from the ranks of a
party, which will garner most of the votes in the parliamentary
elections.. Avtandil Demetrashvili, the chairman of the commission
said that the draft, would be sent for expertise to Venice Commission,
an advisory body of Council of Europe on constitutional and legal
matter. He also said that the draft, which will be sent to Venice
Commission, would include a provision saying that the document would go
into force after 2013 presidential election. President According
to the draft, the President will no longer direct and exercise domestic
and foreign policy of the state - as the current constitution says. This
authority will be delegated to PM and the government, according the
draft. President will remain the head of state, a commander-in-chief and supreme representative in foreign relations. According to the draft, President appoints Prime Minister after the latter and the ministers are approved by the Parliament. At
the same time, President will no longer have the right to unilaterally
dismiss the government or to appoint and dismiss so called
power-wielding ministers - Minister of Defense and Interior, as well as
an exclusive right to supervise them, as it is envisaged by the current
constitution. President will have the right to convene the government’s session only if the case concerns special importance. While
currently the Parliament approves ambassadorial nominations proposed by
the President, in the proposed draft it will up to the government to
nominate ambassadors, which will be then appointed by President. The
draft also lifts the right of the President to give a consent to the
government over submitting a draft of state budget to the Parliament,
hence the entire budgetary process will be up to the government and the
Parliament. The President will not also have the right either to suspend or cancel legal acts issued by the government. Prime
Minister will have the right to attest legal acts issued by the
President. However, this right by Prime Minister will not apply to a
presidential acts concerning a decision to dissolve the Parliament;
calling elections; appointing the members of the National Security
Council, chief of staff of the armed forces. Government According
to the draft, the government will become the supreme body of the
executive branch, which directs and executes the country’s foreign and
domestic policy and which is accountable before the Parliament. Prime
Minister has the right to appoint and dismisses other members of the
government. His resignation will automatically lead to the resignation
of the government. According to the draft, the government’s powers
will be suspended as soon the mandate of newly-elected Parliament is
approved, and not upon electing a new President, as it is envisaged by
the current constitution. According to the draft, new government will
be composed by the party with the best results in the newly-elected
Parliament. In particular, President will nominate a candidate, who will
be proposed by the party, which will garner most of the votes in the
elections. The prime ministerial candidate will himself select the
ministers and submit them to the Parliament for approval along with the
governmental program. Parliament The draft envisages fewer changes
in respect of the legislative body. Unlike the initial draft, the one
which was passed by the commission on May 11, the legislative body will
remain with a single chamber. The initial draft envisaged two-chamber
parliament. The draft gives the right to the Parliament to overcome a
presidential veto with majority vote, instead of currently needed
support of two-third of its members. However, this provision will not
apply constitutional draft laws. According to the draft, one fifth of
lawmakers, instead of current one fourth, will be able to initiate
setting up of parliamentary investigative commission or other type of ad
hoc commission. The Parliament will have the right to scrutinize
state expenditures, but it won't have the right to amend the state
budget without the government's consent, according to the draft. Other Provisions In
other proposals of the draft, if approved age requirement of judges
will increase from current 28 to 30 and their term in office will only
expire after reaching a pension age.. According to the draft, a person, who has a dual citizenship, cannot hold a senior position in the government. The
draft envisages complicated procedures for amending the constitution
and amending of a fundamental provisions of the constitution will
require approval of a sitting and then of a new Parliament, according to
the proposed draft. The draft was passed by the commission with the
view that it further requires additional considerations and discussions.
It may also face some significant amendments. Some of the ruling party
lawmakers, who are members of the commission, refused to support this
draft, including parliamentary majority leader Petre Tsiskarishvili.
Pavle Kublashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee for legal
affairs, however, voted for the draft. Members of the commission from
the parliamentary opposition supported the draft. Non-parliamentary
opposition refused to join the commission, when it was established ten
months ago. At a meeting with state commission chairman, Avtandil
Demetrashvili, in June, 2009, President Saakashvili said that Georgia
should have the constitution “relevant to the Georgian reality and with
democratic and European spirit.” “Of course we need a strong
parliament, of course we need an effective president and of course we
need independent judiciary and of course people’s control over these
[branches],” Saakashvili said.
|
11 May. '10 |
Watchdog’s
Beobachterbericht zum bisherigen Wahlkampf liegt vor: bisher weniger
Verstösse als bei den vorgezogenen Präsidentschaftswahlen 2008, aber
"... das allgemeine Bild ist noch weit von positiv entfernt ..." Violations
during the campaign ahead of the May 30 local elections have, so far,
been fewer, than during the 2008 early presidential and parliamentary
ballots, Transparency International-Georgia said in its recent report. “However,
the general picture is still far from positive,” the watchdog said in
the report on monitoring the use of administrative resources, released
on May 11. TI-Georgia said that its recent report makes focus on the
four main types of administrative resources: "coercive, financial,
material-technical and human." The first report on monitoring of misuse
of administrative resources, released late in March, focused on, what
the watchdog said, was election-related increase of funds for local
self-governance bodies. According to the recent report instances of
pressure on voters and opposition activists “are the most alarming
matter” with such cases more common in the regions. In one case,
reported in the document, on May 3 the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti governor,
Zaza Gorozia, and high-ranking officer from the local police
department, as well as the Mestia majoritarian MP, the head of Mestia
administration, the Financial Police regional chief and other
representatives of the authorities, accompanied by a special unit of the
police, summoned the Freedom Party’s candidates (both majoritarian and
those from the party list) to the administration building between 10
p.m. and 3 a.m. and “forced them to withdraw from the elections.” In
one case in Ozurgeti, according to the report, families of prisoners
were subject of pressure. It says that in April, a representative of
local government asked families of prisoners to collect signatures along
with personal identification numbers and other personal information of
up to 500 supporters of the ruling National Movement party for release
of their relatives from prison. In April, the government established
an inter-agency group to interact with election watchdogs and other
stakeholders in order to ensure that elections are held “in the most
transparent and fair environment.” On May 8 the group met with four
election watchdog groups and received information about the violations
these groups recorded. “The members of the [government’s inter-agency]
Group took note of violations and promised to react immediately,”
TI-Georgia said.
|
11 May. '10 |
Eine Umfrage zur Bürgermeisterwahl sieht Ugulava mit 57% weit vor seinen Rivalen An
incumbent Tbilisi mayor is far better positioned for re-election in May
30 local elections than any of his rival, leading the race with 57%,
according to the leaked polls conducted last month by CRRC for U.S.
National Democratic Institute (NDI). The segment of the public
opinion survey, which deals with ratings of political parties and
candidates, was carried out as part of a comprehensive survey of voters;
but while other segments of the survey were made public by NDI last
week, the part involving political ratings were made available only to
the parties –usual practice by NDI and U.S. International Republican
Institute (IRI) in Georgia. Also as usually the political ratings are
then leaked to the national TV stations by political parties themselves,
in particular, presumably, by the ruling party. The same was the case
with this recent poll with national television stations reporting the
findings and the public broadcaster showing slides from NDI survey. NDI office in Tbilisi has tacitly confirmed the accuracy of the TV reports about the poll results. According
to the poll conducted in a period between April 11 and April 26, 57% of
respondents in Tbilisi said the ruling party’s mayoral candidate was
their first choice (9% - second choice); followed by leader of Alliance
for Georgia Irakli Alasania – first choice 7% (12% - second choice). 15%
of respondents said they do not know who will be their first choice as a
mayor and 33% - second choice. 6% (first choice) refused to answer and
12% in case of second choice. Industrialist Party leader and beer
magnate, Gogi Topadze, has 5% (second choice 10%) and
Christian-Democratic Movement’s candidate Giorgi Chanturia – 4% (second
choice – 9%).
|
10 May. '10 |
Öffentliches Fernsehen beauftragt das Marktforschungsunternehmen GfK aus Nürnberg mit den Hochrechnungen für den Wahlausgang Georgian
Public Broadcaster (GPB) said on May 10 it had hired Nuremberg-based
GfK Group to conduct exit polls for Tbilisi mayoral race in the May 30
local elections. Gia Chanturia, general director of GPB, said GfK,
the world’s one of the largest market research companies, would
administer exit polls at about 50 polling stations in Tbilisi and “about
30,000 voters will be interviewed.” “We have requested GfK not to
involve in the process any of the polling firms in Georgia… By doing so,
I think, we have further underlined that this company will act
maximally independently,” Chanturia said. Two other Georgian TV
stations with nationwide broadcasting, Rustavi 2 and Imedi, announced on
April 28 that they had jointly hired U.S. polling firm, Edison
Research, to conduct exit polls in Tbilisi for the May 30 local
elections.
Die GfK ist
eines der größten Marktforschungsunternehmen der Welt und
beschäftigt über 10.000 Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter. Aus über
100 Ländern liefern unsere 150 operativen Unternehmen das Wissen zu
Märkten und Branchen, das unsere Kunden für ihre Entscheidungen
brauchen. Der Hauptsitz der GfK Gruppe ist Nürnberg.
|
9 May. '10 |
Premierminister Putin äußert sich in Moskau zu Georgien anläßlich des 65.Siegestages zum Ende des 2.Weltkrieges In
Anwesenheit der Russland nahestehenden Oppositionspolitiker Nino
Burjanadze und Zurab Nogaideli sagt Putin, dass Russland zu einem Dialog
mit "konstruktiven, politischen Kräften" in Georgien bereit sei. Russia's PM, Vladimir Putin, said on May 8 that Moscow was ready for dialogue with "constructive political forces" in Georgia. He
was speaking at a ceremony of laying the stone for World War II
memorial in Moscow, designed to replicated the one which was blown up by
the Georgian authorities in Kutaisi in December. Nino Burjanadze,
ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of Democratic Movement-United
Georgia party and Zurab Nogaideli, former PM and now leader of Movement
for Fair Georgia party, were standing beside Putin at the ceremony along
with speaker of Russian State Duma, Boris Gryzlov and Moscow Mayor,
Yuri Luzhkov. "Representatives of the Georgian society are here at
this ceremony. It is very important for us. It is very important that we
are together today, that cultural, humanitarian, spiritual ties are not
suspended," Putin said. "I believe that new, good page of
Russian-Georgian relations will be opened. We are ready to have a
dialogue with all the constructive political forces in Georgia, who
aspire genuine partnership with Russia. We will definitely restore this
partnership," He also said it was "a political vandalism" to destroy
the memorial in Kutaisi; the footage of blowing up of the memorial was
screened at the ceremony. "Blowing up of the memorial was one of the most heinous examples of barbarism," Putin said.
|
9 May. '10 |
Fünf Tbilisi-Bürgermeisterkandidaten setzen sich in Fernsehdebatte auseinander Five
main Tbilisi mayoral candidates discussed employment, social, city
infrastructure and communal tariffs during the first and only live TV
debates on Saturday, three week before the local elections. Incumbent
Tbilisi mayor, Gigi Ugulava; leader of Alliance for Georgia Irakli
Alasania; Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party, nominated by
National Council coalition; Giorgi Chanturia, nominated by
Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM) and Gogi Topadze, leader of
Industrialists Party participated in the 90-minute debates, hosted by
the Georgian Public Broadcaster. In thier opening remarks, for which
the each candidate was given two minutes, contenders mainly focused on
issues which they prioritize in thier election campaign. Giorgi
Chanturia, who opened the debates, said the country was in "deep
economic crisis" and "I came here to try to convince you that
implementation of anti-crisis program is required, pillar of which is
employment and low [communal] tariffs." Zviad Dzidziguri, whose
three-party coalition also includes Party of People and ex-PM Zurab
Nogaideli's Movement for Fair Georgia, unlike other candidates, targeted
personally President Saakashvili during the debates for number of
times. In his opening remarks Dzidziguri started by saying "strange
things are happening in this beautiful country" and added that President
Saakashvili was already for a month in foreign trips. "He arrived back
[from the U.S.] only for two days... and after that again left the
country; yesterday he was in Vatican and today he is in Costa Rica and
we do not know where he will go tomorrow," he said. Dzidziguri also said
that voters are told by the government that Georgia is a better country
now than it was five years ago. "But I ask: why more territories have
been lost and why do we have more displaced persons and why the
country's security is in worse situation than it was previously?" "We
should change this government through election; so everyone who do not
like this government should come and cast ballot to the opposition," he
added. Incumbent mayor, Gigi Ugulava, echoing the ruling party's
campaign slogans, said in his opening remarks that "Tbilisi is a better
city, than it was five years ago." "But we all agree that a lot still
remains to be done, especially in terms of employment," Ugulava said and
then listed some of the Tbilisi municipality's projects, which he said,
aimed at creating additional jobs. Irakli Alasania, leader of a
four-party opposition Alliance for Georgia, who is considered to be
Ugulava's main rival, told the viewers in his opening remarks that "the
most important thing that needs to be done is to overcome hopelessness." "This election is an opportunity to change your future and you should be active and come at polling stations," Alasania said. Gogi
Topadze, a beer magnate, said in his opening remarks that the Tbilisi
municipality was implementing many "inappropriate" and costly projects.
"I do not like today's Tbilisi; I live in this city for seventy years
and I do remember better Tbilisi," Topadze said. Employment How
the candidates plan to resolve unemployment problem was the first of
four questions asked to each participant. The candidates were given two
minutes each to answer each of the four questions and then they had an
additional one minute for rebuttal remarks. Zviad Dzidziguri, who
was the first to answer the question on unemployment problem, said the
National Council was the only political force having plan to resolve
this issue. "We state that through a dialogue with Russia, Russian
market will reopen for the Georgian products; railway, sea and air
communication will resume and people will be employed," Dzidziguri said
adding that Georgia should resolve its territorial and security problems
through a dialogue with Russia. "Those who will support the National
Council, will also support launch of a dialogue with Russia on these
issues... Otherwise this country has no prospects for creating jobs." He
also said on the matter that measures should be implemented to protect
local producers from importers, especially in the field of agriculture. Gigi
Ugulava told the viewers that unemployment was the number one problem.
He named several projects, which the Tbilisi municipality launched last
year - the one is 'Old Tbilisi's New Life', being implemented in
cooperation with banking sector and real estate developments in an
attempt to stimulate construction and banking sectors on the one hand
and on the other hand to resettle people from crumbling old houses in
Old Tbilisi. Two other project named by Ugulava, which he said, were
aimed at addressing unemployment problem was free-of-charge computer and
English-language courses for Tbilisites and the project through which
the Tbilisi municipality provides soft loans for small businesses. He
also said that it was more important "to look for new export markets"
rather than to resort to protectionism and "to close down borders". Irakli
Alasania said the authorities' "wrong policies" and "pressure on
business" should be blamed for the fact that "almost half of Tbilisi
population is unemployed". Alasania then laid out briefly his
election program envisaging setting up of GEL 120 million municipal fund
to provide soft loans to help with start-up and expansion of small and
medium businesses. He said that this plan will help to employ 50,000
Tbilisites in one year period. He also pledged to establish a business
ombudsman institution. He also said that the authorities failed to
keep thier promise to help create new jobs. "No jobs are being created
and the major problem is that there is no institutional guarantee for
protection of business and there is no free judiciary," Alasania said. Gogi
Topadze, who is an owner of beer and beverage-producing company,
Kazbegi, said that he had already contributed to creation of jobs
through his factories and added "I know how to make it." He also said
that he was in favor of protectionist approach in order to help the
local production. Topadze added that Tbilisi mayor's position was
influential enough to successful lobby for protectionist legislation and
measures. CDM mayoral candidate, Giorgi Chanturia, told the viewers
he was glad that his campaign slogan "Employment and law [communal]
tariffs" became part of election programs of other mayoral candidates.
He then laid out in brief his major election campaign promise to
significantly cut gas and electricity tariffs and to make water
consumption free of charge, saying that it will reduce production cost
for industries and businesses, paving the way for creation of jobs. The
issue of communal tariffs was discussed in more details later during the
debates, when a separate question on the matter was asked to the
candidates. Infrastructure Development Second question asked to
the candidates was about thier vision on Tbilisi's infrastructure
development. The incumbent mayor told viewers that construction of new
roads and rebuilding old ones, as well as other major infrastructure
projects, including the one envisaging to divert railway traffic from
the city center, would eventually help to develop business and to create
more jobs. Irakli Alasania said: "What is now happening in Tbilisi is a violence on the capital city and urban chaos." "There
is no strategic vision on how the city should develop. One of the first
things when we come into the city administration will be to present
this vision on which the city's strategic development plan will be
based," he said. He also criticized the city authorities for non-transparent implementation of various infrastructure projects. Gogi Topadze criticized the city authorities for irrational spending and planning. Giorgi
Chanturia said that each and every project should undergo public
scrutiny and broad discussion with professional prior to thier
launching. Zviad Dzidziguri said: "Tbilisi today is Potemkin Village.
Only those places were made beautiful, where Saakashvili goes... It
depends on one man's [referring to the President] whim what should be
built and where... But the problem is that he [Saakashvili] has no good
taste." He also targeted Ugulava's remarks by saying that all the
infrastructure projects implemented in Tbilisi had nothing to do with
creating jobs. "It's about corruption and it's waste of money,"
Dzidziguri said. Social Problems Irakli Alasania said on the
matter that affordable healthcare was not available for 80% of Tbilisi
residents. He then laid out briefly the Alliance for Georgia's
healthcare projects involving increase of sector's funding up to GEL 117
million in the capital city; creating of chain of municipal drug stores
to help reduce price of medicines. He said that his promise also
involved GEL 100 allowance for socially vulnerable people during the
winter period to ease communal cost. Gogi Topadze said that his
party's promise was free healthcare insurance for people over 60 years
old. He also said that at least one municipal hospital should be build
in a year, which will cost about GEL 23 million and which will provide
services in "either free of charge or in extremely low prices." Giorgi
Chanturia said that CDM's proposal was to set price limits on medicines
to make them affordable. He also said that he agreed with proposals
about municipal hospitals and drug stores. Zviad Dzidziguri said in
case of his election, the city budget would allocate annually GEL 150
million to cover full health insurance package for pensioners. He also
said that textbooks for school pupils would be free of charge. Gigi
Ugulava said that "there is no perfect social program." "No matter what
kind of social program will be implemented, we will still say that lot
remains to be done and that more perfection is needed. The best social
program is employment; that's the only way to help our population to
overcome social hardship," he said. Communal Tariffs The fourth and the last question of the debate was about the candidates' views on communal tariffs. Giorgi
Chanturia, who made low communal tariffs the major focus of his
election program, promises voters, that in case of election he would cut
gas tariff from current GEL 0.51 for households per cubic meter to GEL
0.1 and would reduce electricity tariff, which now varies from GEL 0.135
to GEL 0.177 (depending on amount of consumed electricity) to GEL 0.05. Gogi
Topadze also says that it is possible to make water consumption free of
charge. "It will cost the mayor's office no more than 6-7 million Lari
per year," he said. Chanturia said it would cost GEL 2.8 million to the
municipality budget per year. Zviad Dzidziguri said that the issue of
communal cost was something beyond the reach of the local authorities.
"It is up to the central authorities. Chairman of regulatory commission
is appointed by the President and it's hardly imaginable to change the
current tariffs unless we change this President," he said. Gigi
Ugulava said that it was "one of the most painful issue for Tbilisites."
He said that he welcomed the fact that the issue was raised in the
election campaign by Giorgi Chanturia, "although we have a different
opinion about it." "With the experts, we have calculated and about
GEL 400 million is required for implementing proposals laid out by Mr.
Chanturia. It means that Tbilisi's budget won't be able to fund other
services," Ugulava said. He also said that in last five years the
authorities revamped the entire system to secure stable electricity and
gas supply. "We should be sincere before our voters. Many of the
promises, that I listen are imposible to implement. What is possible to
do is to further improve social assistance programs, including providing
allowances to those people who need it most," Ugulava said. Irakli
Alasania said it was possible to reduce tariff for water consumption.
"But we all should know that water can't be free of charge," Alasania
said. He also said that it was possible to reduce gas tariff by 50% and electricity tariff by 30%. Closing Remarks In
his closing remarks, the incumbent mayor told the voters to make a
choice not based on "empty promises, but based on deeds, which are
already being done." "We are offered to turn Tbilisi mayor's office
into center of political wrangling; I offer you to turn Tbilisi mayor's
office into employment center. We are told that the Tbilisi mayor's
office is a trampoline for better future, but I am telling you that the
Tbilisi mayoral office is a round-the-clock work for the sake of
Tbilisi," he said. In his closing remarks Alasania again called on
Tbilisites to turn out at the polling stations on May 30 and repeated
that these elections "are chance to change our future." "The most
important thing I want to tell you is that the major weapon of change is
a ballot paper; we should win and defeat injustice in our country with
use of this weapon. I am sure you will make a right choice and support
us," Alasania said. Gogi Topadze said that today "everyone is now
repeating issues related with unemployment - something which we have
been saying since 1996 and I am happy about it." Chanturia told the
voters that he would use "all my experience and international ties" to
implement his election promises. "What we are promising is real," he
said. Dzidziguri said that when Ugulava was formally nominated for
re-election he was asked by journalists whom he considered as his major
rival. "My answer was - Mikheil Saakashvili, because Gigi Ugulava in
fact has nothing to do here; it's in fact a campaign of Mikheil
Saakashvili," he said. "We have no other option than elections, so I
beg you to turn out at the polling stations and vote for any candidate,
except of thier [the authorities'] candidate... because the authorities
still have a lot to spoil," Dzidziguri said. There are total of nine
candidates in the Tbilisi mayoral race, but these five contenders have
been selected based on a principle that they were nominated by the
political parties, which the election code defines as “qualified
parties” – those that won at least 4% of the vote in the last
parliamentary elections and at least 3% of the vote in the last local
elections. The public television plans to host a separate TV debates in which the four remaining candidates will participate on May 9. Debates
are co-funded by U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and
GPB. USAID provided USD 40,000 to assist the public broadcaster with
staging the debate and other costs, and for funding post-debate online
survey and focus groups and candidate training.
|
8 May. '10 |
Präsident
Medvedev anläßlich des 65.Siegestages zum Ende des 2.Weltkrieges: Gute
russisch-georgische Beziehungen werden wiederhergestellt werden In
a message to the Georgian citizens, congratulating with the Victory
Day, 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, expressed confidence
that “good, open and constructive relations, based on solid foundation
of cultural, spiritual and historical ties” will be restored between
Georgia and Russia. “Any attempt to destroy Russian-Georgian
friendship is doomed for a failure,” the message, posted on the Kremlin
website on May 8, reads. Fighting fascism side-by-side in World War
II, the message reads, is of a special importance “in our common and
multi-century history of relations between the Russian and Georgian
people.” Medvedev also says in the message that memory of those
fallen in fight against fascism obliges Russian and Georgian people “to
take care of traditions of friendship, good neighborly relations and
mutual assistance.” “It was no accident that a sacrilegious action of
the current regime in Tbilisi to destroy World War II heroes’ memorial
in Kutaisi triggered wave of outrage. I am sure that any attempt to
destroy Russian-Georgian friendship is doomed for a failure. Like the
memorial in Kutaisi will be recreated [in Moscow], good, open and
constructive relations between our countries will also be restored… It
can’t be otherwise,” Medvedev says. The Russian President sent two
other separate congratulating messages to leaders of breakaway Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, which Moscow has recognized after the August, 2008
war.
|
8 May. '10 |
Int. Beobachter veröffentlichen Zwischenbericht zur lokalen Wahl: Wahlkommission habe bisher in "transparenter Weise" gearbeitet Central
Election Commission (CEC) has to date acted in “a transparent and
inclusive manner,” according to the first interim report by
international election observation mission released on May 7. The
interim report by OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human
Rights (ODIHR), which has deployed its observation mission in April,
covers the period between April 16 and May 3. On CEC, which is a main
body in charge of administering elections, the report says that it
regularly informs observers about its upcoming sessions in time.
“However, the CEC also holds informal meetings to which observers are
usually not invited,” according to the report. It also says that the
political environment remains “polarized” and trust in the authorities
on the part of non-parliamentary opposition is low. “However, several
opposition parties have, in their contacts with the OSCE/ODIHR EOM,
expressed cautious satisfaction with the CEC chairperson for his
perceived openness and transparency,” the report reads. It says that despite “significant shortcomings”, election code “is generally conducive to holding democratic elections. The
report notes that in their election campaigning political parties make
major focus on Tbilisi. Ruling National Movement party and
Christian-Democratic Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary
minority, are campaigning more actively than others outside the capital,
according to the report. On media the report says that it remains “divided along political line.” “Only
a few outlets succeed in pursuing a more independent editorial policy.
International and domestic media organizations have accused government
officials and opposition politicians of influencing editorial and
programming policies through personal connections with media executives
and owners,” the report says. The OSCE/ODIHR election observation
mission launched its quantitative and qualitative monitoring of the
campaign coverage by eight television channels (public TV’s First and
Second Channels; Rustavi 2 TV; Imedi TV; Kavkasia TV; Maestro TV; Real
TV and Adjara TV) and two daily newspapers, Rezonansi and 24 Saati. The
report notes that number of political parties complained about very
high cost of paid political advertising on nationwide TV stations. Tbilisi mayoral candidates are intensively using airtime for free-of-charge spots allocated in accordance to the law. In
the reporting period only three candidates had bought airtime – Gigi
Ugulava on two nationwide TV stations, Rustavi 2 and Imedi, where
political ad prices are about ten times expensive than usual
commercials; Irakli Alasania, who bought airtime on Kavkasia TV and
ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia, part of National
Council, which has nominated Zviad Dzidziguri for Tbilisi mayor, on
Kavkasia and Maestro stations. These two latter TV stations are
broadcasting in the capital city and prices for political ad there are
significantly lower than on nationwide broadcasters. The report says
that public broadcaster, as well as national and regional private
broadcasters “have been airing regular talk shows and debates among
candidates and political parties, providing candidates with an important
forum for an exchange of views.”
|
8 May. '10 |
TV-Studio
Kavkasia: Fernsehdebatte zwischen Führern von christlich-orthodoxen
Gruppen eskaliert später auf der Straße zu Faustkampf Live
televised debates in Kavkasia TV's studio between leaders of hardline
Orthodox Christian groups and their opponents grew into a fistfight
outside the Tbilisi-based station's studio late on Friday night. Young
men affiliated with radical group, known as Union of Orthodox Christian
Parents, which has became associated with a newly established People's
Orthodox Christian Movement, verbally and physically assaulted some of
Kavkasia TV program's guests and also some members of the station's
staff, witnesses said. Kavkasia TV's talk show, Barieri (Barrier),
hosted by Nino Jangirashvili, featured several invited guests and an
audience in in the studio. Among the guests were Malkhaz Gulashvili,
owner of the Georgian Times media holding and a co-founder of People's
Orthodox Christian Movement; Nana Devdariani, a former public defender
and chairperson of Central Election Commission during Eduard
Shevardnadze's presidency and Levan Chachua, a member of Union of
Orthodox Christian Parents. Thier opponents during the debates were
professor Sergo Ratiani, head of Ilia State University's administration;
Teo Khatiashvili, a film critic and Beka Mindiashvili, a religious
rights activist. Topic of the debate was developments of recent days
related to series of confrontations between young followers of radical
Orthodox groups and thier critics, who consider newly established
People's Orthodox Christian Movement as "a fascist" organization. May 7
also saw a confrontation between the two groups. In the beginning of
the program, the host expressed hope that the debates would have been
"vibrant, but much calmer and more constructive than they have been in
recent days." But from the very start debates took an ugly turn.
Gulashvili told the opponents for couple of times: "Your are not
liberals; you are liberasts." He used a term which apparantly is a
wordplay of liberals and pederasts; the latter is used in Georgia as a
derogative form for gays. Beka Mindiashvili told Gulashvili that it
was up to police to deal with the activists of his organization, because
of the May 4 attack on peaceful demonstrators. About an hour after
the start of the program, Beka Mindiashvili said there was no reason to
continue discussion with his opponents and left the studio, followed by
Teo Khatiashvili and then by Sergo Ratiani. Shortly after that the
program was interrupted for a commercial break; it resumed about 20
minutes later - much longer than it takes for commercial break on
Kavkasia TV. When the program resumed, the host announced that after
several guest of the program left the studio, before the commercial
break, representatives of Union of Orthodox Christian Parents, outside
the studio, started to verbally insult them, "trying to provoke them".
She said it grew into fistfight in which several TV staff members were
also physically assaulted. Kavkasia TV's founder, Davit Akubardia, was
also attacked. Scuffle reoccurred again shortly after that
announcement by the talk show host and she called on the police "to
immediately come and curb this". Several minutes later, several members
from Union of Orthodox Christian Parents, including several priest,
entered into the studio telling the program host that it was "a
provocation staged by you". Police also arrived in the studio . It was
reported later that at least three men were arrested; some reports said
that four men were detained. The program resumed few minutes later
with some opposition politicians arriving in the Kavkasia TV studio
condemning the incident. General Director of Georgian Public
Broadcaster, Gia Chanturia, accompanied by GPB's boar chairman Levan
Gakheladze also arrived "to express solidarity" towards the Kavkasia TV. Some
opposition politicians in the studio, including Tina Khidasheli of the
Republican Party, part of the Alliance for Georgia, said that she
thought the hardline Orthodox Christian groups were given free hand by
the authorities. "They would not have dared to do things like this
without having support of the authorities," Khidasheli said and added
that it was in the authorities interests to provoke this kind of
incidents in order to redirect attention from upcoming local elections. Malkhaz
Gulashvili, who founded People's Orthodox Christian Movement, in March,
2010, told the movement members at an indoor gathering on May 7, that
the movement was launching struggle "to set Georgia free of a dictate by
Liberty Institute" - an influential Tbilisi-based think tank with links
to the authorities. Gulashvili said Liberty Institute and its
affiliates in Ilia State University's administration were "promoting
anti-religious ideology." Gulashvili in the past was a business
partner with the Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), a conglomerate owned
by lawmaker from the ruling party, Davit Bezhuashvili - a brother of
Gela Bezhuashvili, chief of the Georgian intelligence service.
Gulashvili and GIG were partners through holding shares in business news
agency, Georgian Business Consulting. GIG also owns shares in Rustavi
2; Mze and Pirveli Sterao TV stations. Gulashvili, however, said
recently that he no longer had any business or other type of links with
Bezhuashvili.
|
7 May. '10 |
EU-Delegation in Georgien und UN Development Programme (UNDP): Auswertung zur Fernsehberichterstattung im Wahlkampf Among
the candidates running in Tbilisi mayoral race, an incumbent mayor Gigi
Ugulava received most of the coverage in all six TV stations, being
under monitoring in a pre-election period, followed by leader of
Alliance for Georgia, Irakli Alasania, according to the monitoring
results made public on May 7. EU Delegation to Georgia and UN
Development Programme (UNDP) commissioned Caucasus Research Resource
Center (CRRC) to monitor main news bulletins and selected talk shows on
three national television stations - public broadcaster's First Channel;
Rustavi 2 TV and Imedi TV and three Tbilisi-based stations, whose area
of coverage is limited mainly with the capital city - Kavkasia TV;
Maestro TV and Real TV. Apart of quantitative survey on how much of
thier airtime TV stations dedicate to the mayoral candidates and thier
respective parties, it also provides information about "tone of
coverage" of candidates by each TV station. Follow links below to view details of monitoring results covering a period between April 16 and May 5: Length of Coverage Time Allocated to Candidates - pdf Tone of Coverage by TV Channels - pdf The
media monitoring is part of a project implemented by EU Delegation UNDP
- Development of Media Monitoring Capacities in Georgia, which aims
providing "balanced and neutral information to the public to facilitate
informed decision making." Results of monitoring are discussed by
civil society representatives and media experts in the weekly TV show,
Media Monitor, aired by the public broadcaster on Fridays. Central
Election Commission is also carrying out its media monitoring ahead of
elections. CEC announced on May 2 that it had hired Georgian firms -
PrimeTime, BCG and IPM, for that purpose.
|
7 May. '10 |
Neue Umfrage zu NATO-Mitgliedschaft Georgiens: Rückgang in der Unterstützung Although
majority of Georgians are in favor of NATO membership, the level of
support seems to be reduced in last twenty months, according to the
recent public opinion survey. 26% of respondents say that they
fully support Georgia's NATO membership and 36% say - somewhat support,
according to the poll carried out by Caucasus Resource Research Centers
(CRRC) for U.S. National Democratic Institute (NDI) in a period between
April 11 and April 26. 10% responded that they equally support and do
not support; 7% - somewhat not support and 9% - don't support at all.
9% said they do not know. In a poll by IPM for U.S. International
Republican Institute (IRI) in September, 2008, 69% of respondents were
fully supportive to Georgia’s NATO membership, plus 17% saying that they
somewhat support, with only 8% either strongly or somewhat opposing. In
IRI’s similar poll in October, 2009 54% of respondents were fully
supportive to Georgia's NATO membership with 21% saying they somewhat
support and 12% were either strongly or somewhat against. NDI-commissioned
public opinion survey in which 2,378 citizens were interviewed was made
public on May 6. It gives a picture of voters’ attitude towards broad
range of issues, involving, among other issues, politics, democracy,
media and foreign relations. The survey, however, does not include
political party and Tbilisi mayoral candidates’ ratings ahead of the May
30 local elections. In a plebiscite held in Georgia in January, 2008, 72.5% of voters cast ballot for NATO membership. In
NDI's survey the issue of NATO in itself is in the middle of list of
those fifteen issues that matter Georgian citizens most, falling behind
jobs, territorial integrity, poverty, pensions, affordable healthcare
and relations with Russia. Jobs, followed by territorial integrity are prioritized as the most important issues by respondents. On
the local level, most of the respondents prioritize cost of communal
service as the most important issue, followed by road infrastructure. Russia Majority of respondents, according to the poll, is critical about the Georgian government’s current policy towards Russia. 28% of respondents say they partially disapprove it and 24% saying - fully disapprove. 13% say they do not know. 32% of respondents either fully (7%) or partially (25%) approve Georgia’s current policy towards Russia. Majority
of respondents are also critical about the Georgian opposition's
engagement with Russia with 62% saying that they disapprove ex-PM Zurab
Nogaideli's travel to Moscow to meet with Russia's PM Vladimir Putin in
December, 2009 and 59% disapproving a similar move by ex-parliamentary
speaker, Nino Burjanadze, in March, 2010. Leader of Alliance for
Georgia, Irakli Alasania, who is running for Tbilisi mayor, met with
Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, in February on a sideline of
Munich security conference. 38% of respondents say they disapprove this
meeting between Lavrov and Alasania with 22% approving it and 34% saying
do not know and 7% refused to answer. The Georgian media covered
meeting of Nogaideli and Burjanadze with Putin much more extensively,
than the one of Alasania with Lavrov. Also on Russia, majority of
respondents say they approve re-opening of Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border
crossing point between Russia and Georgia (61%) and even more are in
favor of resumption of direct flights between Tbilisi and Moscow (82%). Gov’t in “Strong Position” On
a question which direction Georgia is going in – 12% of respondents
chose the answer “definitely going in the right direction” and 41% said:
“going mainly in the right direction.” In a similar poll a year ago 29% of surveyed said that Georgia was going mainly in right direction. Luis
Navarro, NDI's resident director for Georgia, said at a presentation of
the survey, that these results indicated the government was in “a
strong position” ahead of the May 30 local elections.
|
6 May. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili: Sowjet-Ära ist in Georgien vorbei The
Soviet Union has not been "completely buried" and is now showing signs
of life, trying to regain control over those parts that once was the
Soviet empire, President Saakashvili said. "Soviet Union, which is
now in control of the Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia will never be able
to keep them [Abkhazia and S.Ossetia] and will not be able to seize rest
of Georgia, because in rest of Georgia our society, our army and our
police, which are united like a fist, will respond to these attempts,"
Saakashvili said while addressing policemen outside the Interior
Ministry on May 6. "I want those itching to restore the Soviet empire to know, that era of the Soviet Union is over in Georgia," he said. "But
the Soviet empire is of course now attacking. This empire - something
we thought was a corpse - has started to revitalize, because it was not
completely buried and it is now trying to seize through ugly forms those
parts that used to be the Soviet Union previously." "A symbolic end
of the Soviet Union in Georgia was marked when a Soviet police uniform
was replaced by new Georgian police uniform, decorated proudly by
[Georgia's national] five-cross flag and what is the most important,
when it has been replaced by a new thinking, new human, new generation,
which will never allow to return back," Saakashvili said.
|
6 May. '10 |
Mehrere
Polizisten und Demonstranten verletzt bei einem Zusammenstoss, als
einige Personen versuchten, zum Gebäude des Innenministeriums
vorzustossen Several policemen and protesters were injured in a
clash on May 6 as a group of opposition activists and leaders tried to
make their way towards the Interior Ministry building where police
forces were marking newly proclaimed Day of Police with a parade. Opposition
groups, including Levan Gachechiladze’s public movement Defend Georgia;
National Council (Conservative Party, Party of People and Movement for
Fair Georgia); Nino Burjanadze’s Democratic Movement-United Georgia,
announced on May 3 about the plans to hold the protest rally against the
government’s decision to proclaim May 6 as the Police Day. The first
reason, cited by them, was that May 6 is celebrated as St. George’s Day
and the second reason, they said, was that May 6 also marks one year
anniversary of a confrontation that took place at Tbilisi police
headquarters in which dozens of protesters were injured, including
several opposition leaders, when the police fired projectiles from
less-lethal launchers. The Interior Ministry announced on May 5 that
roads leading to the Interior Ministry building in Tbilisi suburb would
be closed in connection to the police forces’ parade. On May 6, when
the event outside of the Interior Ministry was ongoing in presence of
President Saakashvili, other senior officials and invited foreign
diplomats, several hundred of opposition activists marched in direction
of the ministry, but the roads were sealed off by the riot police. The
clash erupted when the protesters tried to make their way through riot
police cordon on a by-pass road, which lies through a railway line. Some
protesters were seen in the TV footage throwing stones to the
policemen. In one TV footage a senior member of opposition Conservative
Party, Bidzina Gujabidze, is seen tossing a stone in direction to the
riot police. At least three protesters were hospitalized. Interior
Ministry official said several policemen were hit by stones, but
injuries were not serious. Although decision to declare May 6 as the
police day met protest across the broad range of opposition parties,
many of them refused to join the protest rally organized by some
opposition groups. Alliance for Georgia, uniting four opposition
parties, which refused to join the rally, said in a statement on May 5,
that the authorities’ decision was “irresponsible and provocative”, but
it also called on “everyone not to yield to this provocation and to
firmly protect the peaceful way, which will lead us to change of the
government through elections.” Nino Burjanadze’s party, Democratic
Movement-United Georgia, which was one of the organizers of the May 6
protest rally, said in a statement that “private police” of Vano
Merabishvili, the interior minister, and President Saakashvili “staged a
bloody St. George’s Day” “With today’s [police] parade, the
authorities confirmed once again that the police and the army are means
of political pressure,” Burjanadze’s party said in the statement.
|
4 May. '10 |
Sokhumi
und Tskhinvali weisen Tbilisi's Vorschlag zu einer int. Mission zur
Menschenrechtssituation in den abtrünnigen Regionen zurück Tskhinvali
and Sokhumi rejected on May 4 any prospect of even considering
Tbilisi’s proposal on setting up international missions in the breakaway
regions to monitor human rights situation there. Temur Iakobashvili,
the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said on May 3 after
meeting with Council of Europe (CoE) Human Rights Commissioner, Thomas
Hammarberg, in Tbilisi that the Georgian side proposed to establish,
possibly under the CoE aegis, human right mission “to monitor and react”
on human rights abuses there. “It is Georgia, not Abkhazia which
needs such international human rights monitoring missions,” Apsnipress
reported quoting breakaway Abkhazia’s foreign minister, Maxim Gvinjia,
on May 4. David Sanakoev, breakaway South Ossetian leader’s special
envoy for human rights, said it was not up to Tbilisi to take decisions
about opening missions and institutions in Tskhinvali. Tbilisi was
insisting on opening of UN human rights office - similar to the one
which was operating in Sokhumi – in the Gali district of breakaway
Abkhazia, predominantly populated by ethnic Georgians, before the August
war. Although no such office was established in Gali, in early 2007
UN human rights office in Sokhumi appointed an international human
rights officer in the Gali district. UN closed down its mission in
Abkhazia about year after the August, 2008 war.
|
4 May. '10 |
Oppositionsparteien und -gruppen kündigen Demonstrationen an für den vom Innenministerium geplanten "Tag der Polizei" Several
opposition parties and groups said they would hold a protest rally on
May 6, when the Interior Ministry plans to mark the newly proclaimed
Georgian Police Day. Opposition groups, including Levan
Gachechiladze’s public movement Defend Georgia; National Council
(Conservative Party, Party of People and Movement for Fair Georgia);
Nino Burjanadze’s Democratic Movement-United Georgia, said on May 3 that
proclaiming May 6 as the Police Day was unacceptable and “cynical” for
two reasons. The first reason, cited by them, was that May 6 is
celebrated as St. George’s Day and the second reason, they said, was
that May 6 also marks one year anniversary of a confrontation that took
place at Tbilisi police headquarters in which dozens of protesters were
injured, including several opposition leaders, when the police fired
projectiles from less-lethal launchers. Organizers of the protest
rally said that they would hold a demonstration in vicinity of the
Interior Ministry headquarters in Tbilisi suburb on May 6, when the
ministry plans to hold a parade of police forces to mark the newly
proclaimed Police Day. Organizers also said that they would also hold
the protest rally later on May 6 outside the Tbilisi police
headquarters. Alliance for Georgia, whose leader Irakli Alasania runs
for Tbilisi mayor, said although it was also against of proclaiming May
6 as the Police Day, it would not be joining the protest rally. Interior
Minister, Vano Merabishvili, defended the decision about the Police Day
date in a letter published on May 4 in the Georgian newspaper 24 Saati
saying that May 6 was deemed as the most appropriate date. “So far
the Georgian police marked its professional day on November 10 – a
police day and November 30 – security officers’ day. Both of these dates
were total anachronism, because the first one marked the establishment
of the Soviet police and the second one – Soviet Cheka [Bolshevik secret
police and a predecessor of the Soviet security bodies – NKVD and then
KGB],” Merabishvili says in the letter. He said that May 6 was chosen
because this date “is associated with positive emotions for most of the
Georgian citizens – it is St. George’s Day and at the same time this is
the day when Adjara was liberated from Aslan Abashidze’s regime” in
2004. In the letter, Merabishvili lists achievements, which he says,
the Georgian police achieved as a result of reforms in recent years,
including reduced crime rate. “The major achievement is that the
police enjoys with sympathies of large part of the Georgian population.
In order to preserve this achievement in the future too, a lot needs to
be done, including it is important for the police to always stay away
from the politics,” Merabishvili writes.
|
4 May. '10 |
Imedi
TV-Moderator wird in einem Interview von Irakli Alasania unter Druck
gesetzt mit Aufforderungen, sich bezüglich der persönlichen Rolle bei
dem imitierten Imedi-TV-Bericht zu entschuldigen During a live
interview with Tbilisi mayoral candidate, Irakli Alasania, an anchor of
Imedi TV, Lasha Kharazishvili, came under persisting calls from the
guest to apologize about his role in Imedi TV's fake news broadcast on
renewed war with Russia. Kharazishvili, who is now an anchor of Imedi
TV's political talk show, Elections 2010, which invites Tbilisi mayoral
candidates for interviewing in presence of other Imedi TV journalists,
was a newscaster of the Imedi TV's news program, Kronika, in which the
fake report was aired on March 13. Although being asked a question
about a different issue, Alasania from the very beginning of the program
started talking about importance of free media and congratulated
journalists in the studio on World Press Freedom Day and then said that
he wished the fact similar to the one when "through direct involvement
of the President" it was made possible to air fake report, would never
reoccur. "At the same time I want to ask you - as you had one of the
lead roles in that broadcast - to express your opinion [about the fake
report], as the society is still waiting for the truth," Alasania told
the anchor. "I also want to hear your opinion about why Imedi TV did not
cover a very serious findings provided by a group of international
experts about [fake report-related] recorded phone conversation." Kharazishvili
tried to interrupt Alasania for couple of times in one instance telling
the mayoral candidate: "Here questions are asked by us." "I want to
know your opinion," Alasania told the anchor and the latter responded:
"I will respond you about it later, but meanwhile answer to our
questions." The program then continued with Alasania responding
questions, but less than 15 minutes later, Alasania again brought back
the issue of the fake news broadcast by asking Kharazishvili: "Do you
acknowledge that the fake broadcast was a mistake and do you, as an
anchor of that broadcast, apologize for that? You promised me to answer
my question." "Yes, I will respond, but in this program questions are
asked by us. We are now talking about elections," the anchor responded;
but Alasania continued pressing. Verbal sparring between the mayoral
candidate and the TV anchor continued for two more minutes and after
that Kharazishvili said that Imedi TV had already apologized for that
fake broadcast and he personally too apologized for three times press
interviews.
|
3 May. '10 |
Regionale zeitungen beklagen sich über Probleme bezüglich des Zugangs zu öffentlichen Informationen Mehrere
Zeitungen ließen in der Tagesausgabe vom 3.5. die erste Seite leer und
titelten nur "Gibt uns Information". Der 3.5. ist der "Tag der
Pressefreiheit" - "World Press Freedom Day". Several regional
newspapers ran a blank front page on May 3, which marks the World Press
Freedom Day, with a headline "Give us public information". Over dozen
of regional newspapers said in a joint statement that the move aimed at
highlighting the problem their journalists were facing in obtaining
information from the state structures under the freedom of information
legislation, which is in force in Georgia since 2000. In the
statement, the newspapers call on the President and the Parliament
"instead of facade transparency to secure real transparency of the state
structure, instead of facade transparency." Tbilisi-based legal
advocacy group, Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA), said in a
statement on May 3 that cases of absolute ignorance of journalists by
the state structures has increases recently." It also said that the
Tbilisi Mayor's Office was "illegally refusing" to provide GYLA with
requested public information. It also said that local self-governance
bodies in the provinces were following "a shameful practice" of
creating obstacles to access to public information.
|
1 May. '10 |
EU-Kommissar für Menschenrechte Thomas Hammarberg besucht Georgien: das Schicksal seit 2008 vermißter Personen und Fälle in Tskhinvali verhafteter Personen sollen geklärt werden Council
of Europe (CoE) Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg,
arrived in Georgia as part of his efforts to help clarify fate of
persons missing since the August, 2008 war and to resolve issue of
detained persons. Hammarberg, who is expected to hold talks in
Tbilisi and also in Tskhinvali, has mediated release of several Georgian
and South Ossetian detainees. He has also sent two experts to Georgia
to oversee investigations to find out whereabouts of those persons from
the both side, who are missing since the August war with focus made on
three Ossetians missing since October, 2008. In what Tbilisi said was
"an expression of good will", the Georgian side released on March 30
four residents of breakaway South Ossetia and two Russian citizens from
North Ossetia detained by the Georgian police in a period between
October 2008 and January 2010. With this release, Tbilisi has reportedly
released all Ossetians detained after the August war. About dozen of
Georgians remain held in Tskhinvali.
|
1 May. '10 |
Kandidaten benannt für die Wahl der drei freien Abgeordnetensitze, die zusammen mit den lokalen Wahlen stattfindet Simultaneously
with May 30 local elections, in three single-mandate constituencies
voters will also elect lawmakers to fill three vacant seats in the
Parliament. MP by-elections will be held in Tbilisi’s Chugureti
single-mandate, majoritarian constituency, as well as in two provincial
constituencies of Ozurgeti western Georgia and Gurjaani in eastern
region of Kakheti. Deadline for submitting candidates expired on
April 30. These by-elections for three parliamentary seats will not
influence to the current power balance in the parliament, dominated by
the ruling party. Five candidates will be contesting a majoritarian
seat in the Tbilisi’s Chugureti constituency – Andro Alavidze, nominated
by the ruling National Movement party; Kakha Basilaia of
Christian-Democratic Movement; Levan Roinishvili of Movement for Fair
Georgia, led by ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli and Lana Galdava, nominated by MP
Gia Tortladze’s Democratic Party of Georgia and Giorgi Gachechiladze,
nominated by newly established party, which is led by Tbilisi mayoral
candidate Nika Ivanishvili. MP Tortladze’s party has also nominated
its candidates in two other constituencies – Maia Orjonikidze in
Ozurgeti and Levan Cholokashvili in Gurjaani; both of the candidates are
fierce critics of the non-parliamentary opposition and both of them
have featured for number of times in TV political talk shows and
programs, defending the authorities’ various policies. Other
candidates nominated in Gurjaani are: Giorgi Chiviashvili of the ruling
National Movement party; Zaza Natsvlishvili of Movement for Fair Georgia
and Levan Koberidze of Party of Future. Two other candidates are
also running in Ozurgeti district, apart of the one nominated by MP
Tortladze’s party: Gocha Shanidze of the ruling party and Ilia
Kalandadze of Movement for Fair Georgia. Three majoritarian seats in
the Parliament became vacant after ex-MP from Chugureti constituency
Lasha Zhvania was appointed as Economy Minister in December, 2008 (he
was dismissed from the post in August, 2009); former lawmaker from the
Gurjaani single-mandate constituency, Giorgi Gviniashvili, was appointed
as governor of Kakheti region and Anzor Erkomaishvili, a former
lawmaker from the Ozurgeti single-mandate constituency, quit the
Parliament.
|
30 Apr. '10 |
Parteien und Blöcke, die sich um den Stadtrat von Tbilisi bewerben Parteien 1. Democratic Party of Georgia; 2. Future Georgia; 3. Political Movement - Solidarity; 4. Political Union - Public Democrats; 5. Political Party – Our Country (Chveni Kvekana); 6. Political Union of Citizens - Public Alliance of Georgia; 7. The National Party of Radical Democrats of Georgia; 8. Political Union - Tavisupleba; 9. The ruling party United National Movement; 10. Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); 11. Union of Georgian Sportsmen; Wahlblöcke
1. Alliance for Georgia - uniting Our Georgia-Free Democrats;
Republican Party; New Rights Party and Georgia’s Way. Irakli Alasania –
Tbilisi mayoral candidate; 2. National Council - uniting ex-PM
Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia; Party of People and
Conservative Party. Conservative Party leader, Zviad Dzidziguri, is the
Tbilisi mayoral candidate. 3. Christian-Democratic Union – uniting
Christian-Democratic Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary
minority, led by MP Giorgi Targamadze;
|
30 Apr. '10 |
Neun Kandidaten berwerben sich um das Bürgermeisteramt in Tbilisi Gigi
Ugulava, Irakli Alasania, Giorgi Chanturia, Gogi Topadze, Zviad
Dzidziguri, Davit Iakobidze, Nika Ivanishvili, Tamaz Vashadze und Giorgi
Lagidze. Nine candidates have applied to Central Election Commission
(CEC) for registration to run for Tbilisi mayoral race; deadline
expired at 6pm local time on April 30. Contenders include incumbent
Tbilisi mayor, Gigi Ugulava, nominated by the ruling party; Irakli
Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia; Giorgi Chanturia, nominated by
Christian-Democratic Movement; Gogi Topadze, co-founder and leader of
Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of
Conservative Party, nominated by a coalition, which also includes Party
of People and ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia; Davit
Iakobidze, economy minister in mid-90s, nominated by MP Gia Tortladze’s
Democratic Party of Georgia; Nika Ivanishvili, head of traffic police in
late 90s, nominated by his newly established party; Tamaz Vashadze, who
briefly held Tbilisi mayor’s post 19 years ago and Giorgi Lagidze,
leader of little-known party Future Georgia. Deadline for submitting list of candidates running for Tbilisi City Council membership also expired on April 30. Total of 11 parties and three election blocs submitted list of candidates for capital city’s council membership. Although
initially applied to CEC for registration, ex-defense minister Irakli
Okruashvili’s party Movement for United Georgia and MP Jondi Bagaturia’s
party, Georgian Troupe, decided not to run in the elections. Three
other parties, which initial requested for registration, withdrew from
the race, as they did not submit list of candidates for Tbilisi City
Council membership.
|
30 Apr. '10 |
Zweites Treffen um vermißte Personen unter Beteiligung von Tbilisi, Moskau und Tskhinvali abgehalten Representatives
from Tbilisi, Moscow and Tskhinvali met on April 29 under the auspices
of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in frames of
coordination mechanism trying to clarify the fate of persons missing
since the August, 2008 war. The meeting was held in a tent situated
between the villages of Okona and Knolevi on the breakaway South
Ossetia’s administrative border. Participants discussed “concrete and
coordinated steps that need to be taken to provide the families of
missing persons with relevant information on their loved ones,” ICRC
said in a statement. The first meeting of this type was held in
Switzerland on February 23. During that first meeting the participants
shared preliminary list of 47 missing persons. During the April 29
meeting the participants exchanged additional information on missing
persons, adding one new case to the list and “positively” resolving one
case of missing person, ICRC said. "All sides expressed an interest
in improving the coordination of forensic activities in order to
facilitate the identification of human remains. Compliance with
international standards for exhuming and identifying remains was
especially emphasized," Megan Bassendale, an ICRC forensic adviser, who
attended the meeting, said. Shota Utiashvili, head of information and
analytical department at the Georgian Interior Ministry, who
participated in the meeting, said that issues related with
identification of human remains and their reburial was the main topic of
the discussion. He told Civil.Ge on April 30, that total of 35 persons are listed among unaccounted persons on the Georgian side. Utiashvili
also said that it was agreed to carry out forensic activities into 14
cases to identify human remains, whose places of burial are known. “We
would like to request if anyone possesses any information about the
missing persons, to contact the Interior Ministry,” he said, adding that
follow-up meeting would also be held, but no date was yet set.
|
29 Apr. '10 |
EU-Georgien: erleichterte Visaregelungen 'bald' erwartet The
European Commission on April 27 adopted the proposal on the signature
and conclusion of visa facilitation and readmission agreements and
called on the European Parliament to endorse these agreements. The
visa facilitation will include, among other things, issuing
multiple-entry visas with a long period of validity to certain
categories of applicants including businesspeople, journalists and
family members of Georgian citizens residing in the EU. The agreement
would also cut visa frees to EUR 35 and and waiving fees for specific
categories such as children, family members of Georgian citizens
residing in the EU, representatives of civil society organisations. The
agreement will exempt holders of diplomatic passports from the visa
obligation. The readmission agreement is designed to ensure the return of those Georgian citizens who illegally stay in the EU. Speaking
at European Parliament’s foreign affairs committee on April 28, Štefan
Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement and European neighbourhood policy,
said that “Georgians can soon benefit from lower fees and easier visa
rules.” He also said EU’s Foreign Affairs Council would be presented
for formal adoption of negotiating directives for Association Agreements
with South Caucasus countries on May 10. Füle, who reported to the
EU Parliament's foreign affairs committee about his trip to South
Caucasus countries and Ukraine earlier in April,said that adoption of
the directives would pave the way for the EU to prepare for the launch
of negations on Association Agreements with Armenia, Azerbaijan and
Georgia. “These Agreements will allow for close political association
between each of the partners in the South Caucasus and the EU, building
on common values and shared principles,” he said. On Georgia EU
commissioner for enlargement also told EU parliamentarians that during
the visit in Tbilisi he had an opportunity to discuss internal political
situation ahead of the May 30 local elections with both the opposition
and the authorities. “I stressed to both sides the clear need for
adhering to international electoral standards, the importance of real
political pluralism, a vibrant civil society and an open media
environment as essential factors to consolidate democracy,” Füle told
European parliamentarians. He also said that his message to the
leaders in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia was and “will always be that
the responsibility for the internal reform processes and the
strengthening of democracy and rule of law lie firmly in the hands of
the governments and politicians of those countries.”
|
28 Apr. '10 |
Heidi Tagliavini hält Rede zu dem Bericht ihrer Kommission vor der Parlamentarischen Versammlung des Europarates (PACE) Georgia
“triggered off the war” with heavy artillery attack on Tskhinvali in
August, 2008, however, this attack was not an isolated event, but a
culminating point of years of mounting tensions and all sides bear
responsibility, Heidi Tagliavini, who led EU-funded fact-finding mission
into causes of the war, said on April 28. She recited key findings
of the mission’s report, which was released last September, in an
address to Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE). Her
statement was followed by debates at the April 28 PACE session about the
consequences of the August war. In her speech before the Assembly,
Tagliavini said that the report by Independent International
Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG) was made
public immediately after the release in order “to avoid misquotations
and misinterpretations.” She said that reactions to the report in the press and in public had been mainly “positive, or factual and neutral”. “The
conflicting parties have reacted in overwhelming majority in a moderate
way; although we, unfortunately, could observe some rather selective
reading – I mean each party presenting those parts of the report, which
were to their liking,” Tagliavini said. This approach continued to
prevail during the debates at PACE session after Tagliavini’s address
with speakers from the Russian delegation focusing on Georgia’s
responsibility for “triggering off the war” and the Georgian delegation
members – on Russia’s responsibility for developments leading up to the
war and ethnic cleansing. “Those who were involved in the conflict
were usually focusing only on their own truth; they were hardly ever
sufficiently prepared to look at a truth of the others,” Tagliavini
said. She underlined that her fact-finding mission – the first of
this kind in the EU history – was not leading an investigation relevant
to judiciary proceeding of any sort. “It was a strictly
fact-finding mission,” Tagliavini said. “This report should not be seen
as a tribunal and it was not preparing any legal action in favor or
against any side or anyone.” When she moved to laying out the
mission’s key findings, Tagliavini started with, as she put it, “the
answer to the question, which in the past has been asked most
frequently.” “In the mission’s view, it was Georgia, which triggered
off the war, when it attacked Tskhinvali with heavy artillery on the
night of 7 to 8 of August, 2008,” she said. “None of the
explanations, given by the Georgian authorities in order to provide some
form of legal justification for the attack, landed valid explanation.
In particular, to the best of the mission’s knowledge, there was no
massive Russian military invasion underway, which had to be stopped by
Georgian military forces shelling Tskhinvali.” “It needs to be
stressed, that the Georgian attack against Tskhinvali on the 7 to 8 of
August, 2008 was by no means an isolated event. It was the culminating
point of months and years of mounting tension, of armed incidents, and
steadily deteriorating situation. All sides to the conflict bear
responsibility for these evermore serious developments,” she said. She
said that although blame for triggering off the war lies on the
Georgian side, Russia “too is to blame for a substantial number of
violations of international law.” “These include, even prior to the
armed conflict, the mass conferral of Russian citizenship to a majority
of the population living in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia. It also
includes in terms of an additional violation of international law the
military action by the Russian armed forces on Georgian territory far
beyond the needs of a proportionate defense of Russian peacekeepers in
Tskhinvali what come under Georgian attack. In addition, the Russian
recognition of both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states
must be considered as being not valid in the context of international
law and as violations of Georgia’s territorial integrity and
sovereignty,” Tagliavini said. She said that claims by Moscow and
Tskhinvali that Georgia was carrying out “the genocide against the South
Ossetian population are not substantiated.” “On the other side,
there is a serious indication that ethnic cleansing did take place in
many instances against ethnic Georgians in the villages and settlements
in South Ossetia, as well as other violations of international
humanitarian law, which must be attributed to all sides,” she said. “Furthermore,
there are serious question marks behind the attitude of the Russian
armed forces, who would not or could not stop atrocities committed by
armed groups or even individuals fighting on the South Ossetian side
against the civilian population in those territories, which were
controlled by the Russian armed forces.” She reiterated her call for “abstaining from assigning an overall responsibility” only to one side alone. Tagliavini also said that the international community also had its share of responsibility. She
also said that international conflict management “was not successful”
partly because of “a gradual erosion” of previously negotiated
agreements and disrespect of international commitments. She also
criticized “passive and non-innovative approach to the peace processes”
by OSCE and UN – organizations, which were present in South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, respectively. “When in early spring 2008 the international
community eventually realized the seriousness of the situation and
deployed intense high-level diplomacy with U.S. State Secretary
Condoleezza Rice, EU High Representative Javier Solana and German
Foreign Minister Frank Walter-Steinmeier, presenting one diplomatic
initiative after the other, it was too late and not enough to prevent
forthcoming crisis,” Tagliavini said. “The series of misperception,
missed opportunities and mistakes on all sides accumulated to a point
that the danger of explosions and violence became real,” she added. Debates After
Tagliavini’s address, debates were held during which head of the
Georgian delegation Petre Tsiskarishvili told the Assembly that presence
of Russian forces and shelling of Georgian villages in the conflict
zone prior to the attack of Tskhinvali by the Georgian forces was
already “the start of the war.” “The inquiry [by Tagliavini
commission] has proved that the Russian forces in consent with their
Ossetian proxies have deliberately embarked on the campaign of ethnic
cleansing of Georgians during and after the war. Second crucial part of
this report is the passportization of citizens living on Georgia’s
territory [in Abkhazia and South Ossetia],” MP Tsiskarishvili, who is
leader of ruling majority in the Georgian Parliament, said. “And last
but not the least, which is very important for us, is that Russian
troops – it was established by this mission – were on the territory, on
the Georgian soil by August the 7th. It’s another question, whether
substantial or unsubstantial forces, but the conventional Russian forces
as well as paramilitary elements were ready on the Georgian territory.” The
report by the fact-finding mission, notes about the presence of “some
Russian forces” in South Ossetia, other than the Russian peacekeepers,
prior to 2:30pm of August 8, when Russia says it made a decision on
intervention. “To me the facts that I have just described are already start of the war,” he added. Another
speaker from the Georgian delegation, a ruling party MP Akaki
Minashvili said that if it was Georgia, which started the war, “how it
comes that in two hours, about ten thousand Russian soldiers were on
Georgian territory – strange.” “If we are the starters of the war,
how it comes that Russia blocked eight peace proposals offered by the
Georgian side and one of them was offered by [then] German Foreign
Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier,” MP Minashvili said. MP Tsiskarishvili said that Russia’s policy towards Georgia was making the current situation “a classic zero-sum game”. “Georgia
either surrenders and becomes Russia’s backyard, or Russia wants to see
it destroyed completely,” he said and added that through democratic
reforms and international support Georgia would prevail. Head of the
Russian delegation at PACE, Konstantin Kosachev, told the Assembly that
such a notion of “zero-sum game” would not help to resolve the conflict.
He also said that he agreed with Heidi Tagliavini’s remarks that there
were no winners from this conflict. Initially PACE was expected to
pass a resolution – the fourth since October, 2008 – about the
consequences of the August war, but the process was stalled because of
disagreements over the drafts. Two preliminary drafts of the
resolution were prepared, which, as one PACE members put it,
“significantly differed from each other”. One was prepared by
co-rapporteur on the matter Hungarian MP Mátyás Eörsi and the second one
by another co-rapporteur, British MP David Wilshire. The latter was
strongly criticized by Georgia for having a meeting with South Ossetian
representative in so called embassy of breakaway region in Moscow. The
Georgian delegations said that Wilshire’s decision agree on a meeting at
that venue was putting a reason to question his objectivity in drafting
of the resolution. During the debates, David Wilshire told the
Assembly that “one thing we can usefully do is try not to get hung up on
terminology, on status and on which building the meeting takes place.”
“We want to focus on what is achievable,” he added. In a response to
Wilshire’s remarks, Georgian lawmaker Akaki Minashvili said it was
probably easy to say “let’s leave emotions back” for those people who
“live in London and travel to Moscow”, but it was not easy in Georgia’s
case as Russian artillery “is standing 40 kilometers away from Tbilisi,
from our families and citizens.”
|
27 Apr. '10 |
Girgvliani-Fall wird am europäischen Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte angehört Strasbourg-based
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) held on April 27 a public hearing
into application lodged by the Girgvliani family against Georgia. Enukidze
and Girgvliani v. Georgia involves a murder case of 28-year-old Sandro
Girgvliani in 2006. The case has turned into the key political issue in
2006 and it reemerges time after time in Georgia’s political discourse,
because of persisting allegations that the investigation covered up
possible links of Interior Ministry officials, as well as of wife of
Interior Minister, Vano Merabishvili, to this murder case. Four
officers from Interior Ministry’s Department for Constitutional Security
were convicted for this murder case; they were all pardoned and granted
a pre-term release in September, 2009. Applicants – Irina Enukidze
(mother of Sandro Girgvliani, who died in August, 2007 after lodging the
application) and Guram Girgvliani (the father) – claim that the rights
under article 2 (right to life); article 3 (prohibition of torture);
article 6 (right to a fair trial) and article 13 (right to an effective
remedy) of Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms were violated. Applicants have requested EUR 300,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, RFE/RL Georgian service reported. ECHR said the ruling will be delivered "at a later stage".
|
27 Apr. '10 |
Eine
Gruppe von Abgeordneten kündigt an, bereit zu sein für eine 'breite
Diskussion über den Genozid der Tscherkessen durch das zaristische
Russland in der zweiten Hälfte des 19.Jhs.' >> Völkermord-Genozid A
group of Georgian lawmakers announced on April 26 about the readiness
to launch "broad discussions on cases of the massacres and deportations
of Circassians" by the Tsarist Russia in the North Caucasus in second
half of 19th century. The announcement by the Georgian parliamentary
group of friendship with the peoples of North Caucasus comes a month
after Tbilisi hosted a conference, Hidden Nations, Enduring Crimes: The
Circassians & the Peoples of the North Caucasus Between Past and
Future. The conference was organized by Washington-based Jamestown
Foundation and Tbilisi-based Ilia State University’s International
School for Caucasus Studies with the participants including, among
others, representatives of Circassian diaspora. At the end of the
conference, on March 21, participants made an appeal to the Georgian
Parliament requesting to recognize deportations and massacre of
Circassians more than a century ago as a genocide. "You know that the
international conference was held in Tbilisi in March with consequent
appeal to the Georgian Parliament... We think that the first stage of
these discussions should be an active consultation with our and foreign
academic circles, political experts," a ruling party lawmaker, Nugzar
Tsiklauri, who is a member of the parliamentary group of friendship with
the North Caucasian people, said on April 26. "We deem it necessary to further broaden scope of discussions on the matter both within and outside Georgia," he added. The
appeal also request the Georgian Parliament to declare May 21, "which
marks the Russian celebration of the occupation of the North West
Caucasus in 1864, as a memorial day of the victims of the Circassian
genocide, and to recognize Sochi as the location and symbol of
Circassian genocide and ethnic cleansing." In mid-April, an anonymous
YouTube user posted on its account, launched just a day earlier,
several audio files of what is claimed to be recorded phone
conversations between senior Georgian officials and diplomats,
suggesting that Tbilisi is building contacts with representatives of
North Caucasian communities living outside Russia. Recordings are
allegedly made in mid-December, 2009. In one of the audio files
(several of them are of poor quality and inaudible), which is described
as "a conversation between Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili
and Georgia's ambassador to the United States Batu Kutelia", the man's
voice which is very much similar to the one of Merabishvili tells
interlocutor that there was a misunderstanding and no meeting of the
Georgian President with an Ingush man, identified with a first name -
Ibragim, was planned. "Yes we meet with North Caucasians time after
time, but not the President... We are summoning them separately and
talking with them... Givi [apparently referring to a senior ruling party
lawmaker Givi Targamadze] and [Gia] Tortladze [a lawmaker from
parliamentary minority] usually meet them and I also meet them
sometimes." In another audio file, a man, porportadly MP Givi
Targamadze, alledgeldy speaks with Georgia's ambassador to Egypt and
Syria, Gocha Japaridze and tells him "to find as many as possible North
Caucasian organizations - Circassian, Ingush, Chechen etc." in Egypt and
Syria. "To put it directly, in our Parliament we are intending to
recognize thier genocide... So now we are intensively engaged in
searching for these people everywhere, including in Turkey, Jordan; I
have already spoken with ambassadors there... Now I'm with Vano,
together discussing this matter," the man with voice very much similar
to the one of MP Givi Targamadze tells the interlocutor. On April
23, a day before the 95th anniversary of the start of the massacre of
Armenians in Ottoman Empire was marked, a group of Armenian community in
Tbilisi made a formal appeal to the Georgian Parliament - one of many
other similar appeals made in previous years - requesting to recognize
mass killings of Armenians century ago as a genocide. There has been no
formal response by the Georgian Parliament to those appeals. |
26 Apr. '10 |
Untersuchung
eines Telefongesprächs zum fiktionalen Imedi TV-Bericht vorgestellt:
Anzeichen für Verfälschung durch Löschen von Gesprächsteilen A
recorded phone conversation, implicating President Saakashvili of being
behind Imedi TV’s fake news broadcast on renewed war, is genuine,
although it may have been tampered through deletion of some parts of the
conversation, according to findings of examination by London-based
business intelligence and corporate investigations firm GPW. GPW was
commissioned by Davit Gamkrelidze, leader of New Rights Party, which is
part of opposition Alliance for Georgia, to ascertain the veracity of
the recorded phone conversation between Imedi TV’s managing director
Giorgi Arveladze and his deputy Eka Tsamalashvili. The audio recording
of conversation, which supposedly was held before the fake report was
aired, was posted on a Russian-language website on March 15 – two days
after Imedi TV’s fake report was aired. Both Arveladze and
Tsamalashvili acknowledged that their voices were heard in the recorded
conversation, but they claimed that it was a fabrication. Both have said
that the recording was made through montage and compilation of their
previous, several separate conversations and presented in a manner so
that to implicate President Saakashvili to having links with the fake
report. Arveladze said that it was made by the Russian special services
at a sensitive political period so that to fuel up anti-government
sentiments in the country. Lawmakers from the ruling party adhered to
the same position, rejecting calls for a parliamentary probe. The
report, which was presented by Alliance for Georgia on April 26
(available on a website of the New Rights Party), says that for
linguistic forensic examination of the recording GPW hired Isabel
Picornell, a certified fraud examiner, and Donald Rayfield, Professor
Emeritus of Russian and Georgian studies at Queen Mary College in
London. “Picornell and Rayfield have concluded that the conversation
is genuine. The overall lexical linking is consistent with a single
conversation and both experts have discounted claims that the recording
is a montage,” the report reads. It, however, also says that there
are inconsistencies in the recorded conversation suggesting that the
recording may have been tampered. “These inconsistencies may point to a
deletion of parts of the recording, but there is no evidence of
insertions or additions,” it says. The experts, according to the
report, noted that “the inconsistencies all occur during the part of the
conversation where Mikheil Saakashvili is referenced.” In the
conversation Arveladze mentions “Misha” - a short form for the name
Mikheil, as President Saakashvili is usually referred to – twice. He
tells his interlocutor that it was “Misha” who wanted the fake report to
be aired without any warning to viewers. Arveladze brings up “Misha”
after his deputy Tsamalashvili warns her boss that airing the fake
report without warning would result into violation of the law on
broadcasting. “Both Picornell and Rayfield believe that the
conversation is genuine although inconsistencies might point to
interferences with the recording. However, as Rayfield has stated, even
these inconsistencies can be explained without compromising the
integrity of the recording,” the report says. The report focuses on
the linguistic forensic examination of the recording, rather than on
technical aspects; it, however, says that experts from London-based
firm, BSB Forensics, examined the technical content of the recording in
which each speaker is recorded on a separate channel. “This and other
technical factors strongly indicate that the recording was an intercept
made at a main exchange,” the report reads without giving details of
“other technical factors”. During the presentation of the report in
Tbilisi, leaders from Alliance for Georgia told reporters on April 26,
that the Georgian prosecutor’s office should launch an investigation
into the case. Davit Usupashvili, leader of Republican Party, part of
Alliance for Georgia, said that Arveladze violated number of clauses of
criminal code, in particular through obstructing professional
activities of a journalist; obstruction to entrepreneurship and illegal
activity in entrepreneurship. Usupashvili has claimed that Arveladze,
despite knowing that airing of fake report without warning caption would
have been a violation of law and would have been harmed Imedi
television stations, was still insisting on doing that. He also said
that the case also involved violation of constitutional clauses on the
part of President Saakashvili. He said that Saakashvili violated the
constitutional provision, which says that “interference in creative
process, censorship in the field of creative activity shall be
impermissible”; as well as the provision saying that “mass media shall
be free; the censorship shall be impermissible.” “We should take the
responsibility and undertake concrete legal actions… so that to bring
this case to its end,” said Irakli Alasania, leader of Alliance for
Georgia, who is running for Tbilisi mayor. “This fake broadcast has
traumatized the society; it was a psychological trauma… Taking actions
and bringing this case to its end is a matter of our national dignity,”
he said.
|
24 Apr. '10 |
Georgiens’s Außenhandel stieg im ersten Quartalum 15% an: 1.36 Mrd. USD Georgia’s
foreign trade turnover in first quarter of 2010 was USD 1.36 billion,
up by 15% from last year’s first quarter, the state statistics office,
Geostat, said on April 23. The value of export was USD 339 million,
up by 55% from last year’s first quarter and import was USD 1.02
billion, up by 6% from the same period f 2009. Trade deficit stood at
USD 681 million, which is down by 9%, Geostat said. Turkey remained
the Georgia’s largest trading partner in the first quarter with USD 212
million, followed by Azerbaijan – USD 137 million; Ukraine – USD 127
million; Russia – USD 73.3 million; Germany – USD 73.22 million; the
United States – USD 71.85 million; China – USD 71.5 million; Bulgaria –
42.6 million; Armenia – USD 40.6 million and United Arab Emirates – USD
39.44 million. Ferro-alloys remained the number one Georgian export,
amounting USD 57 million and oil products top the list of imports
totaling USD 119 million in the first quarter of 2010. Meanwhile on
April 24, Georgian PM, Nika Gilauri, said that the government had
revised upward GDP growth forecast and now it expected growth from 3% to
5%, instead of initially forecasted 2%.
|
23 Apr. '10 |
Bürgermeisterwahl in Tbilisi steht im Zentrum des Interesses bei den lokalen Wahlen Am
30.5. werden 64 Stadträte gewählt. Bei der Bürgermeisterdirektwahl in
Tbilisi benötigt der Wahlsieger neben der Stimmenmehrheit auch mehr als
30% Stimmanteil, ansonsten käme es zu einer Stichwahl. Im Mai werden
Fernsehdebatten der Kandidaten erwartet, Termine stehen noch nicht fest.
Die Wahlkampfveranstaltungen der Regierungspartei stehen unter der
Überschrift "A Lot Remains to Be Done". In Tbilisi tritt für sie der
bishereige Bürgermeister Gigi Ugulava an. Gegenkandidaten sind: Irakli
Alasania, Alliance for Georgia, Giorgi Chanturia, Christian-Democratic
Movement (CDM), und Zviad Dzidziguri, Conservative Party. Voters in
Georgia will elect 64 new municipal councils in May 30 local elections,
but the major focus will be on contest in Tbilisi, which will directly
elect its mayor for the first time. Outcome of mayoral contest in the
capital city, where one-third of the country’s voters are concentrated,
is believed to largely determine the country’s political landscape in
run up to presidential elections in 2013, when Mikheil Saakashvili’s
second and final term in office expires. The ruling party has
formally launched campaigning this week from provinces by nominating its
candidates for local councils’ membership in some of the regional
municipalities, including in Samegrelo, Svaneti, and Mtskheta-Mtianeti
regions, as well as in the town of Gori. Ruling party’s outdoor
campaign rallies, led by various senior ruling party officials - in case
of Poti in Samegrelo region Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary chairman,
was involved – were held under the banner reading: "A Lot Remains to Be
Done". No formal campaign has been launched by the ruling party in
Tbilisi as it has yet to officially nominate its mayoral candidate, as
well as candidates for Tbilisi City Council membership; deadline is
April 30. Incumbent mayor, Gigi Ugulava, is expected to stand for
re-election. Ugulava, one of those few senior officials who are regarded
to be part of so called Saakashvili's inner circle, has kept low
political profile in recent months - shunning away from making public
political statements, but instead has been active in creating an image
of an effective executive dealing with daily needs of the Tbilisites. His
opponents complain that Ugulava’s activities in recent months are part
of his undeclared election campaign with use of administrative
resources; similar allegations were also voiced in a report by
Transparency International-Georgia; the report was rejected by Ugulava
himself and in addition the government’s inter-agency task force for
free and fair elections released a detailed rebuttal of the report. Ugulava
in his formal campaign is expected to focus on social issues and
unemployment; he has pointed out these issues as priorities for the
municipality for number of times in his recent public remarks. Opposition
mayoral candidates, which have already launched formal campaign, are
also focusing on social issues in their electoral programs. Irakli
Alasania, leader of Alliance for Georgia, presented last week his
“employment program”, pledging to create at least 50,000 new jobs
through setting up of a municipal fund to help with start-up and
expansion of small and medium businesses. According to the scheme,
presented by Alasania, the municipal fund with worth of total GEL 120
million will provide loans of up to GEL 20,000 with annual interest rate
of 8% and with repayment period of 18 months. According to the
proposal, finances for the GEL 120 million fund will come from direct
municipal funding – GEL 50 million, plus GEL 50 million through issuing
long-term treasury bills and GEL 20 million from donor funding. In
healthcare program, Alasania has pledged to increase funding of the
sector in Tbilisi from GEL 33 million to GEL 117 million in case of his
election. He has promised medicines for children up to 3 years old and
for Tbilisi residents over 65 years old free of charge with limit of GEL
100. He claims it’s possible through creation of chain of municipal
drug stores, which will provide medicines with discount price. A
mayoral candidate, nominated by Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM), a
leading party in the parliamentary minority, Giorgi Chanturia runs the
campaign with a message: “low tariffs and employment”; he has pledged to
significantly cut gas and electricity tariffs and to make water
consumption free of charge. Chanturia tells voters, that in case of
election he would cut gas tariff from current GEL 0.51 tetri for
households per cubic meter to GEL 0.1 and would reduce electricity
tariff, which now varies from GEL 0.135 to GEL 0.177 (depending on
amount of consumed electricity) to GEL 0.05. Chanturia says that
reduction of gas tariff is possible thanks to Georgia’s role in Shah
Deniz gas project from which the country, as a transit route, annually
should receive 5% of transited gas free of charge and in addition 500
million cubic meter from transited gas with reduced price of USD 55 per
1,000 cubic meter. Gogi Topadze, owner of beer producing company and a
founder of Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists), also runs the
campaign focusing on resolving unemployment and social problems. Zviad
Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party, part of National Council
alliance (also including ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s party Movement for Fair
Georgia and Party of People) presented his healthcare program on April
23 pledging basic health insurance for Tbilisi residents and full
package of health insurance for pensioners. Three remaining
candidates are Davit Iakobidze, Georgia’s finance minister in mid-90s,
who was nominated by MP Gia Tortladze’s Democratic Party of Georgia;
Nika Ivanishvili, who was head of traffic police in late 90s, was
nominated by his party, which was established in March and Tamaz
Vashadze, who briefly was Tbilisi mayor, 19 years ago. The Georgian
Public Broadcaster is expected to host live TV debates between the
candidates in May, but arrangements have yet to be agreed. A
candidate winning most of the votes, but not less than 30% will be
declared an outright winner, but a runoff will be required if none of
them garners 30%. Parties are also contesting for 50 seats in the
Tbilisi City Council. 25 seats will be distributed among the parties,
which will clear 4% threshold in the party-list, proportional contest
and remaining 25 will be contested in Tbilisi’s 25 single-mandate
majoritarian constituencies.
|
23 Apr. '10 |
Tbilisi
kritisiert PACE-Beobachter David Wilshire aus Großbritannien wegen
seines Treffens mit einem Vertreter des abtrünnigne Südossetien in
Moskau Georgia has strongly condemned monitor from Parliamentary
Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), David Wilshire of UK, for having a
meeting with South Ossetian official in an embassy of the breakaway
region in Moscow. The Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement
on April 22, the venue of the meeting indicated on Mr. Wilshire’s
“predetermined” and “biased” position towards the issue he was in charge
of. David Wilshire, a co-rapporteurs from PACE’s monitoring
committee on honouring obligations by the Council of Europe member
states, was in Moscow to hold talks with the Russian officials in the
run up to discussions about consequences of the August, 2008 war in PACE
next week. Authorities in breakaway South Ossetia said that Wilshire
met with Tskhinvali’s special envoy for post-conflict resolution, Boris
Chochiev, in the region’s embassy in Moscow on April 20. “Georgia
fully respects the liberty of a parliamentarian; however Mr. Wilshire,
the member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe was
acting in his capacity of the Assembly's co-rapporteur, hence
representing the whole organization. This is the first instance when an
official representative of the international organization holds the
meeting in the premises of the "Embassy" of the proxy regimes,” the
Georgian Foreign Ministry said in the statement. “This act comes in
direct contravention to the main principles of international law, i.e.
the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty and inter alia
undermines the Statute of the Council of Europe, as well as each and
every Parliamentary Assembly's resolution, the implementation of which
the Assembly's Monitoring Committee was tasked to assess,” the statement
reads. “Furthermore, it neglects the position of the Council of Europe
and its' member states who condemned the recognition by Russia of the
Georgian regions: Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and
called the Russian Federation to withdraw its illegal, unilateral
recognition.” “Moreover, it attests that Mr. Wilshire has a
predetermined, biased position towards the issues concerning the
implementation of the Parliamentary Assembly's resolutions on the
consequences of the Russia-Georgia war,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry
said. Davit Jalagania, Georgia’s deputy foreign minister, med with
Tbilisi-based diplomats from CoE-member states, to convey Tbilisi’s
concerns about the matter, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said. Discussions
on consequences of the August war are scheduled at PACE session on
April 28. Heidi Tagliavini, who chaired EU-funded Independent
International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG),
which produced its report in September, 2009, will also address the
session on the same day. PACE has passed three resolutions on
consequences of the August war. The recent one in last September was
calling on Russia to fulfill its obligations, imposed upon it by PACE’s
January, 2009 and October, 2008 resolutions, before the end of 2009. Wilshire,
accompanied by another co-rapporteur on the matter Hungarian MP Mátyás
Eörsi, visited Tbilisi and Sokhumi in mid-April.
|
21 Apr. '10 |
Zwei
hochrangige Beamtet des Innenministeriums wechseln ihre Posten: Erekle
Kodua wird Leiter der Kriminalpolizei, Devi Chelidze wird Leiter der
speziellen Eingreiftruppe Erekle Kodua, who was head of a
powerful special operative department at the Interior Ministry, was
moved to the post of head of criminal police department. Devi Chelidze, who previously served as head of the criminal police department, replaced Kodua. Shota
Khizanishvili, head of the Interior Ministry’s administration, said it
was part of routine staff changes within the ministry. Some Georgian
media sources have speculated recently about disagreements between
Interior Minister, Vano Merabishvili, and Erekle Kodua; Kavkasia TV’s
Report of the Week alleged on April 19 that those disagreements were
highlighted by an arrest of Erekle Kodua’s relative last week for
resisting police orders.
|
21 Apr. '10 |
Bei einem Autounfall bei Zugdidi wurde ein Junge von einem EUMM-Fahrzeug erfaßt und dabei getötet A
boy was killed in a car accident involving an SUV of EU Monitoring
Mission in Georgia (EUMM) in western region of Samegrelo on April 21. An
international staff member of the mission was driving mission’s Nissan
Pathfinder, which hit the boy in the Zugdidi district, according to
EUMM’s spokesperson. The Georgian police investigate the case. All EUMM’s international staff members have diplomatic immunity. “In
the name of the Mission, all staff members as well as in my own name, I
express my heartfelt condolences to the family of the young boy”, EUMM
Head of Mission, Ambassador Hansjörg Haber said in a written statement.
|
20 Apr. '10 |
TV-Gesellschaften Rustavi 2 and Imedi geben ihre Preise für Werbesendezeiten bekannt Price
for a 30-second primetime political advertisement on Georgia's two
leading television stations, Rustavi 2 and Imedi, varies from USD 6,000
to maximum USD 16,000 ahead of the May 30 local elections. UEFA
Champions League's semifinal this month and a final next month leads the
pack in terms of cost - USD 16,000 per 30 second ad - on Rustavi 2 TV,
followed by USD 13,000 for a 30 second slot in 9pm news program Kurieri
and USD 12,000 in weekly Kurieri P.S. Late evening comedy and
entertainment shows follow with USD 10,000. Price of political ad in Rustavi 2 TV is ten times more than price of a standard commercial on the same television station. Rustavi 2 TV, which is the most watched Georgian broadcaster, claims it accounts up to 60% of Georgia's overall TV ad market. A
hugely popular Georgian TV comedy series, Shua Kalakshi, leads the pack
on Imedi TV with USD 15,000 per 30 seconds, followed by other
entertainment and comedy shows with price varying from USD 10,000 to
11,000. 30 second of political ad in Imedi TV's 8pm news bulleting,
Kronika, costs USD 10,000. According to the law ‘qualified’ political
parties (as election code describes them) – those that won at least 4%
of the vote in the last parliamentary elections and at least 3% of the
vote in the last local elections – must be granted 30 seconds of free
airtime for every hour by private television stations and 60 seconds by
the public broadcaster. Opposition candidates running for Tbilisi mayor
are currently using this free airtime for political ads. The ruling
party has yet to formally nominate its mayoral candidate - incumbent
mayor Gigi Ugulava is expected to run for re-election.
|
20 Apr. '10 |
Außenminister
Grigol Vashadze sagt, dass Georgien bereit sei, ein Abkommen auf
Gewaltverzicht mit Russland zu unterzeichnen, nicht aber mit Moskaus
"Kumpanen" Sokhumi und Tskhinvali Georgia is ready to sign
non-use of force treaty with Russia, but not with Moscow’s “cronies” in
Sokhumi and Tskhinvali, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister
said on April 19. Speaking at a news conference at UN headquarters in
New York, Vashadze said signing of this treaty with directly with
Sokhumi and Tskhinvali, as Russia wants it, would be Tbilisi’s mistake,
because it would help to legitimize Moscow’s proxy regimes in the
occupied territories. He said that although there was no “legal
ground” to have a separate non-use of force agreement with Russia, as
there already was August 12, 2008 ceasefire accord, Tbilisi could still
sign it if “Russia is willing to get a supplementary agreement on
non-use of force.” “No problem, Georgia is ready to sign it with
Russia anytime, anyplace,” he said. “But Russia does not want to sign
that agreement; Russia wants us to sign it with representatives of those
regimes in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali and this is out of question, because
of two reasons; first: their [referring to authorities in the breakaway
regions] signature do not have and will not have any legitimacy, they do
not exist; second: if somehow we make this mistake and sign this
agreement, not with the Russian Federation, but with so called states,
then we are adding to their legitimacy and we are not prepared for
that.” He also said that the Georgian government’s strategy, approved
in January, envisaging engagement with the residents of the breakaway
regions, contains “a legal obligation” that Tbilisi will not use force. Vashadze
also said that Tbilisi was ready to engage in direct talks with Moscow,
but the problem was that Russia “claims they will not speak with
Georgia’s democratically elected government.” “We are ready to talk
with Russians anytime, anywhere. We are not afraid to talk to the
Russian Federation,” he said. “Obviously Russia is not coming to the
table, because of a simple reason – they have cornered themselves on
August 26, [when Russia] recognized so called independence of so called
South Ossetia and Abkhazia.” “We are ready to talk without any
preconditions, except of one – they have to learn to respect
international law, territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty
of their neighbors.” He said that Tbilisi had no contacts with
Russians, except of Geneva talks, which, Vashadze said, were “stalled”,
because of Russia’s “irritating policy” of “blocking everything” with
the hands of its Abkhaz and South Ossetian “cronies”. “But still
Geneva talks as a format is indispensable and we will do everything to
sustain that format and we will be flexible and constructive,” Vashadze
said. He also said that “minor” exception in the current absence of
direct contacts between Moscow and Tbilisi was talks late last year,
when it was agreed to reopen Zemo Larsi-Kazbegi border crossing point
between Russia and Georgia. Vashadze said that by doing so Tbilisi
“opted to help our Armenian friends” in having land access to Russia via
Georgia. Two rounds of talks were held in Yerevan, Armenia and
Kazbegi, Georgia in October and December, 2009, respectively, between
the Georgian and Russian officials – one in presence of the Armenian
officials and the second one in presence of Swiss diplomats. With the
diplomatic ties cut since the August war, Switzerland represents
Russia's diplomatic interests in Georgia, as well as Georgia's
diplomatic interests in Russia through respective countries’ interest
sections in the Swiss embassies in Moscow and Tbilisi.
|
19 Apr. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili setzt den USA-Besuch fort und spricht unter anderem in Harvard After
attending funeral of Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, in Krakow on
Sunday, where he arrived from the United States, President Saakashvili
will return back to the U.S. "to continue his very important visit",
Davit Jalagania, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on Monday, He said that President Saakashvili would meet with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. Saakashvili
also plans to address an audience at the Harvard Institute of Politics
and will also travel to Los Angeles to address an annual Milken
Institute Global Conference on April 27.
|
19 Apr. '10 |
Drei Wahlblöcke sind für die lokalen Wahlen registriert Ten parties have been grouped into three election blocs to run in the May 30 local elections on a joint ticket. CEC
said that it had registered Alliance for Georgia, uniting Our
Georgia-Free Democrats; Republican Party; New Rights Party and Georgia’s
Way. Irakli Alasania is the bloc’s candidate for Tbilisi mayor and
ex-public defender, Sozar Subari, is running for the Tbilisi City
Council chairmanship. National Council – the second election bloc –
unites ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia; Party of
People and Conservative Party. The leader of the latter party, Zviad
Dzidziguri is the bloc’s mayoral candidate and leader of Party of
People, Koba Davitashvili, is the City Council chairmanship candidate. Christian-Democratic
Movement, a leading party in the parliamentary minority, led by MP
Giorgi Targamadze, has established an election bloc with On Our Own and
Christian-Democratic People’s Party with a formal name of Giorgi
Targamadze, Inga Grigolia – Christian-Democratic Alliance. Ex-chief of
the state oil corporation, Giorgi Chanturia, is bloc’s mayoral candidate
and former TV anchor, Inga Grigolia, is a candidate for the City
Council chair’s position. 16 other political parties, including the ruling National Movement, will run in the elections independently. The
deadline for formal nomination of mayoral candidates, as well as
candidates for the City Council membership expires on April 30.
|
18 Apr. '10 |
Präsident
Saakashvili verspricht bei einem Telefongespräch mit Roza Otunbayeva,
der Vorsitzenden der Interimsregierung von Kirgistan, Unterstützung in
jeder Angelegenheit Roza Otunbayeva dankte dem Präsidenten für die humanitäre Hilfe. President
Saakashvili spoke by phone with head of the Kyrgyz interim government,
Roza Otunbayeva, to pledge his support, the Georgian President's
administration said on April 17. The phone conversation comes two
days after Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the ousted Kyrgyz president, resigned and
went into exile and nine days after the Georgian President blamed Russia
for meddling in the Kyrgyz developments leading to Bakiyev's ouster. "[Roza
Otunbayeva] thanked the Georgian President for humanitarian aid and
Mikheil Saakashvili, on his part, has pledged assistance in any issue,"
the Georgian President's administration said in a brief statement. Georgia sent humanitarian aid, mainly medicines, to Bishkek on April 11. In
a written statement released on April 12 the Foreign Ministry of the
Kyrgyz interim government thanked Georgia for the aid,but also expressed
its "deep bewilderment" over Georgia's statement suggesting that Russia
was behind the Kyrgyz developments, It said that "discontent
accumulated among the Kyrgyz people because of the actions by the
previous authorities, as well as because of nepotism and corruption"
were the causes of the events, which took place in Kyrgyzstan on April
7. "Despite [Moscow's] denials, according to the information
available for us, it is absolutely obvious that Russia is roughly
interfering with Kyrgyzstan's internal affairs and is trying to play
geopolitical games at the expense of the Kyrgyz people," President
Saakashvili's spokesperson, Manana Manjgaladze, said on April 8. "We
call on all the forces, including those who are in control of the
capital [Bishkek] not to allow outside forces to use you against the
fundamental interests of the country," she added. However, on the
same day, Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said while
speaking at a joint news conference with his Finnish counterpart in
Helsinki: "I do not have any facts, which could possibly prove any
foreign involvement into those [Kyrgyz] events.”
|
17 Apr. '10 |
Amtspersonen: Vulkanasche unterbricht den Abflug der georgischen Delegation nach Polen Flight
ban caused by ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano prevented a group of
Georgian government officials and senior lawmakers, including
Parliamentary Chairman Davit Bakradze, to depart for Poland to attend
memorial service for Polish President plane crash victims in Warsaw on
Saturday, officials said. “It is very unfortunate that we won’t be able to arrive,” Davit Bakradze said in the Tbilisi airport on Saturday. He
said President Saakashvili, who is currently in the United States,
still planned to attend funeral of the late Polish President in Krakow.
“I hope conditions will be better tomorrow and the President will be
able to arrive in Krakow,” Davit Bakradze said. "Attendance of
foreign dignitaries at the memorial service [in Warsaw] was not
envisaged, but the Polish side made an exception for the Georgian side
and invited a high-level delegation; although, unfortunately the
Georgian delegation could not arrive," Konstantine Kavtaradze, Georgia’s
ambassador to Poland, told Rustavi 2 TV.
|
16 Apr. '10 |
OSZE setzt Mission zur Beobachtung der lokalen Wahlen ein OSCE’s
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) has
deployed 16 experts based in Tbilisi and 24 long-term observers will be
deployed from next weekend across the country to monitor pre-election
campaign ahead of the May 30 local elections. In addition, ODIHR
intends to deploy 350 short-term observers immediately prior to the
polls to monitor election day, vote tabulation and other
election-related procedures. Head of the mission is Audrey Glover, a
British diplomat, who was a director of ODIHR in 1994-1997 and served
as head of British delegation to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights for
five years till 2003. She was head of OSCE/ODIHR election observation
missions to Belarus (2004), Kazakhstan (2005), the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia (2006) and Ukraine (2007). "The upcoming
municipal elections will be an important test for Georgia's continued
commitment to holding democratic elections in line with OSCE
commitments," Ambassador Glover said on April 16 in Tbilisi. The
mission will assess the legislative framework and its application,
electoral campaign activities, the media coverage of the campaign, the
performance of the election administration and relevant government
bodies as well as the resolution of election-related disputes. The
mission will produce two interim reports and a report on preliminary
findings will be available on the day after the elections. A final
report will be released eight weeks after completion of the election
process, Ambassador Glover said.
|
16 Apr. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili zur vorgetragenen Kritik bezüglich dem ‘Mißbrauch administrativer Ressourcen’ im Wahlkampf “The
only criticism” expected in address of the authorities in a
pre-election period is allegations about “abuse of administrative
resources,” President Saakashvili told an audience at Washington-based
think-tank, Atlantic Council, on April 15. “But we are going to use
whatever resources we have [in order] to improve people’s life, even if
they say we are abusing it [administrative resources]; OK we are abusing
it, but we’ll still do it; but I think it’s legal,” Saakashvili said. Saakashvili
mentioned “limitation on abuse of administration resources” while
responding a question from the audience about what his administration
was doing to secure free and fair local elections planned for May 30. He
listed limitations on use of administrative resources among other
measures, like providing opposition more airtime through turning public
TV’s second channel into political programming, as well as funding of
parties to allow them to re-check voter lists. “There will always be a
bunch of experts from abroad who will say: ‘Oh, you should stop this
road making, school building and bridge building and healthcare changes
and new hospitals and all kind of stuff, because it’s helping the
government and it’s like spending budget for electoral needs’. I wonder
how Mayor of D.C. or Chicago win their elections. I [say] clearly to
every foreigner: forget it; we will build bridges, we will build roads,
we will build schools, we will make sure people have nicer municipal
infrastructure environment, they have nicer healthcare, better schools
for kids and maybe they’ll vote for us because of that; but that’s their
decision. We take blame for everything that’s not good in Georgia and…
at least we should claim credit for what is left,” Saakashvili said. “I think that will be the only criticism, frankly; I do not think anybody can criticize us on media,” he added. Late
last month, Transparency International-Georgia released a report on use
of administrative resources ahead of the May 30 local elections. The
report notes “an unprecedented increase” in the funding of local
self-government bodies, including of the Tbilisi Mayor’s Office ahead of
the polls. Incumbent Tbilisi Mayor, Gigi Ugulava, who is expected to
run for re-election, said in a rebuttal of the report that his
administration’s policies, including social programs had no electoral
motives. On April 15 Transparency International-Georgia responded
with a statement saying that analyze of use of administrative resources
during election and non-election years revealed “an increase in public
spending during election years.” “The alternative conclusion would be
that not enough money was spent during non-election years and the
[Mayor’s] Office is striving to make amends prior to the elections.
Either way, election-year spending is significantly higher than
non-election year spending,” TI-Georgia said.
|
15 Apr. '10 |
Oppositionsdemonstration vor dem Parlament Einige
hundert Personen sammelten sich, um "die Solidariät gegenüber
denjeinigen auszudrücken", die die Opposition "politische Gefangene" und
"illegal festgehaltene Personen" nennt. Few hundred people gathered
outside the parliament at an opposition-organized rally on April 15 "to
express solidarity" towards, what the opposition calls, "political
prisoners" and "persons held in prisons illegally." The rally was a
follow-up to a joint appeal, which a large group of opposition parties,
both parliamentary and non-parliamentary, made earlier this week calling
on international community and Tbilisi-based foreign diplomats in an
attempt to highlight the problem of "persons held for political
reasons." Although protesters briefly blocked the Rustaveli Avenue
outside the Parliament, the rally dispersed peacefully with no
incidents reported.
|
15 Apr. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili: ‘Direkte Gespräche mit US-Präsident Obama sind nur eine Frage der Zeit’ President
Saakashvili said on April 13 that he was sure his face-to-face meeting
with President Obama was “just a matter of time” and he would definitely
have an opportunity of a lengthy meeting sometime in the future. During
an interview with Fox News on April 13, Saakashvili was asked why did
not he “get one-on-one with the President” Obama. Saakashvili responded,
that during the nuclear security summit in Washington he had an
opportunity “to interact with President Obama.” “And I am meeting at
length with Vice President [Joe Biden] tomorrow,” Saakashvili said about
the meeting which took place at the White House on April 14. “I really had a very good telephone conversation with President Obama [on April 6]. He assured us of his support,” he said. “I
am sure it’s just a matter of time when we have direct talks with him
at the White House or elsewhere, where we can discuss all the issue at
length… I’m really confident it’s gonna happen,” Saakashvili added.
|
15 Apr. '10 |
Alasania: man sollte "ernsthaft über den Aufbau normaler Beziehungen mit Russland nachdenken" Irakli
Alasania, leader of opposition Alliance for Georgia and Tbilisi mayoral
candidate, said he deemed it important “to seriously start thinking
about establishing normal relations with the Russian Federation”,
calling it Georgia’s “vital interest.” “The Russian Federation has a
special role in global security. Georgia, a country which aspires to be
part of European house, has no other way than to take into consideration
in its foreign policy this reality,” he said in an interview with the
Georgian daily, Rezonansi, published on April 15. “Despite the
current difficult situation, which at a glance looks like to be a
deadlock, I think that resources to launch political dialogue between
the Russian Federation and Georgia exist,” Alasania is quoted by the
newspaper. He said that he did not see any sign that the
international community would revise its current policy of
non-recognition of Georgia’s two breakaway regions. “But at the same
time, sooner relations with the Russian Federation are restored, it will
definitely contribute to the security of our country,” he said. “I
think, that today we can raise restoring trade, economic, culture and
humanitarian ties as major issues. And I can tell you directly that this
is a desire of majority of our society and our national interests
should be our first priority. It is in our vital interests to normalize
relations with our neighbor, which possesses nuclear weapon,” he said. Alasania
also said that his meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey
Lavrov, on a sideline of the Munich security conference in early
February was a source of “cautious optimism” for him. “We spoke about
future of Georgian-Russian relations and I have seen his [Lavrov’s]
desire in having more normal relations and in having these relations
based on restoration of mutual confidence. It was during that
conversation, when an opinion was expressed that restoring
trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian relations would be a starting
point for beginning to think about resolving much more problematic and
sharp issues,” he said. “I have also seen that there is not a single issue in bilateral relations that can not be possible to resolve,” Alasania added. “So,
today, when Europe is establishing much closer relations with Russia,
we have to do something based on our interests. We will be able to
better guarantee protection of our national interests, if we manage to
normalize relations with Russia.” He also said that fueling tensions
in North Caucasus was a threat for Georgia too. “So I think there should
be issues of shared interests [between Georgia and Russia],” Alasania
said. “Georgia should become an issue of accord, instead of
confrontation between Russia and the west. It must be a priority of our
foreign policy.” He also said that normalization of relations with Russia would also contribute to a long-term settlement of Georgia’s conflicts. “As
far as occupied territories are concerned,” Alasania said, “I am sure,
that Georgia’s new authorities, which will be able to bring confidence
in relations with Abkhazians and Ossetians, as well as to launch talks
with them on implementing European-funded trade-economic,
communications, infrastructure project, will manage to achieve consent
[of the breakaway regions] on co-existence in a common space. Naturally,
it requires restoring of normal relations with the Russian Federation
and also their [Russians’] contribution to restoring of peace in Georgia
and restoring rights of Georgian population in the occupied
territories.”
|
15 Apr. '10 |
US-Vize-Präsident Biden trifft Präsident Saakashvili U.S.
Vice President, Joe Biden, met with President Mikheil Saakashvili on
April 14 at the White House and thanked for Georgia’s “substantial
contribution” to the Afghan operation, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said. “The
Vice President reiterated the United States' support for Georgia's
sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Vice President encouraged
President Saakashvili's efforts to strengthen Georgia through democratic
and economic reforms designed to ensure stability and prosperity,” the
embassy said. “They discussed the deep and abiding friendship between
the people of the United States and Georgia based on the shared values
of democracy, freedom and respect for human rights,” it said.
|
14 Apr. '10 |
Innenminister gibt bekannt, dass eine kleine Menge angereichertes Uran aufgegriffen wurde Georgia
has foiled illicit trafficking of “a small amount of highly enriched
uranium”, or HEU, last month, the Georgian Interior Ministry said on
April 14. It said that law enforcement agencies seized HEU from “a group of foreign citizens”, who have been detained. The
Interior Ministry has declined a request for details of the case,
saying that “additional information will be available after the
investigation is completed.” The ministry said that Georgia had already informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the case. The
Interior Ministry’s statement comes after the Georgian delegation
announced at the high-profile nuclear security summit in Washington on
April 13 that Georgia foiled eight attempts of illicit trafficking of
enriched uranium during the last ten years, including the recent one in
March, 2010.
|
14 Apr. '10 |
26 Parteien registriert, sich um die lokalen Wahlen zu bewerben Parteien Registered to Run in Local Elections 1. Democratic Party of Georgia; 2. Future Georgia; 3. National-Democratic Party; 4. Political Movement - Solidarity; 5. Our Georgia–Free Democrats; 6. Republican Party; 7. Political Union - New Rights Party; 8. Political Union - Public Democrats; 9. Political Party – Our Country (Chveni Kvekana); 10. Christian-Democratic Movement; 11. Political Union of Citizens - Christian-Democratic Peoples’ Party; 12. Georgian Troupe (Kartuli Dasi); 13. Political Union of Citizens - Public Alliance of Whole Georgia; 14. Political Union 'On Our Own'; 15. Movement – Justice for Georgia; 16. The National Party of Radical Democrats of Georgia; 17. Conservative Party of Georgia; 18. Political Union - Tavisupleba; 19. Georgia's Way; 20. Party of Peoples’ Party; 21. Political Union – United National Movement; 22. Party of Future; 23. Political Movement of Law enforcement Veterans, Patriots and Pensioners – Mamulishvili; 24. Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); 25. Union of Georgian Sportsmen; 26. Movement for United Georgia;
|
13 Apr. '10 |
Inter-Agency Group IATF von der Regierung eingesetzt, um "faire Wahlen sicherzustellen" The
Georgian government announced on April 13 about setting up of an
inter-agency task force for free and fair elections (IATF) in the run-up
to the May 30 local elections. The group, similar to the one which
operated during 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections, is a
rapid reaction mechanism aimed “at enhancing coordination between
various governmental agencies and ensuring that the elections are held
in the most transparent and fair environment,” the government said. It
said that IATF members include senior officials from the Interior
Ministry, Foreign Ministry, Ministry of Justice, State Ministry for
Infrastructure and Regional Development as well as the National Security
Council of Georgia. “The IATF will endeavor to actively engage and
cooperate with domestic as well as international election monitoring
organizations and missions as well as other stakeholders. In a spirit of
constructive cooperation the body will address all concerns and
questions raised by representatives of various monitoring organizations
as well as diplomatic missions,” the government said in a statement.
|
13 Apr. '10 |
Präsident
Saakashvili: ‘Ich wäre verrückt, den imitierten Bericht zu befürworten,
da in dieser Sendung die Hauptsache, die sich ereignet, ist, dass die
georgische Armee Verrat begeht und ich getötet werde ...’ In an
interview with the U.S. radio station, NPR, President Saakashvili has
strongly denied giving approval to a fake TV news report on Imedi TV
channel, which caused a brief panic in Georgia month ago. During the
interview with NPR’s All Things Considered, host asked the President if
he knew about the broadcast in advance. “Everybody knew because they
[the TV station] advertised about the thing the whole week,” Saakashvili
responded. Asked whether he in any way had approved such a
broadcast, Saakashvili said: “I would have been crazy to approve it
because in that broadcast the main thing that happens that Georgian army
betrayed and I was killed… Any government should be crazy to be happy
about those two facts.” Saakashvili was also asked whether the
broadcast was calculated to panic the public and to depict the
opposition as pro-Russian. “The people that depicted there, they are not
running in elections,” Saakashvili responded. He attributed the fake TV
news report to “televisions fight for ratings.” “These days, this is
all about advertising money,” he said. President Saakashvili, who is
in Washington taking part in high-profile nuclear security summit,
alluded to Imedi TV fake report in a speech on April 9 when he signed a
decision on setting up of, as he put it, “a fact-finding commission on
Russia’s 200-year old policy towards Georgia.” “If someone thinks
that bad stories are only in scary, panic-triggering TV broadcasts, I
would advise them to keep a close eye on developments with took place
couple of days ago in one of the former Soviet countries [referring to
Kyrgyzstan],” Saakashvili said on April 9.
|
13 Apr. '10 |
Außenminister Grigol Vashadze: USA werden nie die int. Isolation Georgiens zulassen Die
Teilnahme Georgiens auf dem Gipfel über nukleare Sicherheit in
Washington ist ein klares Zeichen, das Russland es nicht schaffte, sein
Ziel der int. Isolation Georgiens zu erreichen. Georgia’s
participation in nuclear security summit in Washington is a clear sign
that Russia has failed to achieve its goal to internationally isolate
Tbilisi, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister said. The Georgian delegation, led by President Saakashvili is participating in the summit held on April 12-13. “The
most important in the fact that we are participating in this conference
is that despite many efforts, the Russian Federation has failed to
achieve Georgia’s isolation,” Vashadze told Rustavi 2 television station
in Washington. He said that although Georgia “has neither nuclear
arsenals nor nuclear energy” the country was anyway enlisted among
“limited number of countries” taking part in the high-profile summit in
Washington. “We are here first and foremost because it is a political
message, which President Obama also expressed during a phone
conversation with President Saakashvili on April 6; the United States
and the current administration will never allow Georgia’s isolation,”
Vashadze said.
|
13 Apr. '10 |
PACE-Beobachter besuchen Georgien Monitors
from Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) are
visiting Georgia from April 12 to April 16 for fact-finding trip ahead
of discussions of August, 2008 war consequences in PACE later this
month. Mátyás Eörsi and David Wilshire, co-rapporteurs from PACE’s
monitoring committee on honouring obligations by the Council of Europe
member states met with government officials, Parliamentary Chairman
Davit Bakradze and civil society representatives on April 12. On Tuesday
they are visiting war-affected region of Shida Kartli and on April 14
PACE delegation will travel to breakaway Abkhazia. PACE has passed
three resolutions on consequences of the August war. The recent one in
last September was calling on Russia to fulfill its obligations, imposed
upon it by PACE’s January, 2009 and October, 2008 resolutions, before
the end of 2009. A draft agenda of PACE session for April 28 also
includes a statement by Heidi Tagliavini; she led EU-funded Independent
International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG),
which produced its report in September, 2009.
|
12 Apr. '10 |
Oppositionsparteien
verfassen einen gemeinsamen Appell an int. Organisationen und
Diplomaten, um die genaue Beobachtung von Strafverfahren verhafteter
Personen anzumahnen A large group of opposition parties, both
parliamentary and non-parliamentary, made a joint appeal to the
international organizations and foreign diplomats on April 12 to closely
watch court proceedings into cases of persons arrested for, as the
opposition says, political reasons. The joint appeal made on April 12
in particular focuses on the case of brother and a son of Eka Beselia, a
former member of ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili's party,
Movement for United Georgia. Her brother Sergo Beselia and son Rati
Milorava were arrested last August and in December Batumi City Court
sentenced them to 2.5-year and 1.5-year prison term, respectively, for
hooliganism and disobedience to the police orders. Eka Beselia claims
that her brother and son were arrested and convicted because of her
political activities. She quit Okruashvili's party in February to
establish a public movement with a goal "to struggle for illegally
arrested persons' rights and independent judiciary system." Beselia
claims there are 56 people arrested for "political motives" under the
pretext of various criminal charges. The Court of Appeals in Kutaisi
plans to hear the case of Beselia and Milorava on April 16. The
political parties, which signed the joint appeal, said that they plan to
hold a protest rally outside the parliament at 3pm local time on April
15. "There are issues on which we should be united" Nino Burjanadze,
leader of Democratic Movement-United Georgia, said during the signing of
the appeal. "I am glad that this issue united us all," said Koba
Davitashvili, leader of Party of People, part of National Council, which
also includes ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli's party and the Conservative Party. The
appeal, among others, was also signed by Alliance for Georgia;
Christian-Democratic Movement; Labor Party; National Forum;
Industrialist Party and Levan Gachechiladze's public movement Defend
Georgia.
|
12 Apr. '10 |
Amtierender Bürgermeister Gigi Ugulava kommentiert lokale Wahlen Er weist den Bericht von Watchdog zurück und sagt: "Ich tue alles, was ich kann, um faire Wahlen zu garantieren." * Incumbent mayor rejects watchdog’s report; * "I’m doing all I can to ensure fair elections" Gigi
Ugulava, an incumbent mayor, said he would “make a formal announcement
about my candidacy” for mayoral race in May 30 local elections “in the
coming weeks.” Deadline for formal nomination of mayoral candidates expires on April 30. The
ruling party has not yet nominated its candidate. Although Ugulava has
always been regarded as unchallenged candidate of the ruling party,
delay in making a formal nomination has recently triggered rumors that
the ruling elite could be considering other options as well. Ugulava made the announcement through a lengthy English-language statement released on April 12. The
statement was made in response to a report by Transparency
International-Georgia on use of administrative resources ahead of the
local elections. The report notes “an unprecedented increase” in the
funding of local self-government bodies, including of the Tbilisi
Mayor’s Office ahead of the polls. “I welcome the scrutiny from this
group and others. But it is important that discussions of these issues
be based on accurate facts,” Ugulava says. In the statement Ugulava
says that to get full benefits of first-ever direct election of Tbilisi
mayor, people “need to have strong confidence that the election is
conducted in a way that is free and fair.” “I am personally committed
as Tbilisi’s mayor to doing everything possible to ensure this campaign
and election set new standards for openness, transparency, and public
confidence,” he says. The statement includes the list of measures,
which Ugulava says, the authorities have undertaken as part of President
Saakashvili’s pledge to secure transparency and level playing field
ahead of the elections, including rule of electing Central Election
Commission and launching of new political programming on public
broadcaster’s Second Channel. “Despite these and other steps, some
observers – including a recent report by Transparency International (TI)
Georgia – have criticized the way my city administration is doing its
work and carrying out certain programs, and suggested our actions have
electoral motives,” Ugulava says. “Unfortunately, TI’s report contains
factual errors and shows a misunderstanding of our budget process.” Then
the statement addresses some of the allegations laid out in the
TI-Georgia report, in particular the one which says that number of the
Tbilisi Mayor’s Office employees increased by 410, while GEL 5.5 million
was added to the salary fund, suggesting that state money could be used
to employ people, who would be engaged in the ruling party’s election
campaign. Ugulava, however, says that those 410 persons were not new
employees, as they previously worked in various capacities for the
municipal services, or were hired as temporary contracted personnel
before becoming staff members as a result of restructuring process. “Due
to a change in law, many contract employees who have worked for the
city in the past are now classified as staff [members]. TI erroneously
classifies these individuals as new hires,” Ugulava’s statement reads. He
also rejected any suggestion that increase of monthly pensions by GEL
10 for only those pensioners who are registered in Tbilisi was a
violation of law. TI-Georgia report says that the move was against the
law as pension policy is not part of the self-government powers and in
addition it was also discriminatory towards other pensioners living
outside Tbilisi. Ugulava also says that spending was fully in line
with the law, which stipulates that any city spending in an election
year should be approved during the previous year by the City Council.
“We have done that,” he says, adding that social programs were approved
by the Tbilisi City Council during budget deliberations in 2009. Tbilisi
City Council approved the budget in late December. He also claimed
that TI-Georgia report contained implications that that it was somehow
improper for a mayor to take care of the needs of his people or to carry
out any popular initiative, just because it is an election year. “Should
we suspend pensions, stop bus service, cancel garbage pickup, and shut
down the kindergartens whenever there is an election approaching, just
because those efforts are popular? That would be a very odd notion of
democracy,” he says. “The mayoral campaign period began this month,
and I will make a formal announcement about my candidacy in the coming
weeks. Right now, my focus is simply on doing all I can to make Tbilisi a
better city… I am also doing all I can to ensure the election in May is
free and fair. I see no contradiction between the two,” the statement
reads.
|
12 Apr. '10 |
Erklärung durch den Bürgermeister von Tbilisi Source: Tbilisi Mayor's press office The Path to a Free and Fair Election in Tbilisi By Mayor Gigi Ugulava This
year Tbilisi will make history, as we hold our first-ever direct
election for mayor. The change is important not just for Tbilisi, but
for all of Georgia. It is another step forward in the country’s
democratic progress. It means that nearly a quarter of the country’s
population will have a more direct say in local affairs. The direct
mayoral election can encourage people to get more involved in efforts to
make Tbilisi a great regional and international center of culture,
commerce, finance, and tourism. I believe this direct election will
offer an important opportunity for a wide range of candidates to offer
their differing visions for Tbilisi’s future. But to get the full
benefits of this direct election, people also need to have strong
confidence that the election is conducted in a way that is free and
fair. I am personally committed as Tbilisi’s mayor to doing everything
possible to ensure this campaign and election set new standards for
openness, transparency, and public confidence. Along with the
President and Parliament, we have taken major steps toward that goal.
Fulfilling a promise he made to the nation in July, last year President
Saakashvili agreed with the opposition parties on a new consensus method
for selecting the chairman of the Central Election Commission. In
January, the President and Parliament selected a new chairman, Zurab
Kharatishvili, using that process. Mr. Kharatishvili has launched a new
effort to clean the electoral lists in Tbilisi and across the country,
even providing financial resources to the opposition parties to help
with this work. In February, the Public Broadcaster launched its new
“Channel 2,” which is providing extensive air time for the opposition,
in addition to coverage of the Parliament. This will help ensure that
all candidates and parties running in our May election can reach the
public with their messages. In addition, I have welcomed the idea of a
first-ever televised debate among the candidates for Mayor, which will
provide a direct way for the voters to evaluate the range of people
vying for this office. Georgia will also welcome hundreds of foreign
election observers in May, as we have in past elections, to provide an
independent assessment of the voting. Despite these and other steps,
some observers – including a recent report by Transparency International
(TI) Georgia – have criticized the way my city administration is doing
its work and carrying out certain programs, and suggested our actions
have electoral motives. I welcome the scrutiny from this group and
others. But it is important that discussions of these issues be based
on accurate facts. Unfortunately, TI’s report contains factual errors
and shows a misunderstanding of our budget process. For example, TI
claims that 410 staff were added to the Mayor’s Office in 2010, but this
is not the case. TI classifies many staff as “new” to the Mayor’s
Office when in reality they work in other departments or capacities such
as the Architect Service. Additionally, due to a change in law, many
contract employees who have worked for the city in the past are now
classified as staff. TI erroneously classifies these individuals as new
hires. TI also asserts that certain social programs, such as the
city’s pension payments or transport discount cards for the elderly, are
illegal. Not only are they completely legal, they also operated in
previous years – including non-election years. Contrary to the
impression given by the TI report, every tetri of the city’s spending
complies with the national law designed to prevent administrative
resources being used for political purposes. That law requires any city
spending in an election year to be approved during the previous year by
the city council. We have done that. Every program TI mentions was
evaluated and approved by the city council during budget deliberations
in 2009. I am adamant that city administrative resources not be used
for electoral purposes, and I have stressed this across city hall. But I
also am adamant about doing my job as mayor. I reject what seems to be
an implication of the TI report – that it is somehow improper for a
mayor to take care of the needs of his people or to carry out any
popular initiative, just because it is an election year. Should we
suspend pensions, stop bus service, cancel garbage pickup, and shut down
the kindergartens whenever there is an election approaching, just
because those efforts are popular? That would be a very odd notion of
democracy. The fact is, mayors all over the world, including in the
most democratic states, do their best to take care of the needs of their
cities’ residents, right up through Election Day. When Michael
Bloomberg ran for re-election as Mayor of New York City last year, he
touted a new program to retrain and place city residents into jobs, he
started work on a new police station, and he launched a new plan to
improve the city’s subways and buses. Nobody called that
“administrative resources.” They called it “doing the job of mayor.” Are
there advantages to competing for elective office as an incumbent? Of
course. But there are also disadvantages. People hold incumbents
accountable for their records. If there are bad streets, or dirty
playgrounds, or broken buses – all those become reasons to vote against
the incumbent. Particularly after an intensely difficult economic
period, being the incumbent is a mixed blessing. The mayoral campaign
period began this month, and I will make a formal announcement about my
candidacy in the coming weeks. Right now, my focus is simply on doing
all I can to make Tbilisi a better city – to improve services, expand
employment, and make our historic city shine. I am also doing all I can
to ensure the election in May is free and fair. I see no contradiction
between the two. Democracy is about openly and responsibly responding to
the people’s needs. And that is what I am trying to do.
|
11 Apr. '10 |
Tag der Trauer in Georgia zum Tod vom polnischen Präsidenten Kaczynski April
11 was declared a day of national mourning in Georgia to commemorate
late Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife, top brass of the armed
forces and a group of Polish leading politicians killed in a Saturday
plane crash in western Russia. A church service to remember victims
of the plane crash was held in the Catholic Church in Tbilisi attended
by several senior government officials ; people were bringing flowers at
the Polish embassy and signing a book of condolences at a separate
location in Youth Palace. "Georgia lost the greatest friend in the
international community, Poland and Europe lost the greatest
politician," the Georgian president's administration in a statement. "The
President of Georgia lost his personal friend, who cared about Georgia
permanently, a person who was in deep love with Georgia, was our
country’s supporter and an advisor." Lech Kaczynski has been posthumously granted the Title of the National Hero of Georgia.
|
10 Apr. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili: ‘Kaczynski spielte eine erstaunliche Rolle im Kampf für Georgiens Freiheit’ Polish
President, Lech Kaczynski, who died in plane crash in Russia on April
10 “will always be remembered as absolutely outstanding figure of Polish
history, of European history and certainly of the history of my
region,” President Saakashvili said. Speaking with CNN from London
studio, Saakashvili described Kaczynski as a person with “great courage,
big heart and principles.” The Polish President, central bank head
and the country's military chief were among 96 people killed when their
plane crashed as it neared Smolensk airport in western Russia killing
everyone on board. The delegation was en route to commemorate Poles
killed in mass murders in Katyn under orders from Soviet leader Josef
Stalin in 1940. The Georgian President’s administration announced
that Kaczynski was posthumously honored with an award of National Hero
of Georgia for “showing heroism in defending Georgia’s interests”
internationally. The statement also notes about Kaczynski’s role during
the August, 2008, when he, along with presidents of Ukraine and
Lithuania, as well as PMs from Latvia and Estonia arrived in Tbilisi in
show of support. I was a young politicians when I first met him and
since that moment we became close friends and I never called him the
President, I called him Lech,” Saakashvili said in an interview with
CNN. “If I had to name who played an amazing role in terms of
fighting for Georgia’s freedom, for Georgia’s future, I would put
President Kaczynski very high in that gallery. And that’s not an
exaggeration. I think my countrymen feel that way. We have seen his
courage, we have seen his personal commitment,” he said. Saakashvili also said that “there is something incredibly evil” about the tragic death of the Polish President. Asked
what he meant when saying “evil”, Saakashvili responded: “I mean the
way he died. Of course, there is a symbolism in that. I do not want to
comment about it.” “I think ultimately, what he achieved, the legacy
he leaves behind in terms of emotions, politics, human relations, the
warmth of his heart… will outlast everything else and that will be
something, that will stay for generations and generations,” Saakashvili
said. “I think that his ideals will prevail ultimately, good will always defeat evil,” he added.
|
10 Apr. '10 |
Georgien drückt Beleid zu Kaczynski’s Tod aus The Georgian government has expressed its condolences to the Polish people over death of President Lech Kaczynski. The
Polish President was killed when Tu-154 plane, carrying at least 96
people, crashed as it neared Smolensk airport in western Russia killing
everyone on board. “We express our deepest condolences over the loss
of this great person,” Georgian PM Nika Gilauri said at a government
meeting, which started with minute of silence in memory of the Polish
President. “This is a tragedy not only for the Polish people, but for
us as well. President Kaczynski was a patriot of our country too and it
is a great loss for every freedom-loving nation,” Temur Iakobashvili,
the Georgian state minister for reintegration, said. Davit Bakradze, Georgian parliamentary chairman, said Kaczynski was “a brave person, who always stood beside Georgia. “He was Georgia’s great friend. We will never forget August, 2008 when despite risks he arrived in Georgia to stand beside us.
|
9 Apr. '10 |
Außenminister Grigol Vashadze trifft den finnischen Außenminister Alexander Stubb in Helsinki Finland
is in favor of working “very strongly towards” Association Agreement
between EU and Georgia, Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister,
said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart in Helsinki on April 8. Speaking
at joint news conference after the meeting the two ministers said that
Georgia-EU relations, as well as issues related with conflicts in
Georgia and relations with Russia were discussed. The Finnish Foreign
Ministry said in a press release: “Minister Stubb emphasized the
importance of reforms and pointed out that the EU expects Georgia to
hold its local elections in May in keeping with the rules of democracy.” During
the press conference the Georgian Foreign Minister was asked about
Tbilisi’s position on the Kyrgyz developments, in particular whether
Tbilisi thought there was any foreign involvement in those events. “As
far as Georgia is concerned and myself… I do not have any facts, which
could possibly prove any foreign involvement into those events,”
Vashadze said. In a statement released on the evening of April 8 the
Georgian President’s administration blamed Russia for “roughly
interfering” in the internal affairs of Kyrgyzstan and accused Moscow of
playing its “geopolitical games at the expense of the Kyrgyz people”.
|
9 Apr. '10 |
Georgien auf dem US-Russland-Treffen in Prag angesprochen US-Regierungsberater
McFaul sagte: "Präventionsmechanismen, Alarm, all derartige Dinge, die
wir zur Entschärfung eines möglichen Konflikts haben, den wir sich
zusammenbrauen sehen, haben, lieber als nachher nur darauf zu reagieren.
Und Georgien war heute in jener Disskussion angesprochen worden. Georgia
was raised during the U.S.-Russia summit in Prague in the context of
those issues on which the two countries have disagreements, a White
House senior advisor said. U.S. and Russian Presidents Barack Obama
and Dmitry Medvedev signed a new arms deal on April 8 to restrict the
number of nuclear weapons each country holds. “I think we've made
remarkable achievement in a short amount of time. But I also want to
underscore we also talked about the things that we disagree about,”
Michael McFaul, President Obama's senior director for Russian affairs,
told reporters in Prague on April 8. In this context, he said, that “Georgia came up today again.” He also said that crisis prevention mechanisms in Europe needed to be strengthened. “Prevention
mechanisms, alert, all those kinds of things that so when we see a
potential conflict brewing we have ways to defuse it, rather than just
reacting to it afterwards. And Georgia was invoked today in that
discussion,” McFaul said.
|
8 Apr. '10 |
Abgeordnete
senden int. Appell an die Abgeordnete von 31 Ländern: Abchasien und
Südossetien sollen als von Russland besetzte Gebiete erklärt werden der Appell: Brief vom Kommittee für auswärtige Beziehungen des georgischen Parlaments - weitere Appelle des Parlaments Georgian
parliamentary committee for foreign relations has requested lawmakers
from 31 countries to “declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and
recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia” in those
territories. “We sincerely hope that you can adopt appropriate
statements of support on these matters,” a letter by the parliamentary
committee reads. The letter, according to the parliamentary committee
for foreign relations, was sent to its counterpart committees of
legislative bodies from 20 EU-member states, plus Norway and Island, as
well as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, New Zeeland, South Korea,
Japan, Israel and the United States. “Russian policy continues to
pursue the systematic undermining of Georgian sovereignty, the increased
militarization of the territories Moscow has occupied, and the
justification of ethnic cleansing campaigns used against Georgians in
those territories. All components of this policy seek to derail
Georgia’s progress and ongoing efforts at reform, as well as Georgia’s
Euro-Atlantic foreign policy alignment,” the letter reads.
|
8 Apr. '10 |
Acht oppositionelle Aktivisten vom "National Council" freigelassen, nachdem sie mit einer Geldstrafe belegt wurden Eight
activists from National Council, a coalition of Movement for Fair
Georgia, Conservative Party and Party of People, were detained after a
scuffle with the police on April 8. One of them, a political
secretary of Party of People, Alexander Shalamberidze, was released
after “a verbal reprimand” for violation of public order. Seven others
were released after the court fined them with GEL 400 each. The
incident in the suburb of Tbilisi, Digomi, started when National Council
leaders, including Zurab Nogaideli of Movement for Fair Georgia; Koba
Davitashvili of Party of People and Zviad Dzidziguri of Conservative
Party, accompanied by their respective party activists failed to obtain
their election campaign-related materials from a printing house. The
printing house was sealed up, allegedly by tax service and its entrance
was sealed off by the police, which barred National Council leaders and
activists from entering into the printing house. After that the
opposition activists, which claimed that the authorities sealed up the
printing house deliberately to obstruct National Council’s election
campaign, tried to block traffic on nearby street, but the police
intervened triggering a minor scuffle between the police and activists. Zurab
Nogaideli, ex-PM and leader of Movement for Fair Georgia, said the
incident demonstrated once again the authorities attempts “to terrorize”
opposition activists ahead of May 30 local elections. “But no one will be able to frighten us… We will destroy these authorities,” Nogaideli said. The
National Council complained for number of times recently that the
authorities were targeting printing houses where the National Council
was printing its election-related materials.
|
8 Apr. '10 |
Moskau und Tskhinvali unterzeichnen ein Abkommen zu russischen Militärbasen Moscow
and Tskhinvali signed on April 7 an agreement according to which Russia
will operate military base in the breakaway region for 49 years. According
to the agreement, signed by Russia’s Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov
and Defense Minister of breakaway region Yuri Tanayev, the military
base will protect “sovereignty and security of South Ossetia” and “to
counter acts of armed attacks by international terrorist formations.” A similar agreement on operation of a military base in Abkhazia was signed between Moscow and Sokhumi in February, 2010. The
Georgian Foreign Ministry said that such agreements “signed between the
occupant country and the proxy regime created” by Russia “has no legal
effects and is invalid.” “Instead of carrying out its international
obligations, Russia strengthens military presence on the occupied
territories of Georgia and tries to place the process of creation of
military bases for its occupation troops within ‘quasi legitimate’
frames,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry’s statement reads. “At the
same time, it is obvious that such actions of Russia just only promote
destabilization in the region and create the favorable ground for
constant provocations on the part of Russia and proxy regimes.”
|
8 Apr. '10 |
Georgien strebt Visa-freien Reiseverkehr mit der EU für 2013 an President
Saakashvili said it was his "ambition" to achieve visa-free access to
Europe for Georgian citizens before the end of his presidential term in
2013. "It is real," he told an audience at an opening ceremony of European House in Tbilisi on April 7. ”We
are moving towards, at first, having simplified visa regime and then
visa-free movement with Europe... and also towards having free trade
regime between Georgia and rest of the Europe. It is possible to
achieve. It is now already undergoing bureaucratic procedures and we
will accomplish these procedures," he said. Georgia has already
negotiated visa facilitation and readmission agreements with EU; signing
and entry into force of these agreements are undergoing through EU’s
internal decision-making procedures. President of the European
Council Herman Van Rompuy said on March 16 that it would be "soon
possible" to launch talks with Georgia on Association Agreement,
including a deep and comprehensive free trade treaty.
|
7 Apr. '10 |
Ex-Premierminister
Zurab Nogaideli: ‘Wählfälschung könnte Innenminister Merabishvili sogar
das Leben kosten ... Dies ist eine Warnung und ein Versprechen’ Ex-PM
Zurab Nogaideli, who leads Movement for Fair Georgia, warned Interior
Minister Vano Merabishvili against ballot fraud in May 30 local
elections saying it “may cost him his life.” “Thanks god it is not up
to Vano Merabishvili to define a winner in the elections; it is up to
the Georgian society,” Nogaideli told journalists after he was asked to
comment Merabishvili’s remarks in a newspaper interview saying that the
opposition was not popular and would fail to succeed in the upcoming
elections. “If Vano [Merabishvili] has election fraud on his mind it will cost him much, it may even cost him his life,” Nogaideli said. “This is a warning and a promise,” he added. “Nobody in Georgia needs to be taught by Saakashvili and Merabishvili – two cowards - how to behave,” Nogaideli said. Nogaideli’s
party Movement for Fair Georgia is in an alliance with Party of People
and Conservative Party. The alliance, known as National Council, said it
would chose its Tbilisi mayoral candidate on April 9 after a public
opinion survey between Conservative Party leader, Zviad Dzidziguri and
Koba Davitashvili, leader of Party of People.
|
7 Apr. '10 |
EU-Erweiterungskommissar Štefan Füle besucht Georgien European
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan
Füle, will arrive in Tbilisi on April 7 for a two day visit as part of
his first trip to South Caucasus countries. "Georgia is an important
partner country within the European Neighbourhood Policy... This
important visit will provide me with one more opportunity to stress the
EU commitment to territorial integrity of Georgia," he said in a
statement on April 6. During the visit Füle and Georgia's State
Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration, Giorgi Baramidze, will sign a
memorandum of understanding on allocation of EUR 180.29 million support
from EU for the period 2011-2013. According to EU Delegation to
Georgia, the funding will support the strengthening of democratic
institutions, focusing also on media freedom, political pluralism, human
rights and civil society. It said that "considerable part of these
funds" is aimed at continued reforms in the justice system, management
of the public finances, as well as export and investment promotion,
including through market and regulatory reforms and preparationgs for a
future Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the EU.
|
7 Apr. '10 |
Obama dankt Georgien für Truppenentsendung nach Afghanistan U.S.
President Barack Obama called President Saakashvili on April 6 to thank
for Georgia's "significant contribution" in the Afghan operation, the
White House said. "The President relayed the strong support of the
United States for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They
discussed the importance of all sides avoiding provocative actions to
build stability in the region," the White House said in a statement. "The
President appreciated President Saakashvili’s continuing commitment to
democratic and economic reforms in order to fulfill the promise of the
Rose Revolution." The White House also said that the two presidents
also discussed Nuclear Security Summit in Washington planned for April
12-13. President Saakashvili will be among leaders and senior officials
from 47 countries participating in the summit. The Georgian
President's administration said that during the phone conversation
President Saakashvili thanked the U.S. President for inviting him to
take part in the summit. Georgian President's spokesperson said on
March 23 that a bilateral meeting between the Georgian and U.S.
presidents was "not ruled out" on a sideline of the summit. However,
as of April 6 President Obama's schedule of bilateral meetings on
sideline of the summit does not include the one with President
Saakashvili. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs listed planned meetings
with leaders from nine countries, including with President Sargsyan of
Armenia and President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan. The Georgian
President's administration said in a statement that during the phone
conversation regional security and Georgia's democratic reforms were
also discussed. "The Presidents also spoke about the ongoing reforms
in Georgia and the importance of the upcoming local elections. President
Saakashvili thanked President Obama for America's continued assistance
in helping to build an enduring liberal democracy in Georgia," the
Georgian President's administration said. "Both Presidents reaffirmed
that a stable and democratic Georgia was a key to regional peace,
cooperation, and progress," it added. Meanwhile in Tbilisi senior
U.S. military officials held talks with the Georgian counterparts on
April 6 to discuss details of deployment of Georgian infantry battalion
in the province of Helmand alongside with the U.S. marines. Commander
of the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, Lt. Gen. Richard F. Natonski
and Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces in Europe Brig. Gen. Paul W.
Brier met with Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Nodar Kharshiladze and
chief of joint staff Devi Chankotadze. Deployment of 31st infantry
battalion next week will mark increase of number of Georgian troops in
Afghanistan up to 950, making Georgia the largest per capita contributor
to the Afghan operation. Georgia sent 175 soldiers to Afghanistan to
serve under the French command last November.
|
6 Apr. '10 |
Präsident
Saakashvili stellt für den Schulunterricht Plan vor, nach dem
Englischunterricht und Computerunterstützung ab der ersten Schulklasse
beginnen soll President Saakashvili said English language classes
would become compulsory from the first grade in schools and every
first-grade schoolchild would be given XO mini-laptop from next year as
part of “linguistic and computer revolution” plan. Speaking at a
televised meeting of government in Kutaisi on April 6, he said the
current practice of starting teaching children English language in
schools from fifth and sixth grade was “anachronism”. “It limits
opportunities for our future generations,” Saakashvili said. “From next
year, English-language classes will be compulsory from the first grade
in each and every school in Georgia… It also means that we should train
many Georgian English language teachers.” Saakashvili called on the
Georgian television stations to broadly use the practice of broadcasting
English-language movies with subtitles and without voiceover
translation. “If you look where English is spoken better, you will
find that it is in those countries, where movies are [screened] with
subtitles – Holland, Scandinavian countries and others,” he said. The
Education Ministry has launched a project - Teach and Learn with
Georgia – with an aim to recruit 1,000 native English speakers who will
be willing to teach Georgian schoolchildren English language for the
years of 2010-2011. Holding a XO laptop in his hand, Saakashvili said
that from September of next year every first-grade schoolchild would be
given these mini-laptops, instead of textbooks, which are distributed
among schoolchildren as part of a project called “President’s Gift”. “We should plan a computer and linguistic revolution,” he said. “That
is our next big challenge in terms of Georgia’s modernization. You may
have thought that [May 30 local] elections were your next big challenge,
but it may not be so,” Saakashvili added. “Elections will pass; there
will be results – all these are temporary; the most important is what we
will create for future generations.” XO laptops, developed by a U.S.
non-profit organization, One Laptop Per Child, will also be offered to
schoolchildren living in Georgia’s breakaway regions, Saakashvili said. “As
part of our new strategy we are offering Russian occupying force… that
we will bring these [mini-laptops] on the condition that there will be
international control so that to prevent them [referring to Russian
forces] from throwing them [mini-laptops] at each other or throwing them
back to us and we are ready to distribute laptops among children, who
remain in occupied territory,” Saakashvili said. “We are offering
them not only healthcare or people-to-people contacts, but also very
concrete material values; of course we are talking about millions and we
are ready to spend these millions for children, whom we consider part
of our future. It is not their fault what is going on there,” he added.
|
6 Apr. '10 |
Zentrale Wahlkommission reduziert die Zahl der videoüberwachten Wahlbüros; diese sollen nur in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi sein Central
Election Commission (CEC) has decided to reduce number of those polling
stations by 200 where video cameras will be installed to record
election day procedures during May 30 local elections. CEC decided on April 3 that video cameras will be installed only at the polling stations in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi. CEC
cited a recommendation by Council of Europe’s (CoE) advisory body for
legal and constitutional issues, Venice Commission and OSCE’s Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). In their joint
draft opinion released last October on Georgia’s election code, ODIHR
and Venice Commission said that they “do not recommend use of video
cameras in polling stations due to possible intimidation of voters, even
if video cameras are not directed at polling booths.” As in the 2006
local elections, some thousand polling stations were equipped with two
video cameras each during the January 5, 2008 presidential election. The
same practice was used during the May 21 parliamentary elections in
2008. There have been cases, however, when the opposition was
complaining about limited access to the recorded footage and absence of
cameras in those polling stations where most irregularities were
occurring. Last February the New Rights and Republican opposition
parties presented their views on election code amendments, which were
met mainly positively by other opposition groups and which, among other
issues, were also calling for installing cameras at all polling stations
with full and unrestricted access to video recordings. In its final
report on January 5, 2008 presidential elections, OSCE/ODIHR election
observation mission said that at 63 polling stations, visited by the
mission observers, “the placement of the video cameras was such that it
did not ensure the secrecy of the vote.” A similar report, covering May
21, 2008 parliamentary elections, contains no such observation. According
to the law, election observers and other election stake-holders present
at a polling station have the right to access polling station footage,
but they have to indicate a concrete time for an alleged violation and
will only be given access to that particular, 15-minute portion of the
footage, according to the amendments. In its final report on May 21
parliamentary elections, OSCE/ODIHR recommended CEC to provide
“unrestricted access to official footage at the request of any
complainants or public bodies” should video surveillance cameras
continue to be used.
|
6 Apr. '10 |
Erstes Treffen des interparlamentarischen Georgien-NATO-Rates An inaugural meeting of Georgia-NATO Inter-Parliamentary Council was opened in Tbilisi on April 6 The Council was established to coordinate all NATO Parliamentary Assembly activities related to Georgia. Members
from NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s committee on civil dimension of
security, in particular from democracy, good governance and the rule of
law subcommittee, are visiting Georgia to take part in the Council
meeting. The delegation plans to meet with Georgian State Minister
for Euro-Atlantic Integration Giorgi Baramidze, State Minister for
Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili and PM Nika Gilauri. Meeting with
opposition representatives is also planned. The delegation will also visit EU Monitoring Mission headquarters and its field office in Gori.
|
3 Apr. '10 |
36 Parteien beantragten die Teilnahme an den lokalen Wahlen 36
parties have submitted applications to the Central Election Commission
(CEC) for registration to run in the May 30 local elections. Labor
Party, National Forum and Nino Burjanadze’s Democratic Movement –
United Georgia are not among them. These parties have said that they
would not run in the local elections. The deadline for submitting applications expired at 6pm on April 3. Those
parties, which have not run in the 2008 parliamentary elections, or
have no representative in the Parliament will have to submit list of
30,000 signatures of supporters for registration before April 10; CEC
has a deadline before April 13 to register or to refuse in registration. Then
the registered parties will have a deadline before April 17 to
establish an election bloc and ran in the election on the joint ticket.
For example, New Rights Party, Republican Party and Our Georgia-Free
Democrats, which are united in the Alliance for Georgia will likely set
up an election bloc. The same is expected in respect of National
Council, which among others also includes ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s
Movement for Fair Georgia, Conservative Party and Party of People. All
of them have applied for registration to the CEC.
|
3 Apr. '10 |
Liste der Parteien, die an den lokalen Wahlen teilnehmen wollen 1. Democratic Party of Georgia 2. Future Georgia 3. National-Democratic Party 4. The Merab Kostava Society 5. Political Movement - Solidarity 6. Political Union – Patriot Order Samshoblo 7. Political Organization - Mamuli 8. Greens Party of Georgia 9. Our Georgia–Free Democrats 10. Republican Party; 11. Political Union - New Rights Party; 12. Political Union - Public Democrats; 13. Political Party – Our Country (Chveni Kvekana); 14. Christian-Democratic Movement; 15. Political Union of Citizens - Christian-Democratic Peoples’ Party; 16. Political Union of Citizens - Labour Council of Georgia; 17. Georgian Troupe (Kartuli Dasi); 18. Political Union of Citizens - Public Alliance of Whole Georgia; 19. Political Union 'On Our Own'; 20. Movement – Justice for Georgia; 21. Party – Neutral Georgia; 22. Political Union of Citizens – Georgian Laborers Rights Defence Party; 23. The National Party of Radical Democrats of Georgia; 24. Conservative Party of Georgia; 25. Political Union - Tavisupleba; 26. Georgia's Way; 27. Party of Peoples’ Party; 28. Political Union – United National Movement; 29. Party of Future; 30. Political Movement of Law enforcement Veterans, Patriots and Pensioners – Mamulishvili; 31. Industry Will Save Georgia (Industrialists); 32. Union of Georgian Sportsmen; 33. Conservative (Monarchist) Party of Georgia; 34. Movement for United Georgia; 35. Political Union of Georgian Lawyers; 36. People's Party
|
3 Apr. '10 |
Teile der Opposition in Gesprächen zu ‘Spielregeln’ nach dem Vorschlag von Sozar Subari von der Allianz für Georgien Sozar Subari und Levan Gachechiladze sprachen u.a. mit Gogi Topadze, Zurab Nogaideli, Kakha Kukava und Koba Davitashvili. Sozar
Subari of Alliance for Georgia and Levan Gachechiladze, founder of
public movement Defend Georgia, launched on Saturday consultations with
some of the opposition groups on proposals laid out by Subari in his
newspaper article few days ago. After meeting with Industrialist
Party leadership and its mayoral candidate Gogi Topadze, Subari and
Gachechiladze are meeting with leaders from a collation known as
National Council, including ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli, Kakha Kukava of
Conservative Party and Koba Davitashvili of Party of People. Sozar
Subari said that it was “an initial stage of consultations.”
Gachechiladze said that at this stage “there are no talks on
personalities”. “We should at first agree on rules of the game,” said
Gachechiladze, who announced earlier that he would support a mayoral
candidate, which will be backed by broader opposition coalition.
|
2 Apr. '10 |
Gespräche mit Oppositionsgruppen zum Vorschlag von Sozar Subari von der Allianz für Georgien geplant Sozar
Subari, co-chair of Alliance for Georgia, said he would start
consultations with number of opposition parties running in the elections
to discuss his proposals laid out in a newspaper article on March 31. Subari,
who is Alliance for Georgia’s candidate for Tbilisi City Council
chairmanship, offered that he would withdraw from the race and support
other candidate from other opposition group in exchange if others
support Alliance for Georgia’s leader Irakli Alasania’s mayoral
candidacy. Levan Gachechiladze, a founder of public movement Defend
Georgia, welcomed Subari’s move as “a step towards broad agreement”
within the opposition. He, however, said would not run for City Council
chairmanship. National Council – a grouping of several opposition
parties, including ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s Movement for Fair Georgia;
Conservative Party and Party of People – said it was ready to consider
Subari’s proposal. But it also said that that it was still in favor of
selecting a single candidate through public opinion survey, instead of
unconditionally supporting Alasania. Leader of Industrialists Party,
Gogi Topadze, who is also a mayoral candidate, said he would also engage
in the consultations. Topadze said an agreement on a single candidate
was hardly possible, “but if such an agreement is achieved, we are ready
to join it.” In late February Alasania himself tried to achieve an
agreement on a single mayoral candidate with other opposition groups,
but his attempt failed to bring any result, even triggering a brief
internal dispute within the Alliance for Georgia. Subari’s move to
some extent is similar to the previous attempt by Alasania. Difference,
however, is that if previously the proposal involved talks on defining
terms for selecting a single mayoral candidate, now Alliance for Georgia
says others should support Alasania and in exchange it will support
other opposition representative for the City Council chairmanship. The
proposal also involves agreement on single candidates for majoritarian
contest in Tbilisi’s 25 single-mandate constituencies. Remaining 25
seats in the Tbilisi City Council are contested based on party-list,
proportional system. Another difference seems to be a softening
stance on ex-PM Zurab Nogaideli’s role. While previously Subari and two
other members of the Alliance for Georgia – Republican Party and New
Rights - were proposing talks based on formula “all minus one” –
referring to Nogaideli – now they say that such formula was not relevant
to the current context, because Nogaideli himself was running neither
in mayoral race, nor in majoritarian contest for City Council
membership. They also say that the proposal is not about setting up of
united electoral bloc, but about reaching an agreement on “rules of the
game” so that not to split overall opposition vote. Nogaideli said that any ultimatum, similar to the one, which was set previously by the Alliance for Georgia was unacceptable. “Everyone knows there is no victory without us,” he said. Christian-Democratic
Movement (CDM), a leading party in the parliamentary minority group,
said Subari proposal was “counterproductive” and “a waste of time” and
added that it was now occupied with its election campaign. CDM has
nominated ex-chief of state oil corporation, Giorgi Chanturia, as
Tbilisi mayoral candidate and ex-TV anchor, Inga Grigolia, as a
candidate for Tbilisi City Council chair’s position. “I think we have a great chance for a victory in Tbilisi,” Grigolia said on April 2.
|
1 Apr. '10 |
Tbilisi protestiert gegen Moskau's Pläne für einen Hubschrauberlandeplatz in Südossetien Georgia
condemned Moscow's plans to build two heliports in breakaway South
Ossetia and called on the international community "to take decisive
measures" to stop further militarization of the region. Russian
governmental website for state procurements posted on March 12 an
announcement for a tender to build heliports - one in Java district and
another one in Akhalgori district of the breakaway region. "Georgia
expresses its strict protest over Russia's destructive actions and calls
on the international community to take decisive measures in order to
prevent militarization of Georgia's occupied regions, infringement of
Georgia's sovereignty as well as occupation and annexation of its
integral territories," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on March 31. "The
creation and development of military infrastructure on the occupied
territories represents a flagrant violation of the fundamental norms and
principles of International Law and the 6-point Ceasefire Agreement,"
it said. The Foreign Ministry also said that "uncontrolled flight of
military helicopters in Georgian airspace poses a threat to the security
of international civil aviation."
|
1 Apr. '10 |
Ombudsmann Giorgi Tugushi macht seinen Menschenrechtsbericht 2009 bekannt The Public Defender’s Office submitted this week a report on human rights record in Georgia covering second half of 2009. A
significant part of the 328-page report addresses situation in the
prison system and detention centers, saying that penitentiary system
“still remains one of the problematic issues.” The report says that
“extremely overcrowded” cells represents one of the major problems. The
report lists eight facilities where number of inmates exceeds its
capacity limit. ”Overcrowding in several facilities causes unbearable
conditions, which in some cases can be described as inhuman treatment
of inmates,” the report reads. The Public Defender’s Office says that
although ongoing process of building new facilities will help to ease
the problem, it is not a solution. The report instead calls on the
authorities to drop the policy of “zero tolerance” towards any type of
offense. The report notes increase of complaints submitted by inmates
to the Public Defender’s Office about their mistreatment by prison
officials. In respect of the judiciary system, the report says that
the Public Defender’s Office has analyzed number of criminal and
administrative cases heard by the courts. “Lack of proper
justification of interim rulings and final verdicts represent one of the
most problematic issues in the judiciary system,” the report reads. It
says that during the analyzing of criminal cases heard in the courts,
this problem has been revealed for multiple times “indicating that
insufficient justification of decisions is a systematic problem.” According
to the report it “often” happens, when a judge declines motions
submitted by defendant’s attorney lawyer, simply citing that motions are
unjustified, but a judge does not give a detailed explanation. In
respect of police, the report says that there have been cases of
mistreatment of detainees by the police in the reporting period. The
Public Defender’s previous report, covering the first half of 2009,
noted increase of such cases, as well as misuse of power by the police
in western Georgia. “The same trend is observed in the second half of 2009 as well,” the report says. The
report says that the Public Defender’s Office is aware of seven cases
of physical and verbal assaults on religious minority groups that took
place in the reporting period with six of them against Jehovah’s
Witnesses and one against evangelical Protestant group. The report says that no one has been held responsible for this type of assaults in the reporting period.
|
|