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| 30 Sep. '10 | Tbilisi schwächt den Ton in den Vorwürfen bezüglich der Besetzung von Ackerland ab
The
Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs revised its earlier statement,
which accused Russian forces in breakaway South Ossetia of grabbing
plots of land on the Georgian-controlled area, by toning it down.
The
initial written statement, posted on the ministry’s website on
September 29, accused Tskhinvali-based Russian Federal Security Service
troops of carrying out “illegal ‘border demarcation works’” and seizing
“additional territory” by moving “forward the line of occupation in
Shida Kartli region.” It also said that at least 30 hectares of farmland
were occupied by the Russian forces close to five villages at the
administrative border line.
Late in the evening on September 29 a
revised statement was posted on the ministry's website in which there is
no mention of accusation involving seizing of farmlands.
It,
however, accuses the Russian troops of “illegal ‘border demarcation
works’ in Shida Kartli region”, which is described as “a clear
provocation.” The move, the ministry said, “will further limit the free
movement in the region for the local population.”
“It is important to
note that the illegal ‘border demarcation works’ by Russian
occupational forces will also significantly hinder water supply to the
adjacent territories, namely to village [of] Ditsi,” the Interior
Ministry’s statement reads.
A source familiar with the matter told
Civil.ge that the new demarcation line, set by the Russian troops on
September 29, now coincides with Soviet-times administrative borders of
former Autonomous District of South Ossetia. After it was confirmed, it
is understood that Tbilisi had to backtrack on the matter by giving up
initial intention to press on the issue.
Whatever the circumstances
of the matter might be, the new development means that, among other
areas, three abandoned houses in the village of Ditsi have now fallen on
the Russian-controlled area and owners of those houses are now eligible
for financial compensation by the Georgian government.
After the
August, 2008 war and following recognition of South Ossetia by Moscow,
Russian forces in the region started building border infrastructure in
line with administrative borders of former Autonomous Republic of South
Ossetia. The only location where Russian troops keep a checkpoint beyond
the region’s administrative border is village of Perevi, controlling an
important road in that western part of the breakaway region’s
administrative border.
|
| 29 Sep. '10 | Russische Truppen in Tskhinvali streiten den Besetzung von Ackerland ab
Tskhinvali-based
border guard forces of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) have
denied Tbilisi's allegation of seizing plots of land on the
Georgian-controlled territories adjacent to breakaway South Ossetia.
The
Georgian Interior Minister said that the Russian forces started early
September 29 "illegal ‘border demarcation works’ by putting steel poles"
in several villages at the administrative border line and in the
process seized at least 30 hectares of farmland..
"The Russian forces
are not conducting any demarcation works on the South Ossetian border
with Georgia," a brief statement, posted on a website of the breakaway
region's authorities, said.
|
| 29 Sep. '10 | Innenministerium: Russland hat 25 Hektar an Südossetien angrenzendes Ackerland besetzt
Russian
troops in breakaway South Ossetia are conducting, what they call,
“border demarcation” and in the process grabbing plots of land on the
Georgian-controlled territories, the Georgian Ministry of Internal
Affairs (MIA) said in a statement on September 29.
“Russian
occupational forces started to seize additional territory and move
forward the line of occupation in Shida Kartli region,” it said.
“Russian
FSB [Federal Security Service] troops are conducting illegal ‘border
demarcation works’ by putting steel poles in villages [of] Kvemo Nikozi,
Zemo Nikozi, Ditsi, Arbo and Kordi.”
The Interior Ministry said that
25 hectares of farmland was occupied by the Russian troops in Kvemo
Nikozi, south from Tskhinvali.
It also said that houses of three
local families, as well as pastures, irrigation canal and a water well
“have been placed on the other side of the illegal ‘demarcation line’”
in the village of Ditsi; 5 hectares of farmland in the village of Arbo
and half hectare of land in the village of Kordi have also been grabbed,
according to the Interior Ministry.
A spokesperson of EU Monitoring
Mission in Georgia (EUMM) told Civil.ge that situation on the ground was
“calm and quiet”. The spokesperson also said the mission was not able
at this stage to report on details as EUMM monitors were currently
“looking into the situation”.
|
| 29 Sep. '10 | Bericht
von zwei Experten des Europarats spricht von "ernsthaften Defiziten" in
der Aufklärung von Fällen vermißter Personen seit August 2008
A report by two experts,
recruited by Council of Europe (CoE) Human Rights Commissioner,
highlights “serious shortcomings” in the process of clarifying the fate
of persons, missing since the August, 2008 war, said Commissioner Thomas
Hammarberg, who released the report on September 29.
Two experts -
an officer from the Australian Federal Police and another from the
French National Police, both with experience of investigating serious
crimes and crimes of war – were sent to Georgia by the Commissioner in
March to monitor how the cases of missing persons were investigated in
Tbilisi and Tskhinvali.
The report details several cases, including
the one of three ethnic Ossetians, who disappeared in October, 2008; a
separate case of one ethnic Ossetian, who was captured by the Georgian
side during the hostilities in August and also the cases of two Georgian
soldiers, who were captured by the South Ossetian side, subjected to
ill-treatment and whose mortal remains later returned to the Georgian
side.
Case of Three Ossetians
The case of three young ethnic
Ossetians - Alan Khachirov, Alan Khugaev and Soltan Pliev, with one of
them, Khachirov, a minor who had not reach the age of 16 at the time of
disappearance on October 13, 2008 – was one of the key issues raised by
Tskhinvali. The latter has been conditioning its participation in
regular incident prevention meetings with the Georgian side to address
security concerns on the ground to the resolution of this case.
The
three young men went missing after coming across the Georgian-controlled
territory. In spring, 2009 a video footage was released via internet by
unidentified source, apparently shot by a mobile phone, showing these
three men being shouted at and harassed by Georgian-speaking men, which
prompted Tskhinvali to accuse the Georgian law enforcement agencies of
having link to disappearance of the three men. Tbilisi has been strongly
denying any involvement.
Information obtained by the two experts,
however, indicates that the three men detained and taken into custody by
the Georgian law enforcement officers. The claim, among other things,
is based on OSCE’s patrol report (at the time monitors from the
organization were still on the ground, patrolling areas adjacent to the
breakaway South Ossetia’s administrative border) dated with October 14.
Citing information from the Georgian police, the OSCE patrol’s report
says that three armed South Ossetian males were taken into custody.
“The
time, location and the reference to the three persons match the
elements relating to the disappearance of Khachirov, Khugaev and Pliev,”
the report by two experts reads.
“What exactly happened to
Khachirov, Khugaev and Pliev after they were taken into custody is
unclear… Regrettably, the experts have found no convincing information
in support of the hypothesis that the three young persons are alive,” it
says.
The report criticizes the way how the case was investigated by
the Georgian law enforcement agencies, saying “there was little
substantive progress toward officially clarifying the fate of the three
missing persons.”
“The experts were particularly struck by the fact
that, although there had been serious allegations implicating the
involvement of Georgian law enforcement officials in the disappearance
of Khachirov, Khugaev, and Pliev, there was hardly any attempt to
safeguard the independence of the investigation,” according to the
report.
Although it notes that the Georgian authorities took some
significant steps and followed the advice of the experts in the process
of investigation, some “important recommendations made by the experts
were not accepted”; it says that “no serious attempt was made” to
identify the person who first posted a video footage of three detained
men on the Georgian video-sharing website Myvideo.ge in March or April
2009.
The Georgian Interior Ministry declined to comment on the
report on September 29, citing that it was still in process of studying
its findings. Shota Utiashvili, head of information and analytical
department at the Interior Ministry, told Civil.ge that the
investigation into the case of three persons was still ongoing.
The
report also criticizes authorities in Tskhinvali for contributing
“little” to the clarification of the fate of the three persons. It also
says that it was not possible to obtain from the Russian authorities
call records from the three men’s mobile phones, which were believed to
be Russian registered.
Other Cases
Another case also involving an
ethnic Ossetian involves disappearance of Radik Ikaev, who, according to
the report was captured by Georgian military during the August, 2008
hostilities in the Znauri District. The report says that he was last
seen alive on August 22, 2008 and was in Georgian custody at the time.
No other information is available on that case.
The two experts,
recruited by the CoE Human Rights Commissioner, were asked by the
Georgian side to look into the cases of several Georgian soldiers.
According
to the report two Georgian soldiers, Giorgi Antsukhelidze and Kakha
Khubuluri, were detained during the August hostilities, subjected to
ill-treatment while in captivity and later their mortal remains were
handed over to the Georgian side.
According to the report after
showing video evidence of soldiers’ ill-treatment to the officials in
Tskhinvali, they acknowledged that it “raised issues of a very serious
nature”, but declined to further probe into the matter. Officials in
Tskhinvali cited that the case did not fall within the scope of experts’
mandate, as they were entitled to monitor only the investigation
related to missing persons.
“The experts must therefore report with
considerable regret that this position of the de facto authorities in
Tskhinvali prevented them from addressing the cases concerned, and can
only deduce that there has not been any attempt to ensure accountability
of the persons who perpetrated these abhorrent violent acts,” the
report reads.
In a separate case of missing Georgian soldiers, the
two experts found out, that Giorgi Romelashvili, Zaza Birtvelashvili and
Otar Sukhitashvili, the crew members of Georgian battle tank T-72, died
when their tank was ambushed and destroyed in Tskhinvali on August 8.
|
| 28 Sep. '10 | Außenminister Grigol Vashadze trifft den iranischen Außenminister Manouchehr Mottaki in New York neben der UN-Generalversammlung
Grigol
Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, met with his Iranian
counterpart, Manouchehr Mottaki, in New York on sideline of UN General
Assembly.
The meeting was among series of other bilateral meetings
held in New York by Vashadze, according to the Georgian Foreign
Ministry.
The Iranian state news agency, IRNA, reported that the two
ministers discussed bilateral relations and planned visa-free agreement
between the two countries. It also reported that the Iranian FM was
invited by his Georgian counterpart to visit Tbilisi.
Spokesman for
the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast, said during the visit
to Georgia in May that the Iranian Foreign Minister’s visit to Georgia
was planned for June; the visit, however, did not take place.
Other
meetings of Vashadze on sidelines of the UN General Assembly included
those with counterparts from Armenia, Cuba, Bulgaria, Estonia, Japan,
Jordan and Uruguay and Deputy Foreign Minister, Alexander Nalbandov, met
his counterpart from Panama, according to the Georgian Foreign
Ministry.
A meeting of GUAM foreign ministers – Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova – was also held.
|
| 27 Sep. '10 | Studien für eine Straßenverbindung mit Tunnel zwischen Abchasien und dem Nordkaukasus von Russland initiiert
A
feasibility study will be launched to examine possibility of building a
road tunnel through Caucasus Mountains to connect Karachay-Cherkessia,
republic located in northwest of Russia’s North Caucasus region with
Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia.
“Experts [from Russia’s Transport
Ministry] are due to arrive in next few days and the all the information
[results of study] should be ready no later than December 1,” Boris
Ebzeyev, president of Karachay-Cherkessia, said in an interview
published by Russian news website, Gazeta.ru on September 27.
He said
there were two options on the table, one involving restoring of an old,
340 km long Sukhumi Military Road passing through Kodori gorge in
Abkhazia through Klukhori pass to Karachay-Cherkessia’s capital
Cherkessk - the road remains dysfunctional for decades already; and
another option is through Arkhiz pass.
The both options would require
digging a tunnel to protect the road from avalanches and to keep it
operational even during the winter period, President of
Karachay-Cherkessia said.
He said that the project was of vital
importance for his republic, because through this potential road
land-locked Karachay-Cherkessia would gain access to the Black Sea via
Abkhaz ports. He also said that the road would help to attract more
tourists in his republic and it would be much shorter route to access
Abkhaz Black Sea coast rather than through currently existing only land
road between Russia and Abkhazia, which connects Sochi district with the
breakaway region.
The idea of building a new road was emerging time
after time previously, but deliberations on the matter intensified last
year. It was reported at the time that in case of selecting Klukhori
pass for a new road, it would require digging of 12-km long tunnel,
while the alternative option would require less than 5-km long tunnel.
|
| 26 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: Georgien ist 'nicht nur fixiert' auf den NATO-Beitritt
President Saakashvili said Georgia still aspired to join the NATO, but said Tbilisi was not "fixated" on that goal.
Asked
during an interview with Al Jazeera's English-language channel whether
he was optimistic that Georgia would join NATO by 2013, when his second
and final presidential term expires, Saakashvili responded: "We never
made any deadlines."
After the NATO Bucharest Summit in April, 2008,
Saakashvili announced: "I am sure that we will become a NATO member
before my presidential term expires [in 2013].”
In the interview with
Al Jazeera's David Frost, Saakashvili also said that although Georgia's
aspiration remained to join the NATO, a difficult geopolitical
conditions in the region should also be taken into consideration.
"You
should realize that we are a small country in the middle of very
complicated geopolitical region," he said. "We are strategically an
important country... there are lots of political factors in play."
"Of
course we did not change our mind [in respect of NATO aspiration], but
on the other hand, we are developing relations with all the other
countries in the region. We are developing relations with the countries
to the south, with other former Soviet countries - countries like
Ukraine; in Central Asia, Caspian [region]; Turkey and the European
Union; we started Association Agreement talks with the European Union...
We signed strategic relations treaty with the United States."
"So we
are not fixated only on one goal, there are many other things,"
Saakashvili added. "Of course we never gave up our aspirations - we want
to be members of a serious club, we want to have secured future."
During
the interview, Saakashvili was also asked whether he intended to remain
in power as PM, after expiration of his presidential term. In his
response Saakashvili used the similar formulation he usually applies to
when speaking on the matter. He said that he was "not concentrated on
what happens after 2013", instead he was focused on implementation of
his goal of making economic and political reforms irreversible before
2013 and also added that he would do his best to keep his team of
reforms and "ideology of reforms" in power after his presidential term
expires.
"How can I help to keep it - I'll decide that when the time approaches," he added.
|
| 25 Sep. '10 | Georgische
Kirche 'überrascht' über die Gratulaion des russischen Patriarchen an
den südossetischen Präsidenten anläßlich des Unabhängigkeitstages
Head
of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, told Russia's Patriarch
Kirill in a letter released on September 25 that it was a surprise to
learn that he had congratulated Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia on
"independence day" last week.
The news that "you have sent a message
of congratulation to self-styled President of South Ossetia triggered
sharply negative reaction among the parish and the entire Georgian
society," the Georgian Patriarch said in a letter, which was posted on
the patriarchate's official website.
"Such action is rather regretful
and completely incomprehensible, because such move means supporting
separatist regime, existing forcefully on the Georgia's ancient land,
and recognizing [South Ossetia's] 'independence', which has been
declared as illegal [by international community]."
"We remember
personally your and the Russian Church's support to Georgia's and the
Georgian Church's canonical borders. Therefore, the above mentioned step
[by the Russian Church leader] was a total surprise," the Georgian
Patriarch said. "We hope that you will again stand by justice... and
foster good-neighborly relations between our countries."
The Russian
Patriarch's message of congratulation was released by the authorities in
breakaway South Ossetia; although the message was not disseminated by
the Russian Church and it is neither available on its official website,
the Russian Patriarchate made no disclaimer.
|
| 24 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili trifft mehrere Präsidenten bei der UN in New York
On
sidelines of UN General Assembly President Saakashvili met with
Lithuanian, Senegalese, Cypriot and Kyrgyz counterparts in New York on
September 23.
Earlier, also on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Saakashvili also met with Croatian and Finnish Presidents.
Georgian
President’s administration said that during the meeting with President
of Cyprus, Dimitris Christofias, he had discussed issues related with
recent Georgia-sponsored UN General Assembly resolution on Georgian
displaced persons, which was not supported by Cyprus.
“The Georgian
President deemed it necessary to meet with the Cypriot leader in order
to have a dialogue on future relations and cooperation,” the President’s
administration said.
The Cyprus press has reported, that the Georgian President invited President Christofias to visit Tbilisi.
After
meeting with President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, President
Saakashvili said he had invited the Senegalese counterpart to visit
Georgia.
|
| 24 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili spricht vom 'vereinten Kaukasus' in seiner UN-Rede
# To Abkhaz, Ossetians: 'we will protect you'
# To Moscow: 'be part of transformation of region'
# To Moscow: 'learn from us how to transform society'
# To world leaders: 'help us to secure peace'
# 'Modernization impossible with Khodorkovsky in Gulag'
# Calls on three countries to reverse Abkhaz, S.Ossetia recognition
President
Saakashvili used his speech at the UN General Assembly on September 23
to, as he put it, "promote a vision for a free, stable and united
Caucasus" and to call on Russia to be part of, what he called, an
"ongoing transformation" of the Caucasus region.
He said that two
years after "a full-scale invasion" by Russia, "Georgia is back as a
laboratory for political reform and social transformation" with a clear
objective "to create a more institutionalized system of liberal
democratic governance."
Saakashvili said Russia invaded Georgia two
years ago, "ethnically cleansed Georgian regions and illegally occupied"
them with an objective "to destroy the Georgian laboratory of reforms"
and to prevent the entire region from changing through following
Georgia's path.
"Today, however, change is possible," Saakashvili
said. "In fact, change is already taking place" in the Caucasus region,
which, he said, had suffered from "division, injustice, conflict,
colonization and violence". The people of the region, he said, were
deeply tolerant, but governments and authorities created artificial
divisions and "erected walls nobody could cross."
"I came here today to tell you that these times are vanishing, that the dream of unity and peace is possible," he said.
"I
strongly believe that a common market, shared interests and political
and economic interdependence will one day give birth to a united
Caucasus. That is what I am calling for today."
"We might belong to
different states and live on different side of the [Caucasus] mountains,
but in terms of human and cultural space, there is no North and South
Caucasus, there is one Caucasus, that belongs to Europe and will one day
join the European family of free nations, following the Georgian path,"
he said. "Our unity would not be directed against anyone and we will
not aspire to change any borders."
He said that "the historical move
towards Caucasian unity" should start with projects in energy, education
and cultural fields and the civil society sphere.
Saakashvili called
on the Russian authorities to be part of the process of transformation
and treat its neighbors as "partners and not vassals."
"You face a
choice," he said addressing the Russian leadership. "Either you take a
major part in this ongoing transformation... or this transformation will
happen without you."
He also added that he wanted Russia "as a partner not as an enemy."
For that reason, he said, Tbilisi supported U.S. policy of reset and EU's policy of engagement with Russia.
He
also said that Russia should care more about its North Caucasus region,
"which is exploding" rather than about Georgia's foreign policy
orientation or about undermining Georgia's development.
Saakashvili
invited Russian authorities to come into Georgia "to understand how a
post-Soviet society can turn into a European one."
In his speech
Saakashvili touched upon Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent key
theme - modernization of Russia's resource-dependent economy and in this
context he also mentioned the Kremlin's battle with jailed oil tycoon,
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who is now serving an eight-year sentence and
faces up to 22 more years in prison if found guilty in the new trial.
"Modernization
without freedom is not sustainable and you cannot hope to diversify and
develop your economy when you send your most successful businessmen to
the Gulag, like Mikheil Khodorkovsky. Computers are not enough, if you
don't have free minds to use them. So let us free our minds from our
common Soviet past in order to build a common future," he said.
Three Russian diplomats in the hall were listening to Saakashvili's speech.
Addressing
to Abkhazians and Ossetians, Saakashvili reiterated that Georgia wanted
to resolve conflicts only through peaceful means and said: "We will
protect your rights, your culture, your history."
"Rather than
succumb to annexation by the Russian Empire, we invite you to build
together with us a multicultural and multi-ethnic society that would be a
regional model for tolerance and respect," he said. "I dream about the
day when an Abkhaz or Ossetian citizen of Georgia... will become
President of a reunited, democratic and European Georgia."
In his
speech Saakashvili called on Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru to reverse
their decision recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"It is never
too late to overturn a bad policy... Imagine how uncomfortable these
three isolated leaders from faraway countries will be when Moscow itself
chooses to comply with international law and withdraw its troops?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, that day will come," Saakashvili said.
He said Russia, which "claimed a military victory in 2008 now face a diplomatic and political defeat."
"In
Moscow, the occupation and annexation will soon be debated. They are in
fact already debated in the corridors of the Kremlin," Saakashvili
said.
He also said the changes Georgia was undergoing through were
irreversible and would survive his presidency, which ends in 2013. The
Georgian people, he said, would "mightily resist any attempts to reverse
these changes - no matter if those attempts come from inside or from
abroad."
Addressing the international community he called for help in security peace in Georgia and the region.
"If
there is clear support from the international community, I am convinced
that a lasting peace can be secured in the Caucasus," Saakashvili said.
|
| 23 Sep. '10 | Präsident
Saakashvili in New York über Iran, Israel und Russland: Russland habe
mit dem iranischen Atomprogramm gespielt und es als Hebel gegen die USA
benutzt
President Saakashvili said Russia was “playing” with Iranian nuclear program and using it as leverage against the United States.
“The
pattern of Russian policy has been to keep problem going in order to
capitalize on that,” Saakashvili, who is in New York, said in an
interview with Fox News on September 22, when he was asked what he
thought about “Russia financing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
“So if
Iran is solved, if the whole issue goes away, then what’s leverage for
Russians with the United States? So they are playing with it pretty
smartly – promising things to the west, but also delivering things to
the Iranians. I think in the process they’ve [Russians] lost confidence
of all sides, but they’ve been doing this forever,” Saakashvili said.
He
was then asked what if Israel acted unilaterally against Iran.
Saakashvili responded that “the best solution for everybody is to solve
it peacefully.”
“But of course there are basic principles and the
basic principles are that obviously Israel has right for security and
existence and nobody can question it – that’s crystal clear for me,” he
said.
He also said there should be no “language of menace”, which, he said, “does not give anything.”
Saakashvili
said stakes were high for Georgia, located close to this region. “The
peace should be given a chance and I hope that negotiations will really
have the results,” he added.
In the same 8-minute long interview
Saakashvili reiterated Georgia’s commitment to the Afghan operation
saying: “We can not leave Afghanistan without solving this.”
“There is no way we should give up that struggle,” he said.
He
also lashed out at Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin blaming him for the fact
that 500,000 refugees were not able to return back to their homes in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“Obviously not only this is coming down from Putin, but he is very proud of it,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 23 Sep. '10 | Bagapsh plant Reform des Innenministeriums
Der
Name soll von "Miliz" in "Polizei" geändert werden und das sei auch
eine "Änderung des Inhaltes der Arbeit". Abchasien will sofort das
Problem angehen, dass gestohlene Autos von Russland eingeführt werden.
Abkhaz
leader, Sergey Bagapsh, announced on September 23 about the plans to
reform the breakaway region’s interior ministry and replace Soviet-era
name of "militia" with "police."
“We will change the structure of
Ministry of Internal Affairs and create the police. It will not be
simply a change of the name – this is change of substance of work of the
law enforcement agency,” Bagapsh was quoted by the Abkhaz news agency,
Apsnipress, on September 23.
“We will have to decide on set of
complex issues, involving responsibilities, accountability, wages. We
are ready to accept proposals and remarks from everyone,” he said.
He was speaking while presenting new minister to the senior staff of the breakaway region’s interior ministry.
He said that Abkhazia should immediately tackle a problem related with import of stolen cars from Russia.
“It should be stopped, otherwise Abkhazia will turn into a black hole,” he said.
|
| 23 Sep. '10 | Abchasischer Vize-Präsident Alexander Ankvab wurde bei Explosion einer Granate im Garten seines Hauses in Gudauta verletzt
Es
wird angenommen, das dies der vierte Anschlag, möglicherweise sogar der
fünfte, auf Alexander Ankvab war. Er hatte 2004 versucht, an den
Präsidentschaftswahlen teilzunehmen, wurde aber nicht zugelassen, da er
nicht abchasisch spricht und Aufenthaltsvorschriften nicht erfüllen
konnte.
Vice President of breakaway Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, was
injured after a grenade hit his house in Gudauta on September 23 in what
appears to at least fourth attack on Ankvab in last five years,
officials in the breakaway region said.
Ankvab was wounded in his leg
and hand after a grenade fired from RPG-26 launcher hit the roof of his
two-storey house at about 2:15am local time, Apsnipress news agency
reported quoting Ramin Gablaia, the deputy interior minister of
Abkhazia.
His wounds are not life-threatening, officials in Sokhumi said.
Beslan
Kvitsinia, a deputy chief prosecutor of the breakaway region, told
Apsnipress, that “many details of assassination attempt indicate that
the crime was commissioned and related to Ankvab’s professional
activities.”
Abkhaz leader, Sergey Bagapsh, described the incident as “a terrible fact.”
“This is not the first attack on Ankvab. We will try to do our utmost to investigate the case,” Bagapsh said.
It is thought to be the fourth, and possibly the fifth, attempt on Ankvab's life in last five years.
In
February 2005 a group of unknown gunmen opened fire on a convoy
carrying Ankvab, then PM, outside Sokhumi. His car was hit by 17
bullets, local television reported at the time. Ankvab, however, was
riding in his deputy’s car and survived unharmed.
In April 2005,
Ankvab again survived unharmed when unknown gunmen opened fire on his
convoy near Sokhumi in which Ankvab’s driver was wounded.
A roadside
land mine, found in June 2007 on a road between Sokhumi and Gudauta, a
regular route of Ankvab’s convoy, was also believed to have been aimed
at him.
In July, 2007 Ankvab, who at the time was the breakaway
region’s PM, was reportedly slightly injured with shrapnel after his car
came under grenade attack on a road between Gudauta and Sokhumi.
No one has ever been arrested for these attacks.
Alexander
Ankvab, 57, an influential political figure in Abkhazia, was appointed
as Prime Minister in February, 2005. A close ally of Abkhaz leader,
Sergey Bagapsh, he became the Vice President after Bagapsh was
re-elected as the president for second term in December, 2009.
He had
wanted to run in the 2004 presidential election, but was ineligible
because of an inability to speak the Abkhaz language and because he
failed to meet residency requirements. He subsequently backed Bagapsh.
|
| 23 Sep. '10 | Georgien bei einem Treffen der Außenminister des NATO-Russland-Rates angesprochen
"Wir
diskutierten die Kontrolle konventioneller Waffen und dieser Hinsicht
auch die Situation in Abchaasien, Südossetien, Transnistrien, ..." sagte
NATO-Generalsekretär Rasmussen.
Despite
"fundamental disagreements" on some issues, also including Georgia,
Russia and NATO will hopefully step up cooperation, NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on September 22.
Speaking at a
news conference in New York after meeting of foreign ministers of
NATO-Russia Council, Rasmussen said: "We are on a solid path to improve
NATO-Russia relations."
He said that during the meeting situation in
Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as well as in
Transnistria, breakaway region of Moldova, was raised in the context of
conventional arms control in Europe.
"We discussed conventional arms
control and in this respect also situation in Abkhazia, South Ossetia,
Transnistria... There is no reason to hide that these issues are issues
where we do not see eye to eye; but I do hope despite the fact that we
have disagreements in that respect, we will move forward and see
progress as regards to arms control," Rasmussen said.
Russia
suspended its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty
(CFE) in 2007. NATO believes CFE should prevent Russia from stationing
troops in breakaway regions of Georgia and Moldova.
U.S. Secretary of
State, Hillary Clinton, said in prepared comments at a NATO-Russia
Council ministerial meeting, that it was important for both sides to
restore and eventually modernize CFE Treaty, Reuters reported. She said
she was encouraged that Russia had welcomed NATO's offer to begin
discussing a framework for reviving the CFE.
Clinton noted the need
that the CFE principle of host nation's consent for the stationing of
forces on its territory should apply to Georgia and Moldova.
"We must
have real military limitations and restraints where we need them,"
Reuters reported quoting Clinton. "And all participating states,
including Georgia and Moldova, must have the right to agree to the
stationing of foreign forces on their sovereign territory."
"Tangible
progress on such issues as missile defense, conventional arms control,
crisis prevention and response, improved transparency [on exchanging
information about military doctrine, strategy and force developments],
and security in Georgia would set the stage for closer cooperation in
many other areas in future," Clinton said.
Speaking at a news
conference Rasmussen said that although no final agreement was expected
by November, when the alliance leaders will meet at a summit in Lisbon,
where Russia has also been invited. Rasmussen, however, also expressed
hope to have an agreement "on some basic principles on future
conventional arms control" by November.
He said that the "fundamental
message" of NATO-Russia foreign ministerial meeting in New York was
"very clear and very encouraging" - cooperation with Russia "has become
necessity if we want to be effective in preserving our common security."
"All parties realize that we need each other," Rasmussen said.
|
| 22 Sep. '10 | Explosion in Tbilisi nahe der US-Botschaft; ein weiterer Sprengkörper wurde von der Polizei entschärft
An
explosive device went off at about 1am on Wednesday in suburb of
Tbilisi, about 100 meters from the U.S. embassy building, police said.
No one was injured.
Police
destroyed with water cannon another explosive device found in the same
site, where formerly an open-air auto market was located. Now empty area
is next to a cemetery and explosion damaged its wall and a grave.
A
wall, dividing the U.S. embassy territory from the area, is located
about 60-70 meters from the location where the explosive devices were
set off, Shota Utiashvili, head of information and analytical department
of the interior minister, told Civil.ge. He said the embassy wall was
not damaged.
The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi confirmed that its property was not damaged.
Police said the investigation was ongoing and declined to reveal type of explosive devices or other details.
|
| 22 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili trifft Donald Trump in New York, um seine mögliches Investment in Georgien zu besprechen
President
Saakashvili met with U.S. real estate tycoon Donald Trump in New York
on September 21 to discuss the billionaire’s potential investment in
Georgia.
Saakashvili’s press office reported that the Trump
Organization, company in charge of Trump’s property development and
management projects, would invest in development of Trump Tower in
Georgia.
An exact location has yet to be identified; potential sites
include Tbilisi and Adjara Autonomous Republic on Black Sea coast,
according to the Georgian President’s administration.
Saakashvili first met with Trump to discuss investment opportunities in Georgia in April, 2010.
A
visit of the Trump Organization’s executive vice-president, Michael
Cohen, followed in July, who toured several sites for potential projects
in Tbilisi and Batumi. The trip was arranged by Silk Road Group.
Silk Road Group,
Georgian conglomerate with business interests in transportation,
telecommunications, banking and property development, will act as the
Trump Organization’s local partner in Georgia.
Saakashvili is in New York for UN General Assembly session.
On
September 20 he addressed a three-day summit reviewing progress of
Millennium Development Goals, telling the participants that aid
programs should be tailored to local conditions and recipients should be
allowed to develop their own aid priorities to make the aid more
efficient. In the speech he also spoke about reducing poverty in
Georgia, as he put it, from 42% to 18% in last six years and about fight
against corruption. He also urged the international community to help
Georgia in implementing its state strategy on occupied territories.
On September 21, Saakashvili visited the NASDAQ stock market and rang its closing bell.
|
| 21 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: Gesetz der freien Wirtschaft für Oktober geplant
President
Saakashvili said Georgia would negotiate with EU on Association
Agreement in way so that not to harm Tbilisi’s intention to pass Act of
Economic Liberty, which, he said, would be passed in autumn.
Saakashvili
first proposed the Act of Economic Liberty in October, 2009, envisaging
a referendum requirement on tax increases; ban of setting new
regulatory agencies, as well as introduction of new licenses or permits;
budget expenditure capped at 30%; budget deficit capped at 3% of GDP
and public debt capped at 60% of GDP.
Some of the provisions of the
proposal, however, are at odds with Georgia’s drive to have deep and
comprehensive free trade agreement with EU.
Head of EU delegation in
Georgia, Per Eklund, said in February, 2010 that Georgia would need to
ensure that “with the Liberty Act in force, it will be able to undertake
any necessary regulatory reforms to which it would commit under a
future deep and comprehensive free trade agreement.” He also said that
EU had received “positive assurance” from President Saakashvili on the
matter.
Štefan Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement and European
neighbourhood policy, said in May, 2010, that some of the ideas of
“ultra-liberal economic environment” in Georgia were not in line with
“pillars” of EU-Georgia future partnership.
One of the elements of
the Liberty Act – a referendum requirement on tax increases – was passed
by the Georgian Parliament with its first reading on December 25, 2009;
but this constitution amendment has been shelved since then. The
proposal, which requires to be passed with second and third reading, is
binding the government to hold a referendum if it decides to increase
income tax; profit tax; value added tax and customs tax or if the
government decides to introduce a new tax.
International Monetary
Fund (IMF) welcomed the Georgian government’s decision to postpone the
implementation of a referendum requirement on tax increases, saying that
it “will help maintain the necessary policy flexibility until the
fiscal deficit has returned to more prudent levels.”
Asked whether
the Liberty Act had been forgotten by the government, President
Saakashvili said in an interview with the Georgian weekly magazine,
Tabula, published on September 20: “We will pass it in autumn.”
“I am
sure we will be able to negotiate with EU in manner so that not to
significantly harm free economy… Today Europe itself is saying no to
what we also might be afraid of – high taxes, broad expenses, excessive
regulations and bureaucracy is gradually becoming past,” he was quoted
in the same interview.
“Europeans are realizing that the state can’t
endure role of a permanent nanny for a long. The global economic crisis
hit a powerful blow to the project of social Europe. I think Europe will
make more steps towards free economy and we will eventually meet
somewhere in midway,” he said.
Meanwhile on September 20 President
Saakashvili met with EU foreign policy chief Catherin Ashton and
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso in New York on a
sideline of UN General Assembly session.
|
| 20 Sep. '10 | Oppositionelle
Arbeiterpartei ruft andere Parteien auf, eine Bestimmung in den
Verfassungsänderungen aufzunehmen, dass ein früherer Präsident für keine
anderen Führungspositionen in der Regierung kandidieren kann
In
der jetzigen Form könne Präsident Saakashvili durch Annahme der Position
des Premierministers "für Jahrzehnte an der Macht bleiben". ...
Labor
Party called on other opposition parties on September 20 to join forces
in demanding to include a provision in the draft of constitutional
amendments, which will ban an incumbent President from running for key
posts under the new model.
If the proposed draft is endorsed in its
current form, it means that President Saakashvili "will stay in power
for decades" by taking PM's post, whose powers will be significantly
increased under the new model, Shalva Natelashvili, the leader of Labor
Party said.
"No one is going to tolerate it," he said while speaking
to Kavkasia TV's political talk-show. "In this case, the only way left
for the Georgian people will be to overthrow the government. Do we want
this? I think we don't; it will cause very grave consequences."
"Passing of the draft in its current form will put an end to any prospect for peaceful change of government," he added. ...
|
| 18 Sep. '10 | Int. Gerichtshof in Den Haag entscheidet zunächst über die Zuständigkeit im dem Fall Georgien gegen Russland
International
Court of Justice concluded on September 17 public hearings on Russia’s
preliminary objections in the case filed by Tbilisi against Moscow two
years ago.
The Hague-based court said it would render judgment on
Russia’s preliminary objections at a public sitting, “the date of which
will be announced in due course.”
In its case filed before ICJ on
August 12, 2008, Georgia claims Russia violated its obligations under
the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination (CERD) during three distinct phases of its
interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the period from 1990 to
August 2008.
But Russia claims that ICJ has no jurisdiction to hear
the case. The sides presented their oral arguments before the court
during the two rounds of public hearings held between September 13 and
September 17.
Russia requested ICJ to declare that it lacks
jurisdiction over the claims brought by Georgia and the latter requested
the court to dismiss Russia’s objections and to accept Georgia’s case
against Russia as admissible.
If the court decides in favor of
Georgia and rules that it has jurisdiction, ICJ will hold separate
hearings later on the merits of the complaint.
|
| 17 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili ‘dankt’ Putin für das Mitwirken bei der ‘Steigerung der Qualität des georgischen Weines’
President
Saakashvili said on September 17, that thanks to Russia’s embargo on
import of Georgian wines, most of local wine-makers had to increase
quality of their products to seek alternative markets in the west.
Russia
has failed to achieve its goals by this embargo, imposed in 2006,
because “wine crisis in Georgia is already overcome, as we have started
production of a high quality wine,” Saakashvili said while visiting
Kakheti, a region in eastern Georgia, which is home to over 60% of
Georgian vineyards.
“Many thanks to Vladimir Putin for the fact that
the quality of our wines has increased. By the way, I was warning him
about it in 2006, when I met him in St. Petersburg,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 17 Sep. '10 | Bagapsh für Kommission, die die Klärung von Besitzfragen diskutiert
Abkhaz
leader, Sergey Bagapsh, signed a decree on establishing a commission
“to secure legality while resolving” property rights of Russian citizens
in Abkhazia, Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on September 17.
Moscow-proposed
commission to tackle property disputes of the Russian citizens in the
breakaway region triggered controversy and debates in Sokhumi in
mid-August. The opponents of the proposal feared that it could pave the
way for the return of thousands of those Georgians, who fled Abkhazia
after the armed conflict in early 90s and who now reside in Russia,
holding Russian passports.
PM of the breakaway region, Sergey Shamba,
said late last month that Moscow’s initial proposal was dismissed by
Sokhumi, although the Abkhaz side was not rejecting the idea itself. He
said that the proposal should have been tailored to the Abkhaz realities
and required that each disputed case was discussed separately and
thoroughly in order to prevent return of ethnic Georgians with Russian
citizenship.
|
| 16 Sep. '10 | UN-Vertreter für intern Vertriebene Walter Kaelin besucht Georgien
Walter
Kaelin, the U.N. Secretary-General's representative on the human rights
of internally displaced persons, called on the Georgian authorities to
avoid eviction of IDPs the way it had been done in previous months,
which he described as “second time” displacement.
Kaelin visited
Georgia on September 13-16 for fifth time since 2005 and also traveled
to breakaway Abkhazia. Living conditions of IDPs and implementation of
the Georgian government’s strategy and action plan to provide durable
housing solution for IDPs was the focus of his discussions in Tbilisi
and during the meetings with displaced persons.
In the breakaway
region, where he also traveled to the Gali district, Kaelin was looking
into the condition of those Georgians who have returned to this
predominantly Georgian-populated district.
‘Second Time’ Displacement
Speaking
at a news conference in Tbilisi on September 16, Kaelin praised the
Georgian government for its commitment to implement its strategy for
providing durable housing solutions for IDPs, saying that “in many cases
IDPs were able to receive property and their living conditions are much
better now than earlier.”
According to the Georgian ministry in
charge of displaced persons, 24,391 IDP families have received
privatized apartments or houses, or monetary compensation and further
2,035 IDP households have been given land for farming.
Kaelin,
however, said that although it was a positive development that IDPs were
receiving “a very good housing” in frames of the government’s strategy
and action plan, “but their livelihoods are not improved.”
“Improving housing conditions and improvement of livelihood conditions have to go hand in hand,” he said.
Kaelin
said that another source of major concern was related to series of
evictions of IDPs, which took place in Tbilisi in July and August.
The
process of eviction from several state-owned buildings came under fire
from local and international human rights groups, as well as from UN
refugee agency and the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe’s
Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population.
He said that
eviction process was marred with two major problems: the one related to
the way it had been done – giving IDP families a short oral notice about
the planned eviction so that they had not enough time to prepare and
another problem was related to the authorities’ failure to provide
evicted IDPs with proper alternative housing.
“The problem is that
the people were moved out and they were not really given real
alternative so their situation is worse than it was before,” he said.
“It
is not good enough to say: ‘you have some accommodation’ - even if it’s
nice accommodation - if it [eviction] means that these people [evicted
IDPs] lose their livelihoods, if it means that they lose access to
education and health services,” Kaelin said.
“I’ve met such people,
who in that sense, are now displaced for the second time and have lost
that little they had before in terms of livelihoods and access to
services and that’s the problem,” he added.
Kaelin said that he had
“very good discussions” with the Georgian authorities on these problems
and he thought there was an understanding from the side of the
government that these problems required better handling.
“I’m quite optimistic about that,” Kaelin added.
He
said that there were some privately-owned buildings in Tbilisi where
IDPs were currently residing and owners insisting on getting their
property.
“There could be other evictions,” Kaelin said, “but the
best way would be not to evict these people, but to do that in a planned
way… to avoid kind of situation that we had last month.”
Visit to Sokhumi, Gali
Speaking
about the visit to Abkhazia, Kaelin said that prospects for return of
all IDPs back to Abkhazia “after so many years still remain very, very
low.”
“This situation of protracted displacement should not continue.
The right of return has to be recognized and conditions for return have
to be created,” he said.
He said that although authorities in
Sokhumi allowed “some returns” to Gali district, they “still are not
ready to allow for the return of all IDPs” on the entire territory of
Abkhazia.
During Kaelin’s visit in Sokhumi, foreign minister of the
breakaway region, Maxim Gvinjia, said that the Abkhaz side in 1999
“unilaterally allowed” about 60,000 Georgians to return to the Gali
district, Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported. He said further
return of Georgians to other parts of the region was not possible as it
would aggravate the situation.
International organizations put the
number of Georgian returnees to Gali at about 40,000. Despite the
return, they are still considered as displaced persons by Georgia as
their return has been sporadic with no security guarantees.
Kaelin
said there were two major challenges in the Gali district – one related
with security situation and another related to problem of “maintaining
cultural traditions” of local Georgians.
In Abkhazia Kaelin met with
local civil society representatives and local residents in Gali
district. Kaelin said that in Sokhumi he was supposed to meet with
Abkhaz PM Sergey Shamba and foreign minister, Maxim Gvinjia, “but for
reasons I do not know” the scheduled, official meetings were not
possible. He, however, said had an opportunity to have a “short” and
“informal” meeting with foreign minister Gvinjia when he “came out of
the ministry”.
|
| 14 Sep. '10 | Azerbaijan, Georgien, Ungarn und Rumänien unterzeichnen Erklärung für die Ausführung eines Flüssiggasprojektes AGRI
Von
Aserbaidschan wird Gas in Pipelines nach Kulevi geliefertt und dort als
Flüssiggas über das Schwarze Meer nach Rumänien verschifft, wo es
wieder in Gas verwandelt mit Pipelines in Europa verteilt wird.
Presidents
of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania and PM of Hungary signed on
September 14 a joint declaration in Baku on implementation of a
liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation project.
According to the
project, known as Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania Interconnection (AGRI),
Azerbaijani gas will be delivered via pipelines to a terminal in Kulevi
on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, where it will be liquefied. Tankers would
then ship the liquefied gas to the Romanian Black Sea port of Constanţa
and after regasification it will be transported via pipelines further
into Europe.
In May, 2010 the state energy companies of Azerbaijan,
Georgia and Romania agreed to set up a joint venture to proceed with the
project.
At the summit in Baku, Georgian, Azerbaijani and Romanian
leaders welcomed that the project was also joined by Hungary. President
Saakashvili said it would be a boost for the project, especially in the
view that Hungary would take EU’s rotating presidency from January,
2011.
A feasibility study will be the first phase of the project,
which may take about six months, Vagif Aliyev, head of the Azerbaijani
state oil company SOCAR said. After that, he continued, negotiations
with investors would start on financing of the project and the whole
process may take about 20 months.
|
| 14 Sep. '10 | Auslandsdirektinvestitionen im 2.Quartal um 11% gegenüber dem Vorjahr angestiegen
Georgia
is part of NATO-led mission in Afghanistan to gain combat experience
and to become further integrated with its western allies, President
Saakashvili said on September 13.
Speaking at a newly re-established
school of cadets in Kutaisi, Georgia’s second largest city in Imereti
region, Saakashvili said, that “the fact that there are so many problems
in Afghanistan, is very bad for Georgia,” because it distracts
international attention from those issues, which were source of concern
for Georgia.
NATO-led operation in Afghanistan, he said, “is our straggle” too.
“Of
course someone may say: ‘we have so many problems, our territories are
occupied and there is no time now for going somewhere else to fight’.
But because of these very same problems that we have, we need a huge
combat experience my friends and that’s [Afghan mission] is unique
combat and war school. Georgia is not in a situation of Norway, Denmark,
or Australia. Take a look at our situation, our challenges and threats –
can we say no to our armed forces and can we say no to a war school?
This is an opportunity to become integrated to the world’s best armies,
to see the most advanced [military] equipment and achievements,”
Saakashvili said.
“I am grateful to our soldiers and their families,
who have not complained even once, who participate in [the Afghan
operation] with full awareness of their mission,” he added.
Company
commander from the 31st infantry battalion, first lieutenant Mukhran
Shukvani, 28, who was killed while on mission in the province of Helmand
more than week ago, became Georgia’s first casualty since the country
joined the coalition forces in Afghanistan in November, 2009.
|
| 13 Sep. '10 | Gruppe, die die Verfassungsänderungen diskutiert, hielt abschließende Sitzung ab
* Category of organic law to remain in new model;
* PM will need deliberation with gov't to appoint governors;
* Parliamentary debates on draft will start after Venice Commission’s visit
A
group, which led series of public discussions on proposed
constitutional amendments, held its closing meeting on September 13,
technically paving the way for launch of parliamentary debates on the
constitutional reform.
But as Davit Bakradze, the parliamentary
speaker and chairman of the group, said on September 13, lawmakers
should launch discussion of the draft at parliamentary session only
after a delegation from the Venice Commission, Council of Europe’s
advisory body for legal issues, visits Georgia on September 16-17 and
provides the authorities its final recommendations on the proposed
draft.
(See the main points of proposed constitutional amendments on
this link; recommendation of Council of Europe’s advisory body for legal
affairs, Venice Commission, is available on this link).
Public
discussions started in late July and it was led by the 36-member group,
known as Commission on Organizing Public Discussions; the process was a
formal procedure required for any constitutional amendment before it is
discussed by the Parliament.
After the group’s final meeting, which
was held behind the closed doors, Bakradze told journalists that the
commission had agreed to take into consideration recommendations calling
for maintaining category of “organic law” in the new model.
Another
important change in the draft, he said, would be related to the rule of
appointment of regional governors. The current draft says that PM
appoints and dismisses provincial governors, instead of the President as
it is under the current constitution. It, however, was decided to take
into consideration a recommendation by the Venice Commission according
to which PM will appoint governors with deliberation of the government.
"It
is an important amendments, because under the new model government may
consist of a coalition cabinet, so in case of a coalition government
more political forces will be engaged in appointment of governors,"
Davit Bakradze said.
It has also been decided to include a
formulation in the draft, which will further strengthen guarantees for
property rights, Bakradze said.
Avtandil Demetrashvili, a chairman of
the state commission which developed the draft, told journalists before
the meeting that discussion of timeframes of constructive vote of no
confidence was expected; the timeframe in the proposed draft were
criticized by the Venice Commission as “excessively long.”
MP Giorgi
Targamadze, leader of parliamentary minority and of Christian-Democratic
Movement (CDM), said before the meeting that he was planning to propose
to change the date of the new constitution’s entry into force. He said
it should be enforced after the 2012 parliamentary elections and not in
December, 2013 after President Saakashvili’s second and final term in
office expires.
|
| 9 Sep. '10 | Innenminister Vano Merabishvili: keine Gefährdung durch direkten Angriff Russlands in der nahen Zukunft
Although
Russia is sparing no efforts to discredit Georgia, no threat of
aggression exists, Vano Merabishvili, Georgia’s powerful interior
minister, said.
“I actually rule out threat of direct aggression
against Georgia in the near future,” he told journalists after
addressing a meeting of Georgian diplomats on September 9.
“Russia
never misses a chance to discredit Georgia, to stage provocations
against Georgia,” Merabishvili said and added Russia was now more
focused on disseminating disinformation about Georgia.
“Russia aims
at undermining Georgia’s image as a stable, civilized country; but
figures showing increasing number of tourists in Georgia, demonstrates
that the west believes less in Russia’s provocative statements,” he
said.
Merabishvili said “hungry and aggressive” Russian troops “have
not crossed a single square meter” beyond the administrative border; the
Georgian newspaper Kviris Paltra reported this week that the Russian
forces moved the border two kilometers deeper into the
Georgian-controlled territory – the report which was not substantiated.
Also
on September 8, President Saakashvili speaking while visiting a
factory, which is now under construction, not far from the breakaway
South Ossetia’s administrative border, said that “occupants were
watching” Georgia’s development with a “surprise.”
“Occupants are
standing over there [pointing finger in direction of administrative
border with breakaway South Ossetia] and looking at us with surprise.
They represent country with huge resources with lots of opportunities
and lots of income from oil, but they still live like beggars – I mean
soldiers and officers. At first they watched us with surprise building
these houses [for displaced persons from South Ossetia], while they
still live in tents; then they saw how we cultivated this land with the
help of Americans and who income was created for [IDP] families… and
now, in order to pour salt on their surprise, we show them how we build a
factory here,” Saakashvili said.
“What they have gained? And how
Georgia is developing? – that’s the difference we are making,”
Saakashvili said. “We are building the state – something that they will
not even see in their dreams.”
|
| 9 Sep. '10 | Russischer Außenminister äußert sich zur Resolution der UN-Generalversammlung
Russian Foreign Minister said on September 8, that UN General Assembly’s
“counterproductive” resolution, reiterating right of displaced persons
to return “throughout
Georgia, including in Abkhazia and South Ossetia”, would not help confidence building in the region.
The Russian MFA said that the resolution “is fraught with complicating
situation in the region and may hit Geneva discussions, which are
already ongoing in an uneasy” conditions.
It criticized the resolution for not taking into account realities on
the ground and for referring Abkhazia and South Ossetia as parts of
Georgia.
“Against the background of Georgia’s persistent refusal to sign with the
Abkhaz and South Ossetian sides legally binding agreement on non-use of
force, it looks like a pure demagogy [the resolution’s] call on
participants of Geneva discussions ‘to intensify their efforts to
establish a durable peace, to commit to enhanced confidence-building
measures’,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
|
| 8 Sep. '10 | UN-Generalversammlung verabschiedet Resolution zu den intern Vertriebenen in Georgien
Es
stimmten 50 Staaten für die Resolution und 17 Staaten mit Russland
dagegen bei 86 Enthaltungen. Im Text der Resolution wird von
"erzwungenem demographischem Wandel" gesprochen.
The UN General Assembly passed on September 7 Georgia-sponsored resolution A/RES/64/294 reiterating
the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to breakaway
Abkhazia and South Ossetia by a vote of 50 in favor to 17 against, with
86 abstentions.
Two similar non-binding resolutions were also passed by the Assembly in 2008 (in respect of Abkhazia) and in 2009. Georgia welcomed that each year support for the resolution was widening.
Last
year the resolution was passed with 48 countries voting in favor; 19 –
against and with 78 abstentions. In 2008 the resolution was passed with
small margin of 14 votes in favor to 11 against and 105 abstentions.
“We
have two votes more [this year] and our opponents, Russian diplomats
lost two votes,” Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said at
a joint news conference with his visiting Finnish counterpart,
Alexander Stubb, on September 8.
“This trend will continue because of
a simple reason – the international community has ruled a verdict on
the occupying power’s actions in the occupied territories, including in
respect of ethnic cleansing; there is a good wording in the resolution
‘forced demographic changes’, which is a synonym of ethnic cleansing,”
he said.
Before the vote on September 7, Russia tried to remove the
issue from the agenda, describing the text as “odious”; but its motion
was defeated by a vote of 67 against to 32 in favor, with 54
abstentions.
Russia’s UN envoy said that the resolution had no
humanitarian aims and its motivations were exclusively political and
based on short-term calculations by Georgia. Russia also said that the
text of resolution was unrealistic, in particular the idea of a
timetable for the early return of refugees and internally displaced
persons, which the Russian envoy said, did not take into account the
Secretary-General’s report stating that it was premature to develop such
timetable.
|
| 7 Sep. '10 | Außenminister FM: Georgia Committed to Afghan Operation
Georgia,
which has suffered its first casualty in Afghanistan since joining the
NATO-led forces there, will not suspend or reduce its military presence
in Afghanistan, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister said on
September 7.
“Georgia will change nothing in its commitments
undertaken as a partner [to the coalition forces],” Vashadze said, while
speaking at a joint news conference with his visiting Estonian
counterpart Urmas Paet.
“Unlike other European states, we are
[geographically] closer to Afghanistan and presence of our hero soldiers
in Afghanistan first and foremost serves to Georgia’s national
interests. This is a tragic loss, but it can not serve as a reason to
suspend our mission to Afghanistan,” he said.
Company commander from
the 31st infantry battalion, first lieutenant Mukhran Shukvani, 28, died
and another Georgian soldier was badly wounded while on mission as a
result of explosion of improvised explosive device, the Georgian
Ministry of Defense said on September 5. No other details of the
incident were reported.
Georgia sent its 31st infantry battalion to
Afghanistan in April, 2010 to serve under the U.S. command in the
province of Helmand.
With this deployment Georgia increased its
military presence in Afghanistan about 950 soldiers. Georgia first
deployed a company-sized unit in Afghanistan under the French command in
November, 2009.
According to the NATO-led mission, International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the 31st battalion stationed in Camp
Delaram II in Helmand province, along with two U.S. Marine battalions
and British Royal Marine 40 Commando, is conducting counterinsurgency
operations throughout the Nimruz and Helmand provinces.
The Estonian
Foreign Minister, who expressed condolences over death of the Georgian
soldier, said that Georgia’s contribution to Afghan mission was
“absolutely important for international security point of view.”
“[Georgia’s
contribution] is also a very clear political signal from the Georgian
society… and Estonia, as a member state of NATO, is very grateful that
Georgia is participating in ISAF mission in Afghanistan,” Urmas Paet
said.
|
| 6 Sep. '10 | Russischer
Offizieller im Innenministerium wirft Georgien vor, Militante in
Georgien auszubilden und in den Nordkaukasus zu schicken
Georgia
hosts “special camps” where militants are trained and then sent to join
insurgents in North Caucasus, a senior Russian Interior Ministry
official in charge of North Caucasus region has alleged.
“Georgia
has become visibly active recently,” Nikolai Simakov, deputy head of
Interior Ministry’s unit in North Caucasus federal district, said in an
interview with Russian newspaper, Vremya Novostei, when asked about
foreign aid to militants operating in the North Caucasus.
“We have
information that special camps are set on the territory of this country
[Georgia] for training of fighters. Persons from the Caucasus republics,
usually criminals and as well as those who are at large in European
states are gathered there, trained and sent to us via neighboring
countries,” he said in the newspaper interview, published on September
6.
“A clash took place recently when a group tried to cross into
Russia from Azerbaijan; an Azerbaijani border guard died, one fighter
was killed and two others detained. It was revealed during the
interrogation, that they were recruited by extremist organizations and
sent to Georgia for training with a goal to then operate on the Russian
territory,” Simakov said.
When last month the U.S. Department of
State released an annual country report on terrorism, saying that
“Russia’s claims of Georgian support for Chechen terrorist and harboring
of such individuals in the Pankisi gorge were unsubstantiated”, the
Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the report’s Georgia section as biased.
"The
report portrays Georgia as a truly exemplary fighter against terrorism.
Herewith it ignores available information that Georgia is playing a
double game in respect of terrorist underground in the North Caucasus,"
the Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 13.
|
| 4 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili verteidigt die Rolle des Präsidenten in der neun Verfassung
President
Saakashvili said on September 3, that he was against of further
weakening president's powers in the proposed new constitutional model as
recommended by Council of Europe's advisory body, Venice Commission.
Speaking
at a meeting with lawmakers from his ruling National Movement party,
Saakashvili said: "I categorically disagree with the Venice Commission -
which in overall likes the new draft - to weaken the President and
equal this post to the one that is in many European countries, for
example Presidents of Italy or Germany, where the Presidents have
symbolic role."
"Georgia faces difficult challenges and there should
be a strong President in Georgia... We should understand that without a
strong President, especially in the crisis situations, it will be
difficult to rule Georgia. So in this regard we can not accept European
experts' recommendations fully," he said.
The new model, he said,
guarantees that "power will no longer be concentrated in any single
center". "A collective government will be established," Saakashvili
said.
In the new model President's powers will be significantly
reduced and transfered to the government and PM. However, as the Venice
Commission said in its opinion on the proposed draft of constitutional
amendments, the President still “retains important powers”, including in
the field of the international relations, the armed forces and the
situations of emergency, as well as in a situation when government faces
vote of no confidence.
The Commission warned that there was a risk
of possible scenario, when President could come in conflicts with the
other institutions – a scenario “which is enhanced by the fact that the
President is directly elected.”
“The government may be the expression
of a parliamentary majority different from that which supported the
election of the President, with parliamentary elections occurring every
four years while presidential elections every five years.”
“In
addition, and importantly, the President plays a political role, which
is not coherent with the role of impartial guarantor of the continuity
of the constitutional order of the State and of its unity,” the
Commission said.
President Saakashvili also said on September 3, that
he was not intending to call a referendum seeking for voters' consent
to run for presidency for the third term. Saakashvili's second and final
term in office expires in 2013.
"According to all the public opinion
polls this [to secure voters' support in referendum to run for
re-election] is easy to do in Georgia, but I am categorically stating
that we should not do that," he said.
He again denied allegations that the new constitution would be modeled on personalities.
"It
is often said that it is an attempt to model the constitution on
personalities; a term 'Putinization' has also been used. There is no
need to reform the constitution for Putinization, as on paper Putin has
no powers - according to the Russian constitution PM has no much
powers," Saakashvili said.
|
| 4 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili: 'Georgien ist Russland's ideologischer Hauptkonkurrent'
* Russia tries in vein 'to imitate Georgia';
* 'I’m not nervous about Russo-Armenian base deal’;
* He called the German press ‘Russophile’
Tbilisi
has "an ideological confrontation" with Moscow, as Georgia represents
"a major competitor" to Russia in terms of model of development,
President Saakashvili said on September 3.
He was speaking at an
outdoor meeting with lawmakers from his ruling National Movement party
on the shores of the Black Sea in Anaklia. During the 40-minute long
speech, which was televised live, he also spoke about planned
constitutional reform.
"It is an objective reality, that Georgia has
become Russia's major competitor in the post-Soviet space in terms of
model of development; the major competitor in the sphere of ideology.
[It happened] not because we wanted that - we are not obsessed by
megalomania - it just happened so. We only had a very humble task - to
do something in Georgia, that would have been different from what we had
previously and to have a normal live," Saakashvili said.
"But as it
turned out, it came into direct conflict with what is a well-rooted way
of life in the entire post-Soviet space and which, first of all, is a
heritage of Russia's imperial space."
He said that the Ukrainian
officials were travelling to Georgia, visiting various Georgian state
institutions "with pen and notebook in their hands" in order to learn
Georgia's experience of reforms. He said citing an unnamed "important
Moldovan figure" saying that "there is a Russian model and there is a
Georgian model and we want to follow the Georgian model."
"Leadership
of the empire [referring to Russia] knows all these better than we know
and it is posing a fatal threat to them [the Russian leadership],"
Saakashvili said. "I have listened to Medvedev's speech about the police
reform in Russia - only the word Georgia was not mentioned there,
otherwise it [the speech] was built on what Georgia has done with the
police."
He said that Russia was "in the mode of imitating" Georgia.
"But
their attempt to imitate [Georgia] will fail, because when they speak
about modernization... it is impossible to build modern, 21st century
society in the feudal country," Saakashvili said.
He also said that Russia was facing "other types of problems as well."
"I
was speaking with one of the senior executives of OPEC recently, who
said that in maximum seven years Russia's oil output would reduce by
2.5-fold... So on what Russia's wealth is standing, it is now
disappearing. Time works in our favor my friends," he said.
Saakashvili
also said that he was not at all concerned by Russia's agreements with
Armenia and Ukraine under which Moscow prolonged presence of its
military base and Black Sea fleet, respectively, in these countries.
"I
am not nervous at all about it," he said. "It may be a source of
concern as it may be a threat in a short-term perspective, but in a
long-term it won't do anything [to Georgia]. Like they [Russia] withdrew
their rusty military bases from Georgia, even sooner they will pull
thier bases from those countries, not even speaking about our
territories [referring to Russian bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia],"
he said.
"We should now focus on development and irreversible
stability of our political system," he said and added in this context
that last year's lengthy street protest rallies of the opposition was
"fundamentally anti-state, anti-national and anti-Georgian".
He said
those rallies were financed by "Russian-Georgian mafia in Europe",
which, he said, was confirmed by the Austrian police report. This
report, he said, was picked up by the German press, "which has never
been sympathetic towards us, because of its Russophile tendencies."
|
| 1 Sep. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili diskutiert Weizen-Problem mit der Regierung
In what seemed to be a show of government’s efforts to ease recent price
hikes on wheat and wheat-containing products, President Saakashvili
held on August 31 a televised meeting with PM Nika Gilauri and
Agriculture Minister Bakur Kvezereli saying that “threat of having
higher price rise no longer exists.”
Bread price in Georgia went up by about 16.6% from 60 tetri to 70 tetri
(about USD 0.38) last month and as the Agriculture Minister said price
of some wheat-containing products increased by 30%, attributed to Russia
wheat export ban and bad wheat harvest in the region.
Annual inflation was 7% in July, according to the National Bank of
Georgia; no figures are yet available for August. PM Gilauri said at a
government meeting on September 1, that inflation was triggered mainly
by global food price inflation.
Last week President Saakashvili accompanied by the PM and TV cameras
visited one of the supermarkets in Tbilisi asking for prices on some key
food staples and instructing the government to work on diversification
of sources of import.
At the August 31 meeting, Saakashvili said that “theoretically” Georgia
could produce enough wheat to satisfy its internal market. According to
the Agriculture Ministry, Georgia imports about 85% of its total wheat
demand, mainly from Russia, as well as from Ukraine and Kazakhstan. The
Agriculture Minister told the President that the goal was to increase
share of locally grown wheat to at least 45% by 2013.
During the meeting Saakashvili also spoke by video link with head of
Adjara Autnomous Republic's government, governors of Kvemo Kartli and
Kakheti regions to discuss wheat farming in their respective regions, as
well as with and Georgian ambassadors to Ukraine and the United States
to discuss increase of import of wheat from those countries.
Saakashvili instructed the government to consider providing flour in aid
to the most socially vulnerable families during the first months of
next year.
|
| 28 Aug. '10 | Präsident Saakashvili wird am 22.9. eine Rede vor der UN-Generalversammlung halten
President Saakashvili will leave for the United States on September 20 to participate in the session of the UN General Assembly.
According to President’s administration, Saakashvili will address the UN General Assembly on September 23.
He
will also make a speech at the New York University and participate in
special receptions arranged on behalf of UN Secretary General and
President Obama.
During the visit Saakashvili will also hold
bilateral meetings with his counterparts from European, Latin American
and African countries.
|
| 28 Aug. '10 | Drei Minenarbeiter bei Gasexplosion in Tkibuli getötet, sieben verletzt
An explosion in coal mine in western Georgia killed three miners and badly injured seven on August 27.
Georgian Interior Minister, Vano Merabishvili, who arrived on the ground, said that the incident was under investigation.
A
methane gas leak seems to be the cause of the incident in mine in
Tkibuli, Lasha Makatsaria, the governor of the Imereti region, where the
mine is located, said.
The most recent similar incident occurred in Tkibuli mine in March, which killed four miners.
|
| 26 Aug. '10 | Tbilisi
plant in den nächsten Wochen 'formal zu bestätigen', dass es nicht
beabsichtige, Gewalt gegen die russische Besatzung anzuwenden
In
next few weeks Georgia plans "to undertake new steps" in order "to
officially formalize", that Tbilisi has no intention "to use military
force against the Russian occupation," President Saakashvili said in an
interview with the Russian radio station, Ekho Moskvy, on August 26.
He
did not elaborate further details of what would be Georgia's "new
steps" in this regard; he, however, said that it would "calm those in
Russia, who seriously speak about possibility of the Georgian attack on
Russian occupants, illegally present" in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Moscow
has been pushing for a long time already for a non-use of force
treaties between Tbilisi and Sokhumi and Tbilisi and Tskhinvali. The
most recent proposal by Russia involves "unilateral declarations" signed
separately by Tbilisi, Sokhumi and Tskhinvali on non-use of force
pledges. Russia itself refuses to sign such document, as it does not
consider itself party into the conflict.
Tbilisi's position has long
been that no new such treaty was required as non-use of force commitment
already was including in the August 12 six-point ceasefire agreement.
At the same time, Georgia has been saying that it was ready to sign a
separate new treaty, but on the condition if Russia was also part of it.
Georgia also wants the new treaty to reflect the commitments Russia has
already undertaken under the six-point agreement, in particular the
part of the agreement, which calls on the parties to return thier
military forces to the positions held prior to outbreak of hostilities
on August 7.
President Saakashvili also said in the radio interview,
that Tbilisi's intention "to formalize" non-use of force commitment
would also "limit the room for maneuvering" for those in Russia "who use
this imaginary Georgian threat for justifying thier further actions."
He suggested that Russia's PM Vladimir Putin, who, he said, would
apparently again run for presidency in 2012, might further fuel tensions
with Georgia to use it for his electoral campaign.
"We will try not
to make Russia's new electoral campaign develop against the background
of final resolution of the Georgian issue," Saakashvili said.
He said that "recipe for overcoming" current troubles in Russo-Georgian relations "is very simple."
"Firstly,
it is, as a minimum, de-occupation of the Georgian territories; giving
Georgia possibility to decide itself how to develop, whom to elect,
which alliances to join," Saakashvili said.
"We have expressed
readiness for number of times to start talks on substantive issues
without any preconditions... and this proposal remains in force," he
said.
|
| 26 Aug. '10 | Russische Zeitung "Kommersant" äußert sich über die Auseinandersetzung um die Besitzrechte russischer Bürger in Abchasien
Sokhumi's
"hysteria" over Moscow-proposed joint commission to work on restitution
of property of Russian citizens in Abkhazia, is groundless as it is not
"infringing the Abkhaz interests," the Russian daily, Kommersant,
reported quoting an unnamed source from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
The
issue became a source of controversy in Abkhazia after the local
newspaper, Nuzhnaya, accused the Abkhaz leadership of "anti-state and
anti-Abkhaz" actions for considering a proposal on "the concept of a
joint Russian-Abkhaz commission on restoration of property rights of the
Russia citizens in Abkhazia." The article, published on August 17,
said, that the concept would pave the way for the return of thousands of
those Georgians, who fled Abkhazia after the armed conflict in early
90s and who now reside in Russia, holding Russian passports.
PM of
breakaway region, Sergey Shamba, confirmed that such proposal on setting
up of the joint commission was received from the Russian Foreign
Ministry, but said it was immediately rejected by Sokhumi.
"There is
nothing in the document that can be viewed as negative or infringing
Abkhaz interests," the Kommersant reported quoting the Russian Foreign
Ministry source. "This is a draft document, which was elaborated based
on taking into consideration desires of Russians [who seek restoration
of property rights in Abkhazia]... No one is saying that the joint
[Russian-Abkhaz] commission should return dwellings to everyone without
prior consideration [of individual cases]. And allegations, that Russia
wants to return Georgian refugees [back to Abkhazia] are utter absurd."
"Some
in Abkhazia simply do not want Russians, who lived in Abkhazia before
the war and possessed dwelling there, to return. I do not rule out that
all this hysteria is just a stage show of the Abkhaz authorities, who
have decided to reject creation of the commission, citing negative
public reaction," the source was quoted.
According to the Kommersant,
"more and more" Russian citizens, most of them not ethnic Georgians,
have been appealing the Abkhaz authorities, as well as the Russian
Foreign Ministry recently with the request to help regain thier
properties abandoned during the war in Abkhazia in early 90s.
Shamba
said on August 23, that after the war many of those people whose houses
were destroyed during the war, had to settle in abandoned houses and
restitution of property would be a painful process. He said that Sokhumi
was not rejecting considering this issue, but it required a thorough
deliberation in order to also prevent return of those ethnic Georgians,
who lived in Abkhazia before the war and now hold Russian passports.
The
Kommersant wrote that adoption of such proposal by Sokhumi "carries a
threat of real riots." An editor of Sokhumi-based newspaper, Chegemskaya
Pravda, Inal Khashig told the Kommersant, that despite Sokhumi's close
ties with Moscow, in this particular case the Abkhaz authorities "are
guided with survival instinct; they will be swept away if they accept
this proposal."
Paata Zakareishvili, a frequent commentator on
Abkhaz-related issues and a member of Georgian opposition Republican
Party, told the RFE/RL Georgian service, that Sokhumi's rejection of
Moscow's proposal was driven with fear towards possible change of
demographic situation in the region.
"They [Abkhazians] are of course
afraid of return of Russians and Armenians, but they are not saying it
[publicly]... They only mention Georgians, because they know it will be
sold easily... This is a strong argument for them and are hiding
stronger fears behind this argument. So while speaking out publicly
against [return of] Georgians, they at the same time speak out against
[return of] Russians and Armenians as well," Zakareishvili said.
The
Kommersant also reported, that Russia had long been pressing Sokhumi to
amend its law, which does not allow foreigners to buy property in
Abkhazia. Although there are cases, when Russians buy property in
Abkhazia through various schemes bypassing the law. Abkhaz leader,
Sergey Bagapsh, said in February, 2010, that the law would be emended
and ban would be dropped only for the Russian citizens; he, however,
also said that the issue required “a thorough consideration.”
This
month Bagapsh told Newsweek, that he had reached an agreement with
Russia's PM Vladimir Putin that will allow Russian citizens to own
private property in Abkhazia.
|
| 25 Aug. '10 | Tbilisi bemüht sich bei der UN in New York, die Unterstützung für die Resolution der Vertriebenen abzusichern
Georgian
State Minister for Reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, is in New York
holding series of meeting in the UN headquarters to secure support of
Tbilisi-sponsored UN General Assembly draft resolution reiterating right
of all internally displaced persons and refugees to return to Abkhazia
and South Ossetia.
Yakobashvili, whose visit started on August 17 and
will last till August 30, also aims at presenting Tbilisi's strategy on
occupied territories and its action plan for engagement with residents
of the two breakaway regions, the State Ministry for Reintegration said
on Wednesday.
Russia has already criticized the draft resolution as
Georgia's "unconstructive" steps, which had "negatively affected the
atmosphere" of recent round of Geneva talks on July 27.
Similar
resolutions have been tabled by Tbilisi and passed by the UN General
Assembly in in last two years as well; Georgia, however, tries to
increase number of those UN-member states, which vote in favor of the
resolution.
In 2008, UN General Assembly passed Georgian-sponsored
resolution recognizing "the right of all refugees and internally
displaced persons and their descendants, regardless of ethnicity" to
return to Abkhazia with small margin of 14 votes in favor to 11 against;
105 abstained.
In 2009, resolution recognizing the right of return
of IDPs and refugees in both breakaway regions was passed with 48
countries voting in favor; 19 – against and with 78 abstentions.
According
to the State Ministry for Reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili met in New
York with representatives from African Union; CARICOM, an organization
of 15 Caribbean nations and Andean, a trade bloc of Bolivia, Colombia,
Ecuador and Peru; as well as with officials from number of Pacific
island nations.
|
| 23 Aug. '10 | Parlamentspräsident
Bakradze: "Normalisierung" der Beziehungen zu Russland sollte mit
gemeinsamen Anstrengungen in Sachen Abchasien und Südossetien starten
Diese Fragen zu umgehen ist unmöglich.
Davit
Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary chairman, said "normalization" of
relations between Moscow and Tbilisi should start from "joint efforts on
the Abkhaz and South Ossetian directions."
"We are ready to resolve
issues with Russia through dialogue. But it won't be negotiations from a
blank page," he said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Vremya
Novostei, published on August 23.
"It's hard to talk with an
interlocutor, who has embassies in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali - on our
territories; who deploys troops without our consent, controlling the
fifth of Georgia. We can start talks with discussing withdrawal of these
military forces with a prospect to resolve the conflict. It is
impossible to by-pass these issues."
"It is impossible to normalize
relations without joint efforts on the Abkhaz and South Ossetian
directions. When we speak about political normalization or about
withdrawal of the Russian forces, we do not mean forcing Russia out [of
the region]. It should be a dignified process with taking into
consideration mutual interests. This kind of compromise is absolutely
possible in case of elementary good will from the Russian side. Then it
will be possible to discuss opening of borders, restoration of air link -
everything that can benefit ordinary citizens; but these are not major
issues in our relations," Bakradze said.
He said "emotions" were behind Russia's statements that its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was irreversible.
"Moscow
sees that these recognitions have brought to nowhere, but it is hard to
acknowledge it. Several years should be passed in order these emotions
to fade away," Bakradze said, adding that Russia would benefit much more
from having relations with Georgia based on equal rights.
"For
example, we have common interest in stability in the North Caucasus," he
said. "It is not in Georgia's interests to destabilize situation in the
North Caucasus. That's were we have common interests with Moscow. Let's
cooperate, but only on the basis of equality and partnership,"
|
| 22 Aug. '10 | Stellvertretende
Außenministerin Nino Kalandadze sagt über den russisch-armenischen
Vertrag einer Militärbasis, dass Tbilisi keinen Grund habe, anzunehmen,
dass Armenien die regionale Sicherheit gefährde.
Commenting on
Russian-Armenian military base deal, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister,
Nino Kalandadze said on August 20, that Tbilisi had no reason to suspect
that Armenia would endanger regional security.
Armenian and Russian
Presidents signed in Yerevan on August 20 an agreement extending
Moscow’s lease on Gyumri military base in Armenia to 2044.
"For us it
is important, that Armenia fully acknowledged and is acknowledging
threat coming from Russia in respect of Georgia, including in the
regional context. It is important for us that this awareness exists. We
have good relations with Armenia and we have no reason to suspect that
Armenia will in any form put regional security in danger," Nino
Kalandadze, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, told reporters on
August 20.
Asked at a news conference after signing of the agreement,
how Russia would act in case events similar to those in Georgia in
August, 2008 occur in Nagorno-Karabakh, Russia's President, Dmitry
Medvedev, responded, that Moscow supports peace in South Caucasus, but
in case of crisis it would act in accordance to its commitments
undertaken as an ally within Moscow-led security bloc of seven former
Soviet republics known as the Collective Security Treaty Organization
(CSTO). Azerbaijan and Georgia withdrew from CSTO, to which Armenia is a
member, in 1999.
"As the largest state in the region it is Russia's function to secure peace," Medvedev said.
According
to a report by Russian news agency, Interfax, by the end of this year
the Russian military bases in Gyumri and in Georgia's two breakaway
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will become part of Russia's
united strategic command "South", which will also include North Caucasus
Military District, western part of the Volga-Ural Military District,
Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla.
|
| 21 Aug. '10 |
Geo.-orthodoxe
Kirche ruft die Regierung auf, keine Gay-Parade zu erlauben; eine
Gay-Parade sei nach Gerüchten zufolge in Planung
The Georgian
Orthodox Church called on the authorities on August 20 not to allow
holding of gay parade - an event, which is only rumored to be planned,
but no sign has so far emerged that would indicate on its validity.
”There
are rumors according to which a gay parade is intended to be held
either in Tbilisi or Batumi,” the Georgian Patriarchate said in a
statement. "We request the authorities not to let public march of
Sodomites or a Gomorrahns so that to prevent it from becoming cause of a
terrible sin, the society's indignation and unrest."
Rumors that gay
parade is planned first emerged on Georgian internet forums three
months ago. The issue was then discussed by ex-state minister and now
opposition figure Giorgi Khaindrava in one of his interviews with the
Georgian press in June; he again spoke on the issue earlier this month
saying that authorities were promoting an idea of holding gay parade in
late August, adding that by doing so the authorities aimed at
"destroying major Georgian values". The issue briefly featured in the
campaign for Tbilisi mayoral office ahead of the May 31 local elections,
when then candidates Zviad Dzidziguri, leader of Conservative Party and
Gogi Topadze, leader of Industrialists Party, spoke out against alleged
plans. Rumors further intensified in recent weeks and it has been
extensively discussed on internet forums and social networkings sites.
But
neither authorities nor any other organization or a group, including
the one working on gay rights issues in Georgia have confirmed intention
to hold the event or knowing about someone having such plan.
In
July, 2007 an outdoor event - All Different, All Equal - dedicated to
tolerance was canceled for fear of violence after it was labelled by
some as a gay parade. At that time the Georgian Orthodox Church warned
that any participation by sexual minorities in the event would have led
to clashes.
In the statement on August 20, the Georgian Orthodox
Church said: "It is unimaginable and totally unacceptable to portray
homosexuality as an acceptable form - which thier public march amounts
to - in the country with 2,000 years of Christianity."
"Despite 70
years of harmful influence of the Communist regime, the large part of
our society (regardless of their confession) is a firm defender of moral
values, hence a parade by homosexuals will naturally trigger [the
society's] sharp reaction, which may grow into sharp confrontation."
In
this section, an initial version of the Patriarchate's statement
featured the following wording: "Despite a harmful influence of
atheistic regime...". Later the wording was changed into: "Despite 70
years of harmful influence of the Communist regime...".
"We are
obliged to once again warn those promoting human's moral degradation and
especially those [in favor of] legalization of homosexuality,
lesbianism and other voluptuous manifestations, that they will bring
God's punishment on themselves, which will be transfered to the nation
as well," the Georgian Orthodox Church said.
|
| 20 Aug. '10 |
Demonstration von einer Gruppe intern Vertriebener und von Straßenhändlern eskaliert zu einem Handgemenge mit der Polizei
Police arrested two opposition activists amid scuffle with protesters outside the Parliament on August 19.
The
August 19 rally was the largest and latest in the series of protests
held in recent weeks by a group of internally displaced persons and
outdoor vendors. IDPs are protesting against spate of evictions from the
state-owned buildings in Tbilisi and street traders are protesting
against ban on outdoor vending.
This recent rally, which like the
previous ones was organized by Lasha Chkhartishvili of opposition
Conservative Party and Alexander Shalamberidze of opposition Party of
People, started outside the presidential palace in Avlabari district of
the capital city. It then continued with a march towards the Parliament
building partially blocking the traffic.
Scuffle between the police and protesters started when the demonstrators arrived outside the Parliament building.
When
the police tried to arrest Chkhartishvili with several policemen
grabbing his arms and legs taking him on the other side of the road, a
group of protesters, mainly females, rushed after them and scuffled with
the policemen trying to prevent the arrest. Although at one point
during the few minutes of scuffle Chkhartishvili called on supporters to
step back, protesters managed to take him away from the police hands.
Shortly after that Chkhartishvili called on protesters to disperse, but
also said that rallies would continue in following days. The police
arrested Alexander Shalamberidze of Party of People and one activist
from pro-opposition youth group, Ara (no). The two men were released
later on the same day after court fined them with GEL 400 each for
resisting police orders.
The protest rally and consequent scuffle
with the police was extensively covered by two Tbilisi-based television
stations, Kavkasia and Maestro, while ignored by all three major
national television stations, including the public broadcaster.
|
| 18 Aug. '10 |
Otar Khetsia zum neuen Sekretär des nationalen Sicherheitsrates von Abchasien ernannt
Otar
Khetsia, who served as interior minister of breakaway Abkhazia for last
five years, was appointed as secretary of national security council
(NSC), Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on August 18.
The
breakaway region's national security council had an acting secretary
since September, 2009, when its ex-chief Stanislav Lakoba resigned over
disagreements with the leadership.
|
| 15 Aug. '10 |
Moskau sagt nun, dass die S-300 Raketen im Herbst 2008 in Abchasien stationiert wurden
Russia
deployed S-300 air-defense system in Abkhazia in autumn 2008 as a part
of Russian military base in the region for "purely defensive" purposes,
the Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 13.
Andrey Nesterenko,
the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that in response to
questions, triggered among media outlets and in "some capitals", Moscow
"deems it necessary to explain" that S-300 could not serve as
destabilizing factor in the region and its deployment did not breach any
international commitment undertaken by Russia.
EU foreign affairs
chief Catherine Ashton said on August 13 she was "concerned" about
Russia's announcement that it had deployed S-300 air-defense system in
Abkhazia and that the move “would be in contradiction with the six-point
ceasefire agreement... and would risk further increasing tensions in
the region."
The French Foreign Ministry said on August 12, that
S-300 deployment would "unlikely to contribute to the stabilization of
the region,"
Commander of Russian Air Forces announced about
deployment of S-300 in Abkhazia on August 11 without specifying the date
of deployment.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry responding by
condemning the move, describing it as “an extremely dangerous and
provocative... which poses threat to the security of not only the Black
Sea region, but of entire Europe.”
Also on August 11, the U.S.
Department of State said, that the Russian military commander's
announcement was not necessarily a news, as Moscow had had S-300 in
Abkhazia for past two years.
Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, Davit
Bakradze said on August 12, that he had no exact information whether
S-300 air-defense system had been deployed in Abkhazia before Russia
publicly announced about this move on August 11.
“It seems that
Americans have more information owing to their technical capabilities. I
cannot confirm whether this system has been deployed in Abkhazia until
now or not, because the Georgian side has no exact information in this
regard, at least, at my level,” Bakradze told Civil.ge.
“Our military
cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia is not a news or secret,"
the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said. "It is carried out on the
basis of relevant interstate bilateral agreements with the single goal –
to provide the security of young Trans-Caucasian republics and
stability in the region, as a whole."
|
| 14 Aug. '10 |
US-Bericht zu Terrorismus durch Außenministerium vorgelegt
Nach
diesem Bericht seien Russlands Vorwürfe, Georgien würde
tschetschenische Terroristen im Pankisital beherbergen, "unbegründet".
Russland kritisiert dies und wiederholt die Vorwürfe gegen Georigen.
A
section of U.S. Department of State's annual country report on
terrorism, which deals with Georgia, "surprises with its bias." the
Russian Foreign Ministry said on August 13.
"The report portrays
Georgia as a truly exemplary fighter against terrorism. Herewith it
ignores available information that Georgia is playing a double game in
respect of terrorist underground in the North Caucasus. The Russian
special services have provided convincing evidence of that and objective
observers have long noted that," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
The
Department of State's report, released on August 5, reads: "The
situation in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
remained largely unchanged, and the Georgian government does not control
its international borders located between these regions and Russia.
This lack of control allowed for unrestricted and unidentified flow of
people, goods, and other potentially dangerous items from Russia into
Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
On this part of the report, the Russian
Foreign Ministry said: "If an attempt to accuse Russia in 'export of
terrorism' is hidden behind such 'assessments', which by the way are not
backed with facts, then we are facing politicization of problem of
fight against new challenges."
"Unwillingness to accept new
geopolitical realities in the Caucasus did not help authors of the
report to realize absurdity of raising the issue of 'Georgian control'
on borders between Russia and sovereign states of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. Naturally there is no such control and can not be such."
The
report also says that "the administrative boundary lines between
Georgia and the conflict zones were furthered militarized in 2009 when
Russia tasked its Federal Security Service (FSB) border guards to take
over control from de facto authorities in both territories."
The
Russian Foreign Ministry said it "categorically disagrees with use of
term 'militarized' in reference to deployment of Russian border guard on
Abkhaz and South Ossetian borders."
"Thanks to our border guards,
situation on the borders of these two states with Georgia has
significantly stabilized and in overall remains calm," it said.
The
Department of State report also said that Russia's claims of Georgian
support for "Chechen terrorists and harboring of such individuals in the
Pankisi Gorge were unsubstantiated, and the Georgian government has
made transparent efforts to prove this to the international community."
|
| 13 Aug. '10 |
EU 'besorgt' über die Stationierung der S-300 Raketen in Abchasien
EU
foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said she was "concerned" about
Russia's announcement that it had deployed S-300 air-defense system in
Abkhazia "without the consent of the government of Georgia."
"The
deployment of such a weapon system in Abkhazia would be in contradiction
with the six-point ceasefire agreement as well as implementing measures
[agreement signed on September 8, 2008] and would risk further
increasing tensions in the region," she said in a statement on August 13.
"I
call on Russia to fully implement all its obligations under the
ceasefire agreement. The EU reiterates its firm support for the security
and stability of Georgia, based on full respect for the principles of
independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, recognised by
international law."
Commander of Russian Air Forces announced about
deployment of S-300 in Abkhazia on August 11. On the same day the U.S.
Department of State said Russia had this system in Abkhazia for already
two years. On August 13 Russian news agency, Interfax, reported quoting
unnamed Kremlin source that Russia deployed S-300 in Abkhazia two years
ago and the only development now was that its location within Abkhazia
was slightly changed.
Brussels-based EUobserver.com reported on
August 12, that Russia's announcement of August 11 came as a surprise
for EU. The announcement was made on the day, when Ashton spoke on the
phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. "He [Lavrov] said
nothing on the subject. Within an hour or so later, we got the news
[about S-300 deployment]," EUobserver,com reported quoting an unnamed
source in the EU institutions.
Ashton, apparently referring to
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's recent brief visit to breakaway
Abkhazia, said in the statement that "official visits to the Georgian
regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia should be made in full respect of
Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
|
| 13 Aug. '10 |
Interfax
schreibt, dass nach einer Quelle aus dem Kreml die S-300 Raketen schon
vor zwei Jahren stationiert wurden und seither keine weiteren Systeme in
die Region geschickt wurden
Russian news agency, Interfax,
reported on August 13, quoting an unnamed Kremlin source, that Russia
had deployed S-300 air-defense system in Abkhazia two years ago and no
additional system had been sent to the region since then.
According to the same report the only new development is that location of S-300 within Abkhazia has been slightly changed.
Commander of the Russian Air Forces announced on August 11 that Russia had deployed S-300 system in Abkhazia.
The
U.S. Department of State said on the same day that Russia maintained
S-300 in Abkhazia for past two years already and the announcement of the
Russian air force commander was not necessarily a new development. The
State Department also said that Washington was looking into whether the
announcement meant sending of additional air-defense system to the
region.
|
| 13 Aug. '10 |
Frankreich 'besorgt' über die Stationierung der S-300 Raketen in Abchasien
The
deployment of Russia’s S-300 air-defense system in Abkhazia is
"unlikely to contribute to the stabilization of the region," the French
Foreign Ministry said on August 12.
Asked whether France was
concerned by this deployment and whether it was a source of concern for
NATO, Christine Fages, the French foreign ministry spokesperson, said:
“We have noted with concern the announcement" by Russia, made on August
11, that it had deployed its enhanced air-defense system in Georgia's
breakaway region.
“We urge all of the parties to uphold and comply fully with the agreements of August 12 and September 8, 2008,” Christine Fages said.
She
reiterated France’s support for Georgia’s independence, territorial
integrity and sovereignty, within its internationally recognized borders
and added that “NATO has also repeatedly reaffirmed its attachment to
the principle of Georgia’s territorial integrity.”
“The next session
of international discussions which will take place in Geneva on October
14 will provide an opportunity to address the issues relating to the
security and stability of the region,” she said.
|
| 12 Aug. '10 |
US-Außenministerium: 'Russland hat S-300 in Abchasien seit den vergangenen zwei Jahren stationiert'
Russia's
announcement about deploying sophisticated air-defense system, S-300,
in breakaway Abkhazia might not be a new development, as Russia has
maintained such system there since 2008, August war, U.S. Department of
State said.
"It’s our understanding that Russia has had S-300
missiles in Abkhazia for the past two years." State Department
spokesman, Philip J. Crowley, said at a news briefing in Washington on
August 11.
"We can’t confirm whether they [Russia] have added to
those systems or not. We will look into that. This by itself is not
necessarily a new development. That system has been in place for some
time," he added.
Reuters reported quoting unnamed Pentagon official
that the U.S. could not yet confirm the deployment of new missiles and
was seeking further information.
"But the absence of transparency and international monitoring in Abkhazia makes this difficult," the official said.
Commander
of the Russian Air Forces, Colonel General Alexander Zelin, said on
August 11, that Russia had deployed long range S-300 in Abkhazia to
protect its airspace and Russian military bases deployed there. He said
that S-300 missile system "will cover only facilities located on the
territory of Abkhazia". Air defense of South Ossetia is provided with
other systems, Zelin said.
"At the same time, the task of air defense
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia will be also implemented by frontline and
army aviation carrying out combat duties there," Zelin added.
No other details, including the date of deployment were reported.
Asked
about the Russia's announcement, foreign minister of breakaway
Abkhazia, Maxim Gvinjia, initially denied in an interview with BBC
Russian service that S-300 were deployed in Abkhazia, suggesting that
Col. Gen. Zelin's remarks were probably misunderstood by journalists.
However,
later, in an interview with RIA Novosti news agency, Gvinjia said that
S-300 was deployed and added that it was in line with an agreement on
military cooperation between Moscow and Sokhumi.
The Georgian Foreign
Ministry condemned the move and said it "represents a clear example of
reinforcement of military dimension of Russia's declared imperial policy
of 'spheres of influence'."
"It is absolutely incomprehensible for
what purpose this extremely dangerous and provocative step may serve,
which poses threat to the security of not only the Black Sea region, but
of entire Europe," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on
August 11.
The S-300 is a long-range air defense able to engage
number of targets simultaneously and to detect, track and destroy cruise
missiles, ballistic missiles and aircraft at low-to-high altitude.
Georgian
State Minister for Reintegration, Temur Iakobashvili, said if the
purpose of deployment was Georgia, then the decision lacked rationality.
"First of all, it is NATO that should be concerned about it,"
Iakobashvili added.
Russian military analyst, Alexander Golts, told
RFE/RL Russian-language service, Ekho Kavkaza, that Russia's decision
"looks strange." It's like "shooting sparrow with cannon," he said and
suggested that the decision did not seem to be taken by the military
leadership.
"It's a purely political decision aimed at demonstrating
Russia's resolve to defend Abkhazia's independence with all the means...
It's part of propagandistic declarations," Golts said.
Vladimir
Socor of U.S. think-tank Jamestown Foundation wrote on August 11 that
Russia's S-300 in Abkhazia "cannot conceivably aim at Georgian air
targets."
"The Russian deployment’s most likely goal is to create a
capability for interdicting Georgian, or indeed US and NATO, flights
over the adjacent Black Sea area, Georgia’s interior, and the South
Caucasus air corridor," Socor suggested. "Russian interdiction
capability can deter Georgia, the United States and its allies from
using those flight paths in certain contingencies; or can compel them to
clear their flight plans with Russia in certain contingencies."
Commander
of the Russian Air Forces also said on August 11 that the task of air
defense systems in Abkhazia and South Ossetia "is also to prevent
violation of Abkhaz and South Ossetian airspace and to destroy any
aircraft illegally penetrating into thier airspace no matter what their
purpose might be."
|
| 11 Aug. '10 |
Tbilisi äußert sich der Stationierung von Russlands S-300 Raketen in Abchasien
Es
ist die NATO, die zuerst und am meisten besorgt sein sollte über die
Entscheidung Russlands S-300 Langstreckenraketen im abtrünnigen
Abchasien zu stationieren. "... weitere Verletzung des
Sechs-Punkte-Abkommens ..."
It is NATO, which should be first and for
most concerned about Russia's decision to deploy long-range S-300
air-defense system in breakaway Abkhazia, Temur Iakobashvili, the
Georgian state minister for reintegration, said on August 11.
"Obviously,
such action is one more violation of Sarkozy-Mediated [six-point
ceasefire] agreement. If we take into consideration the specifics of
this weapon, of course, it is inappropriate against Georgia in view of
even theoretical threats because S-300 is a long range missile. It makes
us suppose that this step has been taken to change the balance of
forces in the region," he said.
"It stresses once again that Russia
does not care about the fates of Abkhazians and South Ossetians. They
need territories to demonstrate their force in this region and first of
all, it is NATO that should be concerned about it," Iakobashvili added.
Eka
Tkeshelashvili, secretary of the Georgian National Security Council,
said that the move demonstrated "once again that Russia is an occupant
force in Georgia’s two regions."
"Russia does not hide it by its
actions – not only it does not withdraw its troops from the territory of
Georgia, but it further reinforces its military control in these
regions and Russia makes no secret of it. Hence, such action and
statement is nothing but a demonstration of unhidden, obvious occupation
carried out by Russia in these two regions," Tkeshelashvili said.
|
| 10 Aug. '10 |
Freie Industriezone in Tbilisi in zwei Jahren geplant
The
first free industrial zone will be opened in Tbilisi in about two
years, Vera Kobalia, the Georgian economy minister, said on August 10.
“The
Tbilisi industrial zone is a very important project for Georgia’s
economy, since it will employ over 1,500 persons after it is opened in
about two years,” she told reporters.
“It will give an opportunity
for export diversification and it will be an opportunity to produce
electrical appliances in Georgia and then export them,” she said.
|
| 10 Aug. '10 |
USA 'möchte sehen, dass sich Russland vollständig an das Sechs-Punkte-Abkommen hält'
The
United States "will continue to encourage" Russia to cooperate fully
and meet its obligations under the 2008 Ceasefire Agreement, the U.S.
Department of State spokesman, Philip J. Crowley said on August 9.
“We
want to see Russia fully adhere to its obligations under this
agreement,” he said at a press briefing in Washington, while responding a
question whether the diplomacy had failed after the August war, as
Russia still remained in control of the two breakaway regions..
“When
the Secretary [of State, Hillary Clinton] was in Georgia recently, she
reiterated our strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity. And she called on Russia to recognize its commitments under
the 2008 Ceasefire Agreement mediated by French President Sarkozy and
signed by both President Medvedev and President Saakashvili,” Crowley
said. “There is a Geneva process through which, periodically, these
issues are considered.”
|
| 9 Aug. '10 |
Tbilisi verurteilt Medvedev’s Sokhumi-Besuch
Russian
President’s visit to Sokhumi, which was made “in a manner of the Soviet
political leaders” was “yet another cynical act” demonstrating Moscow’s
unwillingness to follow obligation undertaken by August 12, 2008
six-point ceasefire agreement, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on
Monday.
Medvedev, accompanied by Russia’s Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, paid a brief, unannounced visit to Sokhumi on August 8.
The
Georgian Foreign Ministry said that the visit was also an attempt to
“to create an illusion of legitimacy for [Moscow’s] proxy regime” in
Sokhumi.
“The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Georgia expresses its
strict protest over yet another attempt to destabilize the situation and
to escalate tension in the Caucasian region and calls for the
international community to force Russia to respect the universally
recognized norms and principles of the international law and to
unconditionally fulfill the commitments under the six-point Agreement,”
it said.
|
| 9 Aug. '10 |
Senator McCain: Georgien braucht US-Unterstützung, um seine Verteidigung neu aufzubauen
Two
years after the August war rebuilding Georgia’s defense, including
through possible supply of anti-tank, air defense and early-warning
radar systems, is one of the areas in which Tbilisi needs U.S. long-term
support, U.S. Republican senator, John McCain wrote in his opinion
piece published in the Washington Post on August 8.
Senator McCain
said that despite Georgia’s significant contribution to the Afghan
operation, “yet it has been a struggle to get the [U.S.] administration
to provide Georgian troops heading into combat even basic equipment,
armored vehicles and replacement parts.”
“Beyond this short-term
assistance, Georgia needs long-term support to provide for its own
defense. This is likely to entail antitank capabilities, air defenses,
early-warning radar and other defensive systems that should not be
misconstrued as U.S. endorsement for any Georgian use of force against
its separatist regions. Georgia will always be less powerful than
Russia, but that is no reason to leave it vulnerable two years after a
Russian invasion,” McCain wrote.
When asked in June why the U.S. had
not fulfilled any of Georgia’s request for arms in last couple of years,
Philip Gordon, the assistant secretary of state for European and
Eurasian affairs, responded, that after the August war Washington was
focused on “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. He also said that the
U.S. had no arms embargo on Georgia.
When asked at a joint news
conference with visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, in
Tbilisi on July 5 about “de facto restrictions” on sale of U.S. arms to
Georgia, President Saakashvili responded that Georgia had “very good
security cooperation” with the United States and brought an example of
Georgia’s contribution to the Afghan operation.
Saakashvili said that
this security cooperation “is a process, a step-by-step approach” and
“there is nothing to complain about” the U.S. policy on this issue.
In
an interview with Itar-Tass news agency last week, Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said, that Moscow was insisting on
imposing “broad international embargo” on supply of arms to Georgia.
“It
can be said today, that many of those, who were active supplies of arms
to Georgia in the past, have analyzed policy of the current leadership
in Tbilisi and reconsidered their approach,” Karasin said. “But the
problem is still too far from being resolved.”
|
| 7 Aug. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili: ‘Der Kampf um die Befreiung geht auf täglicher Basis weiter’
Two
years after the August war Georgia’s struggle for “complete liberation”
continues on daily basis, President Saakashvili said in a brief
recorded televised address to the nation from Colombia aired on August
7.
Russia started aggression against Georgia much earlier than
August, 2008 and there is no need to consider separate dates out of
context, he said.
“And this aggression has not slowed down till now
and it is not over yet. Our struggle will continue unless last occupant
leaves the Georgian land, unless justice is restored towards hundreds of
thousands of our citizens of various ethnicities, who were forced to
leave their homes,” Saakashvili said.
He said that in August, 2008
Georgians had to defend “dignity, freedom and its future” with arms in
their hands. “Each of us is obliged to carry out this struggle on daily
basis to honor memory of those fallen [in the August war]; to carry out
this struggle within the country to further develop it and throughout
the world to defend our positions everywhere,” he said.
“It is a
historic task of our generation to accomplish this struggle and to
liberate Georgia; we will accomplish this struggle and completely
liberate our country,” Saakashvili added.
Meanwhile, Georgian State
Minister for Reintegration, Temur Iakobashvili, said in an interview
with the Georgian daily, 24 Saati, published on August 7, that the most
important achievement on diplomatic front since the August war had been
international community’s refusal to follow Russia’s suit in recognition
of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“It is obvious now that [Tbilisi’s]
counter efforts turned out to be more effective: if previously it was
about recognition of these territories as independent states, now it is
about recognition of these [regions] as occupied territories,”
Iakobashvili said.
“I think it’s a complete failure of the Russian
diplomacy and a real chance for us to return back these territories, to
reintegrate them into the Georgian jurisdiction and to return those
people back to Georgia,” he said.
“The war has demonstrated something
that was not clearly evident before – our main problem is not relations
with Abkhazians and Ossetians… Our major problem is Georgian-Russian
relations. Russia is using separatists and separatism against the
Georgian statehood,” Iakobashvili said.
|
| 6 Aug. '10 |
Immer noch einiges zu tun - EUMM fast zwei Jahre vor Ort
Civil.ge publishes article by head of EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), Ambassador Hansjörg Haber.
The
interval between the second anniversary of the outbreak of the 2008 war
on 7/8 August and the end of the second annual mandate of the European
Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia on 14 September gives me an
opportunity to reflect on EUMM’s work over these last two years and its
impact on the situation on the ground.
EUMM was deployed following the EU-brokered 12 August Six-Point Agreement and the 8 September Implementing Measures Agreement
in 2008. Thanks to the support of all EU Member States the fastest
deployed mission in the history of EU Common Security and Defence
Policy, EUMM began its operations on 1 October 2008 with more than 200
monitors on the ground, as stipulated in the Implementing Measures
Agreement. Its mandate consists of four important components, namely
stabilisation, normalisation and confidence building, as well as
reporting to Brussels to inform EU policy making.
Normalisation was
the first and most urgent task facing the mission. At its very
inception the mission was assisted in the efforts to bring back to
normality the lives of those parts of the population living in the areas
adjacent to the administrative boundary lines with Abkhazia and South
Ossetia and displaced by the hostilities. The Russian Armed Forces’
withdrawal from the adjacent areas eight days after the Mission started
patrolling, allowed some 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) to
return to their homes and to restart their lives. Their departure from
places of temporary accommodation did not, however, solve the
long-standing problem of IDPs in Georgia. In addition to those
displaced during previous conflicts, 30,000 to this day remain unable to
go back to their houses in South Ossetia, most likely destroyed in the
August 2008 war.
The Georgian government certainly deserves praise
for its prompt reaction to the 2008 IDPs’ plight and for including
earlier IDPs into a strategy that ultimately aims at finding durable
accommodation solutions for all those affected by the recent conflicts.
It cannot be ignored, however, that the pressure under which decisions
had to be made at that point in time led to a number of serious flaws,
which now require addressing. In virtue of its exclusively monitoring
role, EUMM has been observing the situation of IDPs, recording their
grievances and sharing its insights with both donors, including, of
course, the EU, and organizations implementing aid programs, in
particular the UN family.
While the Mission’s mandate covers the
entire territory of Georgia within its internationally recognized
borders, the de facto authorities’ denial of access to South Ossetia and
Abkhazia has been hampering the mission’s normalization and
stabilization efforts. Especially Georgian interlocutors expected we
would gain access as a matter of priority shortly after deployment.
Unfortunately, with a few minor exceptions, this has not happened so
far. Our Georgian partners have come to accept that this limitation to
the implementation of the mission’s mandate is effectively
counterbalanced by a consistent EU policy of non-recognition of the
entities. At the same time, however, we feel that inability to access
areas under the control of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali prevents us from
helping bring clarity and resolve incidents that take place on the
ground. On concrete issues that affect the security situation in the
areas adjacent to the administrative boundary lines and the livelihood
of ordinary people on both sides of the divide, EUMM has consistently
strived to play an impartial role.
Looking at the stabilization
component of the mission’s mandate, we regard the Memorandum of
Understanding concluded with the Georgian Ministry of Defence on 26
January, 2009, as a definite success. In the agreement, Georgia
unilaterally accepts limitations on the deployment
of both troops and heavy equipment in a carefully defined strip of
territory around South Ossetia and south of Abkhazia. This goes beyond
the obligations included in the Six-Point Agreement. A Russian decision
to reciprocate the move would help bring transparency on the presence of
military forces also on the other side of the administrative boundary
line and increase security for all. Unfortunately, despite repeated
invitations by EUMM, this move has so far not been reciprocated by
Moscow.
Although still unilateral, we are convinced that the
Memorandum works to the distinctive advantage of Georgia. Continually
monitoring Georgian military installations and military forces deployed
throughout the country, and especially near the administrative boundary
lines, as stipulated in the document, EUMM is in a position to issue a
"clean bill of health" to Georgia. The great value of this agreement
was clearly demonstrated in the spring and summer of 2009, when EUMM,
thanks to its observations gathered on the ground, was able to
repeatedly refute Russian and South Ossetian allegations of a Georgian
military build-up along the administrative boundary line. The Memorandum
of Understanding, therefore, is strong evidence of Georgia's
willingness to abide by the principle of non-use of force as contained
in the Six-Point Agreement.
The positive example of the Memorandum of
Understanding illustrates an important principle, namely that in a
situation where the sides to a conflict cannot come to an agreement,
formal or informal, unilateral concessions by one side might prove the
only way to push things forward. As a result, the part that bravely
accepts to make such concession not only is not harmed, but can actually
benefit from it. It seems to me that recognition of this principle
that we could call “constructive unilateralism” is also at the origin of
the Georgian State Strategy on the Occupied Territories, and, the
subsequent Action Plan for Engagement. Both the Strategy and the Action
Plan set out a people-centered policy, aimed at stretching out a helping
hand to the civilian populations (citizens of Georgia, to be sure)
residing in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
However, the intentions
enunciated in these two documents appear to conflict with provisions
contained in the Law on Occupied Territories, which had adopted a more
restrictive approach. With all respect to a decision of the Parliament
of Georgia and to the rule of law, it should be kept in mind that this
piece of legislation was passed under the emotional impact of the August
war. From the perspective of EUMM, and being mandated to observe the
present and potential future effects of both the law and the Action
Plan, I think the Georgian authorities should strive to preserve a
coherent approach and resolve possible incoherences between the Law on
the one side, and the Strategy and the Action Plan on the other, in
favour of the latter.
Since EUMM’s deployment, the situation in the
areas adjacent to the administrative boundary lines with Abkhazia and
South Ossetia has largely stabilized. Yet we are not under the illusion
that stabilization equates to the resolution of the conflict. The
Georgian people have had plenty of opportunities to learn these lessons
between 1993 and 2008, when, in spite of agreements to stabilize the
situation and the presence of international organisations to monitor
this process, hostilities reignited. EUMM will remain loyal to its
commitments and redouble efforts to engage the sides in confidence
building measures. However, I am firmly convinced that, regardless of
the international community’s best intentions, the task to address the
root causes of the conflict rests primarily on the sides to the
conflict. Furthermore, Tbilisi, Moscow, Tskhinvali and Sukhumi should
strive to keep the interests of the civilian populations at heart and
align their decisions accordingly.
EUMM’s mandate has just been
renewed until September 2011. Given EU member states’ support for
continued engagement in the Southern Caucasus, it will probably be
extended again.
But the EU, and EUMM in particular, can only provide a
enabling environment for solving the conflicts on Georgian territory.
It cannot provide the solution itself, which must be found by the
participants to these conflicts themselves. They should therefore
prepare to take full responsibility to find sustainable and lasting
solutions for the sake of the future welfare and peaceful prospects for
all communities in the region.
|
| 6 Aug. '10 |
Int. Gerichtshof von Den Haag hält im September vier öffentliche Anhörungen im Fall Georgien gegen Russland ab
The
International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold four public hearings in
September into the case initiated two years ago by Georgia against
Russia, the Hague-based court said in a statement on August 5.
Georgia
filed application to ICG on August 12, 2008 over Russia’s “serious
violations of its fundamental obligations” under the 1965 International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(CERD) “during three distinct phases of its interventions in South
Ossetia and Abkhazia” in the period between 1990 and August 2008.
ICJ
said in the statement that all four public hearings from September 13
to September 17, during which Russia and Georgia will present their
arguments, “will concern solely the preliminary objections to
jurisdiction raised by the Russian Federation.”
Russia presented its
preliminary objections on jurisdiction to ICJ in December, 2009, as
Russia claims that the Hague-based court is not competent to rule on the
case.
|
| 5 Aug. '10 |
Amnesty International Bericht zu Georgiens Vertriebenen Personen im eigenen Land (IDP)
Much
remains to be done to provide adequate housing, employment and access
to health care to internally displaced persons in Georgia, which make up
to 6% of the country’s population, Amnesty International said in a
report released on August 5.
The 43-page report welcomes the
government’s efforts to establishing a legal framework protecting the
rights of IDPs and acknowledges measures taken to improve the housing of
IDPs, but says that concerns remain regarding ongoing lack of adequate
housing in many collective centers, as well as regarding integration of
the displaced population and their access to economic, social and
cultural rights.
“The Georgian government has taken important steps,
but housing solutions have to go hand in hand with health care,
employment and livelihoods opportunities. This is the only way to fully
integrate the tens of thousands of its citizens still living in limbo,”
Nicola Duckworth, Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia
programme director, said.
“Displaced people need more than just roofs
over their heads. They need the government to ensure employment, access
to health care and benefits. They also need to be consulted and be able
to make the choices affecting their lives,” she said.
Conflicts of
last 20 years in Georgia have resulted in “an extremely complex picture
of displacement” with statistics often inaccurate and disputed,
according to the Amnesty International’s report - In the waiting room:
Internally displaced people in Georgia.
The report identifies three groups of internally displaced persons in Georgia.
The
largest group is of about 222,000 people displaced as a result of
conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in early 90s known as “old
IDPs”, including at least 40,000 of those who have returned to breakaway
Abkhazia’s Gali district, but are still considered as displaced persons
by Tbilisi as their return has been sporadic with no security
guarantees.
The majority of these IDPs live either with friends or
relatives or in rented or purchased private accommodation and about 42%
of them lives in collective centers, which are state or privately owned
buildings such as kindergartens, sanatoria, hospitals and hotels. The
report says that “most of these buildings are not designed for long-term
human habitation, and do not meet the minimum standards of adequate
housing.”
There are cases when some of the collective centers have
been or will be privatized and IDPs living there face eviction. In one
of such case a group of IDPs were evicted from a publishing house in
downtown Tbilisi last month and instead were provided with accommodation
in Zugdidi district, western Georgia. But because of lack of employment
opportunities in rural areas, IDPs are reluctant to move to the Zugdidi
district.
“Currently high unemployment remains an especially
pressing issue for displaced people,” according to the report. “While
there are no official segregated statistics available on displaced
people, most recent surveys suggest that they suffer from higher rate
o[f] unemployment than the general population.”
According to the
State Strategy on IDPs adopted by the government in 2007 and its action
plan of 2009 for those living in state-owned collective centers their
living space will be transferred in to their ownership. Living space has
been transferred to about 7,000 families, or up to 65% of those living
in collective centers, by the end of 2009.
The report says that the move is “a major breakthrough” in providing durable housing to displaced persons.
“However
at this stage, the provision of durable housing solutions does not
involve the estimated 130,000 displaced people living in private sector
housing. These residents, almost exclusively displaced by the conflicts
of the 90’s, are in limbo pending the finalization of the next phase of
the Action Plan,” according to the report.
Another group of IDPs are
those about 26,000 people, who were displaced from South Ossetia and
Abkhazia’s Kodori gorge (about 2,000) as a result of the August, 2008
war and are not able to return and “will not be able to return in the
foreseeable future,” according to the report.
This group of people is
known as “new IDPs” with most of them living in 38 newly constructed
settlements mostly in Shida Kartli and Kvemo Kartli region.
“The
speed with which this [providing accommodation to new IDPs] was carried
out has been recognized as a major achievement by the Georgian
government, NGOs and donors,” the report said. “Yet serious problems
remain. Many of the settlements are located in rural areas with limited
options for income generation. Being located far from major towns also
makes it difficult to access facilities such as hospitals, shops,
schools and government offices.”
The third group, according to the
report, consists of those people who were displaced from the Shida
Kartli region during the August war, but later returned to their places
of residence. Unlike the returnees to the Gali region in Abkhazia,
however, this group, mainly from the areas adjacent to breakaway South
Ossetia’s administrative border, does not hold IDP status.
“Many of
the returnees are coping with a loss of income because of the
destruction of infrastructure, the loss of livestock and the loss of the
2008 harvest. Many houses and other buildings were damaged during the
armed conflict, and property was stolen during the period of sustained
looting that followed,” the report says.
Most of those whose homes in
the areas adjacent of breakaway region were destroyed during the August
war received one-off assistance of USD 15,000 from the Georgian
government to rebuild their homes.
“In spite of this, very little
reconstruction has started. Those interviewed by Amnesty International
in June 2009, stated that they feared the possibility of new
hostilities, and were reluctant to invest money and effort in rebuilding
homes given what they perceived as a fragile peace,” according to the
report.
|
| 3 Aug. '10 |
Georgien wirbt für seine ‘Kombination von Schwimm- und Skiurlaubsgebieten'
President
Saakashvili said on August 3, that next year Georgia would launch a
global ad campaign to promote its potential of having swimming resort on
its Black Sea coast and ski resort in the Caucasus mountings during the
summer period.
He was speaking in Svaneti, high-mountainous region
in north-western Georgia, where he skied after swimming in Anaklia on
Georgia’s Black Sea coast earlier on the same day.
“We are starting
global ad campaign from next January that Georgia is the only place in
Europe, where you can swim at tropical beach in Anaklia and ski two
hours later or even twenty five minutes later if you take a helicopter
flight,” he said.
“For dozens of years we have been explaining to the
Europeans that Georgia can be Switzerland of Caucasus… There is nowhere
in the world such a combination [of sea and ski resorts] – that’s not
an exaggeration; so instead of us becoming Switzerland [of Caucasus],
let Switzerland now become Europe’s Georgia… let others compare with us;
but it requires lots of work and lots of investments.”
“Tbilisi-based
businessmen should learn to look beyond Rustaveli [Avenue, center of
the capital city]. Invest now a Lari here and take hundred-fold profit
in five years… In five-six years up to 600-700 thousand tourists or even
million will be visiting this place,” Saakashvili said.
“The enemy
has not yet grabbed this place by its claw and development of this place
is a precondition to return other [territories, referring to Abkhazia
and South Ossetia],” he added.
|
| 3 Aug. '10 |
Premierminister Nika Gilauri: Bruttoinlandsprodukt stieg im 2.Quartal um ca. 7%
Preliminary
estimates show GDP grew about 7-7.5 per cent in the second quarter of
2010 year-on-year, PM Nika Gilauri said at a government session on
August 3.
The state statistics agency, Geostat, has yet to publish detailed figures.
“GDP
growth in first half of 2010 is about 5.5-6 per cent; it is very
important, as this is not a low pace of growth,” PM Gilauri said.
Georgia's
real GDP grew 4.5% in the first quarter of 2010 year-on-year, from
nominal USD 2.327 billion to USD 2.47 billion, according to Geostat.
|
| 31 Jul. '10 |
Moskau hat Weißrussland und Kasachstan aufgefordert, keinen georgischen Wein und Mineralwasser nach Russland zu reexportieren
Moscow
has “requested” its partners from customs union – Belarus and
Kazakhstan – not to re-export Georgian and Moldovan wines and mineral
waters into Russia, Gennady Onishchenko, Russia's chief sanitary
inspector, said on July 30.
Russia banned import of Georgian wines and mineral waters in 2006, citing sanitary reasons.
“We
have provided information to our colleagues based on legal acts of
customs union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus that use of number of
products in our country is limited. We have requested them to take
measures not to let Georgian and Moldovan wines and mineral waters on
the Russian territory,” Russian news agency, Interfax, reported quoting
Onishchenko said.
“It does not mean that we are imposing our will on
[Belarus and Kazakhstan] and are limiting their right to use those
products. But we have a right to demand to take comprehensive measures
in order not to let these products on the Russian market and we’ve used
to that right,” he added.
|
| 27 Jul. '10 |
Vakhtang Komakhidze, investigativer Reporter, bekommt Asyl in der Schweiz
Switzerland
granted asylum to a long-time Georgian investigative journalist,
Vakhtang Komakhidze, the Swiss embassy in Tbilisi has confirmed.
Komakhidze,
who ran an investigative reporting production studio, Reportiori
(Reporter), requested for asylum in Switzerland in February, citing
“aggressive threats” coming from the authorities” against him and his
family.
He said that threats intensified after he traveled to
Tskhinvali in December, 2009 to gather information, as he planned to
film a new investigative piece on the August war.
|
| 27 Jul. '10 |
Tbilisi verurteilt den Angriff auf Timur Tskhovrebov - Aktivist and Journalist - in Tskhinvali durch eine zehnköpfige Gruppe von Eduard Kokoity-Anhängern
Georgian
State Ministry for Reintegration said on July 26 that assault and
beating up of Tskhinvali-based activist and journalist, Timur
Tskhovrebov, was demonstration of violence and persecution for dissent
opinion “reigning in occupied region of South Ossetia/Tskhinvali.”
Tskhovrebov
was attacked in the center of Tskhinvali on July 24 by a group of about
ten men, which reportedly included members from an organization
supporting South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity. At least three
attackers were reportedly members of the breakaway region’s parliament.
Tskhovrebov
was hospitalized with serious injuries to local hospital and latter
sent to the hospital in Vladikavkaz in Russia’s North Ossetian Republic.
Tskhovrebov,
who fought against the Georgian forces in the August 2008 war, was a
participant of Georgian-Ossetian Civil Forum, a platform for keeping
contacts between Georgian and Ossetian civil society representatives.
The group met in Leiden, Netherlands in mid-July and made a joint appeal
to negotiators in Geneva talks calling them to immediately address
humanitarian problems on the ground.
Few days before the assault on
Tskhovrebov, South Ossetian leader’s envoy for post-conflict resolution
issues, Boris Chochiev, strongly criticized Ossetian participants of the
meeting, in particular Tskhovrebov.
“The Georgian government
condemns any form of violence and demands from the international
organizations and institutions to make more efforts to increase
international community’s awareness about real situation on the ground
in occupied territory,” the Georgian State Ministry for Reintegration
said.
Human Rights Watch called on Russia and the international
community to press the breakaway region’s authorities to bring those
responsible for the attack to justice and to foster a normal working
climate for civil and political activists in the region.
"We are
appalled by the attack on Tskhovrebov and deeply concerned about the
safety of activists in South Ossetia," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central
Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said. "A prompt, thorough, and
impartial investigation is needed to bring the assailants to justice."
|
| 26 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili über die ‘Verbindung zwischen organisiertem Verbrechen und oppositioneller Randgruppen’
President
Saakashvili said on July 26, that one part of the Georgian opposition,
which he described as “marginal”, had long been linked to Georgian
organized crime network in Europe and Russia and added that it had been
confirmed by the Austrian police report.
The German daily,
Frankfurter Rundschau, and then The Wall Street Journal reported in June
and July, respectively, citing a 66-page report by the Austrian Federal
Criminal Police Office, that Georgian organized crime network raised
funds for the Georgian opposition groups, whose identities were not
revealed in the articles, to finance lengthy street protest rallies in
2009, involving blocking of main thoroughfare in Tbilisi for over three
months with improvised prison cells.
“It is no secret that,
unfortunately, one part of political spectrum – I am speaking about a
marginalized part of the opposition and all the elections have
demonstrated that they have no support – so, this marginalized part,
which does not run for the elections at all but call themselves
politicians – they are actively linked with organized crime,”
Saakashvili said in live televised remarks, while meeting with senior
officials from the ministry in charge of penitentiary system.
“We
know about it and it is not our speculation. The Austrian police have
published a voluminous report, which clearly shows that street protest
rallies in Tbilisi were financed by Georgian organized crime, including
from Austria and other European countries and of course from Russia,”
Saakashvili said.
“Therefore, the esthetics of these rallies was not
accidental – cells, thieves, criminal slang on TV. A small part of the
society yielded to it and got engaged in it actively. We met it
cold-bloodedly, because I know, that criminals are cowards, the
political rallies financed by criminals were doomed to failure and
nobody would have been able to impose the logic of cells, cages and
thieves on the society. But the fact that it was financed by Georgian
mafia including with the help of foreign centers is confirmed by
Austrian police and European press was also writing about it. I think
that those politicians, who were openly associated with it, should be
ashamed. I think that the voters have already delivered a verdict to
them during the last elections and the same will happen in the future,”
Saakashvili added.
He made the remarks when speaking about the
problems, which the authorities faced in the penitentiary system few
years ago and said that one of the key challenges was to eradicate the
practice when criminal world was ruled by criminal bosses from within
the prisons. Saakashvili said that when in late 2005 he appointed Bacho
Akhalaia, who is now defense minister, on the post of prison system
chief, the priority was “to isolate” criminal bosses.
“We were warned
that it would trigger prison riot; but Bacho [Akhalaia] responded: ‘we
are not afraid.’ There really was a riot and he had to resort to force,”
Saakashvili said, referring to violence in the Tbilisi prison in March,
2006 in which seven inmates were killed.
Saakashvili said that at
the time Akhalaia was criticized by those people, “who are actively
linked with criminal [groups]; I am absolutely sure about that.”
He
said that now the priority was “to humanize prison”; he also said that
the government’s policy direct towards decrease of crime rate has
resulted in increase of prison population, which should be tackled by
ongoing process of building new prison facilities.
According to the
Public Defender’s human rights report, overcrowded prison cells remained
a problem, which on the one hand was a result of increasing number of
inmates and lack of infrastructure, and on the other hand by
government’s criminal justice policy and current practice of consecutive
sentencing of convicts.
Saakashvili said at the same meeting with
the ministry staff that consecutive sentencing of convicts “through
which the prison term may reach dozens of years, is not normal.” He
added that Georgia should now move “to European system, which is more
liberal.”
|
| 23 Jul. '10 |
Suchumi begrüßt die Kosovo-Entscheidung des int. Gerichtshofs in Den Haag
Officials
in breakaway Abkhazia have welcomed ruling of the International Court
of Justice on Kosovo saying that it would add weight to the Abkhaz
arguments in favor of independence.
The breakaway region’s Prime
Minister, Sergey Shamba, said according to the Abkhaz news agency
Apsnipress, that after the ICJ’s decision “international experts would
no longer be able to claim categorically that Abkhazia had no right for
self-determination and independence.”
He, however, also said that
because of the West’s “double-standard policies” no such ruling would
have been expected from ICJ, had the Abkhaz case been brought before the
Hague-based court.
In 2008 the UN General Assembly, upon Serbia’s
initiative, requested the International Court of Justice to provide its
advisory opinion on one specific question, whether the unilateral
declaration of independence by Kosovo was in accordance with
international law.
The Court said in its non-binding ruling that
“general international law contains no applicable prohibition of
declarations of independence and accordingly that the declaration of
independence of 17 February 2008 [by Kosovo] did not violate general
international law."
The court said in its ruling that it had not been
asked about the validity or legal effects of the recognition of Kosovo
by other states; hence, the court deemed it unnecessary to address such
issues as whether or not the declaration had led to the creation of a
state.
Tbilisi’s long-standing position has been that parallel
between Kosovo and its two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia are groundless, referring to, among other issues, the fact that
in case of Georgia it was the Georgian population, which became victim
of ethnic cleansing in those regions.
Another argument often raised
by the officials in Tbilisi is a report by EU-sponsored Independent
International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia, led by
Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, which studied causes of the August,
2008 war.
The report, among other things, concluded that “according
to the overwhelmingly accepted uti possidetis principle, only former
constituent republics such as Georgia but not territorial sub-units such
as South Ossetia or Abkhazia are granted independence in case of
dismemberment of a larger entity such as the former Soviet Union.”
“Hence,
South Ossetia did not have a right to secede from Georgia, and the same
holds true for Abkhazia for much of the same reasons. Recognition of
breakaway entities such as Abkhazia and South Ossetia by a third country
is consequently contrary to international law in terms of an unlawful
interference in the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the
affected country, which is Georgia,” the report said.
The Russian
Foreign Ministry said on July 22, that the Hague-based court’s ruling
did not give any legal basis for Kosovo's independence from Serbia and
added that it would continue to lead opposition to Kosovo's drive for
international recognition.
A spokesman for the U.S. Department of
State, Philip J. Crowley, said on July 22 that ICJ in its ruling was
applying to facts, which were unique to Kosovo.
“We don’t think it’s applicable to any other situation,” he said.
|
| 22 Jul. '10 |
Explosion verletzt sechs abchasische Polizisten in Gali
Nach
den Berichten georg. TV-Sender war die Explosion das Ergebnis eines
Konflikts zwischen abchasischer Milizen und russischer Truppen.
Six
Abkhaz policemen were injured in a roadside bomb explosion in the Gali
district of breakaway region early on July 22, the Abkhaz news agency,
Apsnipress, reported.
According to this report, the six men were
patrolling between the villages of Tagiloni and Nabakevi when their UAZ
vehicle was hit by an explosive device at about 6:05am local time.
Meanwhile,
the Georgian television stations reported that the July 22 explosion
was a result of a conflict between the Abkhaz militias and the Russian
troops stationed in the breakaway region. In remarks aired by the
television stations, a Georgian official from the Abkhaz
government-in-exile said that Abkhaz militias and Russian forces in Gali
were in conflict over the control of one of the routes linking Gali
with the Zugdidi district on the Georgian-side of administrative border.
|
| 21 Jul. '10 |
Resolution of the Parliament of Georgia on the Soviet Occupation of Georgia
Adopted 21.07.2010
Whereas
following the restoration of statehood of Georgia on May 26, 1918
Soviet Russia launched activities against the Democratic Republic of
Georgia aimed at occupying and establishing the Soviet in the country;
Whereas
in January 1921, Soviet Russia unilaterally breached The Moscow
Agreement of May 7, 1920 by which it had unconditionally recognised
Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and committed itself to
non-interference in its internal affairs, and started a military
intervention on the territory of the Democratic Republic of Georgia;
Whereas
on the 25th of February of the same year, the Russian Red Army seized
Tbilisi and overthrew Georgian Government elected through free and
universal elections, subsequently annexing the Democratic Republic of
Georgia – a subject of international law;
Whereas the communist
occupational regime, established as a result of the annexation, claimed
lives of hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens and seized their
property;
Whereas in 1991, upon the restoration of the independence
of Georgia and dissolution of the Soviet Union, the successor of the
Soviet empire – the Russian Federation – failed to reverse the results
of the occupation and refuses to recognise the fact of the occupation
until today;
Whereas in 1990s the Russian Federation sponsored armed
conflicts on the Georgian territory and whereas Russia supported and
directly participated in carrying out an internationally-recognised
ethnic cleansing on the territories of the Abkhaz Autonomous Republic
and the former Autonomous District of South Ossetia;
Whereas , for
all this time, Russia has regarded democratic development of Georgia as
inadmissible, and to stop it, it carried out another military
intervention in 2008, occupying the territories of the Abkhaz Autonomous
republic and the former South Autonomous District of South Ossetia,
carrying out the second wave of ethnic cleansing;
Whereas 25th of
February is the day of annexation and occupation of Georgia and whereas
considerable part of the Georgian territory is still occupied by the
Russian Federation until today;
The Parliament of Georgia:
1. Declares the 25th of February as the day of Soviet occupation of Georgia;
2.
Instructs the Government of Georgia to work out and implement events
dedicated to honouring victims of the occupation and marking the
Occupation Day on 25th of February of every year;
3. Establishes to lower state flags on the whole territory of Georgia on 25th of February of every year;
4.
Establishes to hold a minute of silence on 25th of February of every
year on the whole territory of Georgia to honour the memory of the
victims of the occupation;
5. Appeals to public organisations, private entities and enterprises to refrain from public entertainment events on that day.
|
| 21 Jul. '10 |
25.Februar zum "Tag der sowjetischen Besatzung" erklärt
Am
25.Februar 1921 nahm die Rote Armee Tbilisi ein. Der Tag soll auch an
die hunderttausende Opfern erinnern als Folge der Repression durch die
kommunistische Besatzungsregierung.
The Georgian Parliament declared
February 25 – the day when 89 years ago Bolshevik’s Red Army took over
Tbilisi – as the Day of Soviet Occupation.
The decision, endorsed
unanimously by the Parliament on July 21, instructs the government to
organize various memorial events on every February 25 and to fly
national flag half-mast to commemorate, as the decision puts it,
hundreds of thousands of victims of political repressions of Communist
occupational regime.
In a separate decision, also passed unanimously
on July 21, the Georgian Parliament declared August 23 the Day of
Memory of Victims of Totalitarian Regimes.
The decision echoes
declaration of the European Parliament on the proclamation of 23 August
as European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism. On
that day in 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a treaty – known
as Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - that divided Eastern Europe between the two
countries.
“Although by 1939 Georgia had been occupied [by the
Soviet Union] for already 18 years, dividing Europe into spheres of
influence prolonged Georgia’s presence in the Soviet Union,” the
Georgian Parliament’s decision reads.
|
| 20 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili spricht von ‘Unprofessionalität’ in einigen Strukturen des Staates
President
Saakashvili told the government ministers on July 20, that
“unprofessionalism of number of state structures” and “bureaucratism”
remained “a major problem” and called on the government to “work very
actively.”
In live televised session of the government, Saakashvili
also said that another problem “is fear of and shying away from making
decisions” by officials in various ministries.
“We should put an end
to that,” he said and then brought as an example a case of one investor,
who, he said, requested in early February from the Economy Ministry to
buy a plot of land in Poti.
Saakashvili said that the investor
received a response in late April from then deputy economy minister,
Grigol Gobejishvili, who was redirecting the request to the local
self-governance bodies in Poti.
“This Grigol Gobejishvili might be a
good guy, but he definitely does not love Georgia,” Saakashvili said and
then described ex-deputy economy minister using some derogatory terms.
“That’s
the main problem of Georgia and not external aggression – officials
like Gobejishvili are our major problem and the reason that our people
are still in poor condition and the reason why investments are not
coming as they should,” Saakashvili said.
He said that problems
persisted in Ministry of Environmental Protection, as well as in the
Healthcare Ministry; Agriculture Ministry and in the ministry in charge
of displaced persons and refugees.
Saakashvili also said Georgia
“has a potential, if economic development continues, to have 7-8% or
even higher economic growth” next year and “to return to pre-crisis
figures” of growth.
“And then to move to figures, which will turn us
into Europe’s Singapore – something that we are promising to our people,
to attract investments under the condition of liberal economic model
and to turn Georgia into a serious exporter,” Saakashvili said.
|
| 19 Jul. '10 |
Georgische Eisenbahn gibt Wertpapiere für 250 Mio. USD heraus
Georgian
state-owned railway company issued eurobonds worth of USD 250 million
with five year maturity, Nikoloz Mchedlishvili, Georgian PM’s spokesman,
said on July 19.
He said issuance of eurobonds was managed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan.
Mchedlishvili said raised funds will be used for Tbilisi by-pass railway project and for “other modernization projects”.
EBRD
provides EUR 100 million loan to co-finance a new double track railway
route 10 km north of Tbilisi, which will divert rail traffic around the
center of Tbilisi. This section of railway is part of main route for
freight on the east-west transport corridor in Georgia.
|
| 16 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Lukashenko über das Treffen mit Präsident Saakashvili
"Wir bauen nicht eine Koalition mit Georgien gegen irgendjemanden auf", sagte Lukashenko.
Belarus
President, Alexander Lukashenko, said that his recent meeting with the
Georgian counterpart, Mikheil Saakashvili, in Crimea, Ukraine, “did not
aim against anyone.”
“We are not creating coalition with Georgia
against any one,” Belarus state news agency, BelTA, reported quoting
Lukashenko as saying on July 16.
Saakashvili and Lukashenko met when the latter was in Yalta to take part in an informal summit of six CIS leaders on July 11.
Lukashenko
said that it was a brief meeting, held upon the Georgian President’s
request and during which Saakashvili invited him to visit Georgia.
“There is no need to reproach us for carrying out this dialogue,” Lukashenko said.
Saakashvili
said on July 15 that he had “a lengthy conversation on issues of
bilateral interest” during the meeting with Lukashenko.
“I think that
no matter how different the countries might be and no matter how
different our problems might be, dialogue in frames of [EU’s] Eastern
Partnership, as the first stage for our joint integration to the
European Union, is very important,” Saakashvili added.
Apart of Georgia and Belarus, EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine.
Lukashenko
said on July 16, that it was EU which was more interested in having
Belarus in Eastern Partnership, then Minks itself. He said, according to
BelTA news agency, that if Belarus withdrew only GUAM – an organization
formed by Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova – would remain out of
Eastern Partnership. The EU “does not want to have GUAM” instead of
Eastern Partnership, Lukashenko said.
|
| 16 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili Hails Belarus in Interview with Belarus State TV
Georgia
has “huge, huge sympathies towards the Belarus people” and Tbilisi
enjoyed with Minsk’s support whenever it needed, President Saakashvili
said in an interview aired by the Belarus state TV station on July 15.
Saakashvili
said that during Georgia’s presence in Commonwealth of Independent
States (CIS) and also afterwards, “when there was a need of supporting
each other, Belarus was always supporting [Georgia].”
He said that
after Russia imposed embargo on import of Georgia’s key export products,
during the CIS leaders’ summit in Minks in November, 2006 the leaders
were served with Georgian wines and mineral waters. “By the way, the
Russian leaders were also drinking our wine [at that summit],”
Saakashvili added.
Saakashvili said that many people chose to fly
from Georgia to various destinations via Minsk not only because the
route was one of the cheapest, but also because “there are simple
procedures and well-disposed custom officers” in Belarus. “A general
climate itself attracts you [to Belarus],” Saakashvili said.
He said
that Russia still continued “pressing Belarus” to recognize “our
occupied territories – as the world now refers” to Abkhazia and South
Ossetia.
“I think the Belarus will act wisely,” Saakashvili added.
On Russia and its leadership, Saakashvili said that it was “hard to understand what they want.”
“Anytime
when we were conceding something, they wanted more and more,” he said
and added that Moscow was offering Tbilisi a choice between “bad and
worse”, which Georgia had rejected.
Speaker of Russian State Duma,
Boris Gryzlov, said that allocating airtime to the interview with the
Georgian President by the Belarus state-run television station was “an
unfriendly step in respect of Russia.”
Russia’s state-funded
English-language satellite channel, Russia Today, described airing of
Saakashvili’s interview by the Belarus state TV “as a gesture of
goodwill to Tbilisi” and “a way to irritate Moscow.”
|
| 15 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili spricht von regionaler Kooperation im Kontext der EU-Beziehungen
President
Saakashvili indicated on July 15 that six-post Soviet states, which are
now part of EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative, had a potential to
create ”a joint platform”, which would help these countries not only to
integrate with Europe, but also to tackle Russia’s “pressure and
blackmail.”
Saakashvili spoke on the matter at a joint news
conference with visiting French Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, in
Tbilisi - few hours before meeting with EU foreign policy chief,
Katherine Ashton, in Batumi. Ashton’s visit marks the launch of
EU-Georgia talks on Association Agreement.
President Saakashvili
said that Russia tried “through direct threats and blackmailing” to
press other countries, including Georgia’s regional neighbors, “not to
even talk with us.”
“But despite these attempts, Georgia has very
good relations with the neighbors and these relations are recently
taking very concrete and tangible nature,” he said.
He said that last
week he paid “an unofficial visit” to Ukraine where he had met with
Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych - “with whom I had a chance to
meet for number of times before his election as president and with whom I
have always had good relations.”
Saakashvili said that in Ukraine he
also met with President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, with whom he
had “a lengthy conversation on issues of bilateral interest.”
“I
think that no matter how different the countries might be and no matter
how different our problems might be, dialogue in frames of [EU’s]
Eastern Partnership, as the first stage for our joint integration to the
European Union, is very important,” Saakashvili said.
Apart of Georgia and Belarus, EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine.
Saakashvili
said that like European Coal and Steel Community grew into European
Union sixty years ago, “Eastern Partnership was an opportunity for
political and economic integration” for six post-Soviet states, “which
will move towards rapprochement to the European Union.”
Saakashvili,
however, also made it clear that EU-membership was a long-term
perspective and “we do not know what kind of [structure] EU will be
after a decade.” But it was important to lay a foundation for regional
integration into the Europe today, he said.
In this context he said
that Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), from which Georgia
withdrew after the August, 2008 war, was “demoralized and it does not
work.” He said that Russia was using its levers of blackmailing against
its neighbors and he brought an example of Moldova and said that
although Russia initially removed embargo from import of Moldovan wines,
“then against imposed the embargo after the President of Moldova said
something”, which Moscow did not like.
|
| 15 Jul. '10 |
Trotz aller Schwierigkeiten Gespräch mit Russland suchen, sagt Kouchner zu Georgien
Despite
all the difficulties, Georgia should engage in talks with Russia,
Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, said during his visit to
Tbilisi on July 15.
Kouchner’s visit came five weeks after Saakashvili met with French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, in Paris.
He
reiterated support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and said that
the August 12 six-point ceasefire agreement, mediated by Nicolas Sarkozy
in capacity of EU presidency, was still in place, which should be fully
implemented by Russia.
Kouchner said that France and EU were raising
this issue in talks with Russia and work was ongoing to secure full
implementation of the six-point ceasefire agreement.
He, however,
also said that only two years have passed since the August war and it
was not possible to achieve any significant progress in such a short
period of time.
“Russian [forces] should be pulled back to the
positions they held prior to the August war. What do you expect me to do
in terms of pressing Russia [to fulfill this agreement], except of
having talks with [Russia]?” Kouchner said.
“We try to achieve
success in frames of Geneva discussions and we try to talks as much as
possible with Russia,” he added. "Russia must leave the territory of
Georgia and France must apply maximum strength to achieve it."
“I am
grateful that Bernard Kouchner today and previously mentioned the word‘
‘occupation’; that’s exactly describes the situation on the ground in
occupied territories,” President Saakashvili said at the joint news
conference with Kouchner.
Georgia tries to establish internationally a
term “occupied territories” in reference of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
During her visit to Georgia on July 5, U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, spoke against Russia’s “continued occupation” of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. Russia said in response that use of term “occupation” by
Clinton was “groundless”.
Kouchner said that although he mentioned
the term “occupation” in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but
the conflict would not be solved through use of this term.
Before
meeting with President Saakashvili, Kouchner spoke about European policy
issues to an audience in Europe House in Tbilisi.
The French Foreign
Minister told the audience, involving representatives of political
parties, civil society and media, that although it was not easy for
Georgia to engage in talks with Russia, it was necessary.
President
Saakashvili did not directly address the issue of talks with Russia at
the joint news conference with Kouchner, but he made a statement on the
matter on June 29, when he said that Tbilisi was ready for talks with
Russia “without pre-conditions” despite Moscow’s stance that it would
not negotiate with Georgia’s current leadership.
“We are fully ready
to hold comprehensive talks with Russia without any pre-conditions on
normalization of relations,” Saakashvili said on June 29 and added:
“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.”
“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 added.
On Thursday
morning Kouchner met with Georgian opposition representatives,
including Irakli Alasania, leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats; Nino
Burjanadze, ex-parliamentary speaker and leader of Democratic
Movement-United Georgia; Tina Khidasheli of Republican Party and MP
Petre Mamradze of Movement for Fair Georgia, party led by ex-PM Zurab
Nogaideli. Opposition representative said that internal political
situation and democracy, as well as issues related with Russia were
discussed.
Before departure from Tbilisi, the French Foreign Minister
visited a settlement of internally displaced persons in the village of
Koda.
In an interview with Euronews this week, French Minister for
European Affair, Pierre Lellouche, said that Paris was Georgia’s friend
and France considered recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by
Russia as illegitimate.
“The so called independence of these
territories, locally declared and recognised by Russia, for us has no
legal jurisdiction,” he said. “Furthermore, I think it is a mistake to
give a false sovereignty to territories which are in fact enclaves
within a sovereign country. It creates precedents which benefit no one,
absolutely no one. And some people in Moscow understand that.”
|
| 15 Jul. '10 |
Kontroverse um Verhaftungen in Swanetien
Vier
Personen werden der Erpressung von 70000 GEL von einem ausländischen
Investor angeklagt. Unter ihnen ist Neli Naveriani, ein Mitglied der
oppositionellen "Alliance for Georgia", die kürzlich
auseinandergebrochen war. Der Fall ist verbunden mit den Landrückgabe an
Familien nach dem Zusammenbruch der SU, was aber nur in Absprachen
zwischen Familien ohne offizielle Registrierung stattfand. Ein
kanadischer Investor hatte offiziell 22000 qm Land für ein Hotel
gekauft, welches den Vorfahren der vier gehört hatte.
Arrest of an
opposition member of local council in Mestia in Georgia’s north-western
mountainous region of Svaneti and her three relatives, one of them local
official, has sparked a backlash from part of local residents – the
case which, apart of political aspect, involves broader problem related
to land ownership in the region.
Neli Naveriani, a member of Mestia
town council from now collapsed opposition Alliance for Georgia and her
three relatives - David Japaridze, head of Mestia’s municipal office for
culture, tourism and sport affairs; Tariel Japaridze and Shota
Japaridze - were arrested on July 7 and charged with extortion of GEL
70,000 from a foreign investor.
According to the Interior Ministry,
the group was extorting money from a Georgian citizen acting on behalf
of a Canadian investor, who bought 22,000 square meter plot of land in
Svaneti to build a hotel in the region, which is one of the tourist
destinations in Georgia famous with its medieval-type villages,
tower-houses and high mountain peaks.
The plot of land in question
was once owned by ancestors of the family, whose four members are now
facing extortion charges. According to the police, the suspects were
demanding money based on so called “local tradition”, as the land was
once owned by their ancestors.
After the collapse of Soviet Union
many families in Svaneti, regained and distributed plots of land,
confiscated under the Soviet regime, among each other in accordance to
how those plots were owned by their ancestors before the Soviet regime.
But the problem was that this process was taking place informally, based
on verbal agreement between the families and the distribution was not
officially registered, meaning that although the land may be de facto
owned by a family, but from legal point of view land still belongs to
the state. In this particular case the plot of land in question was
privatized few years ago by the investor, according to the authorities.
After
the arrest the police had to call for helicopters to escort detainees
from Mestia to Zugdidi, administrative center of the Samegrelo-Zemo
Svaneti region, as some locals were blocking the roads protesting
against the arrest of Naveriani and the three men. At least four local
residents and several policemen were injured in a clash.
On July 11 a
group of local residents reportedly held a rally in Mestia demanding
not only the release of Naveriani and her three relatives, whom they
consider innocent, but also to resolve the problem related with
privatization of land – the process, which locals say has been suspended
more than a year ago.
But President Saakashvili made it clear on July 14 that the authorities had no intention to step back.
“When
I come to Mestia and if someone gives me a letter urging for pardoning
[of Naveriani and the three men], you should know that there is no need
to disturb yourself, as I will return this letter back very coldly,”
Saakashvili said while meeting with regional governors in his residence
in Tbilisi on July 14.
“Giving a bad answer to an investor amounts to dooming own children for poverty and misfortune,” he said.
Saakashvili
said that the authorities managed to provide security in the Svaneti
region by rooting out crime bosses there back in 2004, when three crime
suspects – a father and his two sons were killed in a heavy-handed
police operation.
Referring to that police operation Saakashvili
said: “We have blown up a tower from helicopters – I only regret in this
operation that this tower was blown up; I do not feel regrets about
those bandits.”
He said that crackdown on crime in the region helped to increase flow of tourism in Svaneti.
“But
now some people emerged… telling [investor] that this land belonged to
their ancestors and ‘if you want to build something here, you should
give a share’…. Now they [referring to Naveriani and her relatives] will
be instructed in European-level Georgian prisons for many years to come
how one should demand shares from a foreign investor,” Saakashvili
said.
Tbilisi-based four human rights and advocacy groups, however,
suggested in their joint statement on July 10 that Naveriani’s arrest
“might be linked to her political activities.” Naveriani acted as a
whistleblower when ahead of local elections several opposition
candidates came under pressure from local senior officials.
Transparency
International Georgia, the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA),
the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and Human
Rights Center cast doubt over the official version of the case and
indicated that Naveriani and her three relatives could have been
provoked by investor’s representative to take money, which was used by
the police as a pretext to arrest them.
Shota Utiashvili, head of the
interior ministry’s information and analytical department, however, has
strongly denied such suggestions and said that the police had not only
video, but also phone records and other evidence to support case against
Naveriani and her three relatives.
Human rights and advocacy groups
said that they would keep monitoring the case and called on the
international organizations to also keep a close eye on the matter.
|
| 15 Jul. '10 |
Gespräche um ein EU-Georgien-Assoziationsabkommen in Batumi
EU-Vertreterin
für Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik Catherine Ashton wird diese formell
zusammen mit Präsident Saakashvili eröffnen. Ziel ist, einen engeren
politischen Anschluss und schrittweise ökonomische Integration zwischen
der EU und den drei Südkaukasusländern Georgien, Armenien und
Aserbaidschan zu errreichen.
EU foreign policy chief, Catharine
Ashton, who starts two-day visit to Georgia on July 15, will formally
open EU-Georgia Association Agreement together with President
Saakashvili in Black Sea town of Batumi.
“Georgia can rest assured
that the EU will continue to provide support in advancing democracy,
rule of law and governance particularly under the European Neighbourhood
Policy and the Eastern Partnership,” Ashton said in a statement ahead
of her visit.
During the visit she will also met with Georgian
Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, and visit EU Monitoring Mission in
Georgia, followed by trips to locations at administrative borders of
breakaway regions on July 16.
“We stand firm on our full support to
Georgia’s territorial integrity and welcome its commitment to solving
conflicts only through peaceful means and diplomatic efforts,” Ashton
said.
“We encourage Georgia to reengage with the populations in the
conflict regions in accordance with its recently adopted Action Plan, in
the interest of people affected. The EU will remain fully engaged in
conflict resolution efforts employing a wide spectrum of its
instruments. The EUMM remains an indispensable factor for stability.”
Apart
of Georgia, EU is also launching Association Agreement negotiations
with two other South Caucasus states – Armenia (on July 19) and
Azerbaijan (on July 16). The goal of the Association Agreement is to
achieve closer political association and gradual economic integration
between the EU and the three Southern Caucasian countries. The EU is
already negotiating similar agreements with Ukraine and Moldova.
On
15 July first plenary session of negotiations over the Georgia-EU
Association Agreement will be led by Hugues Mingarelli, EU's deputy
director general for external relations and Tornike Gordadze, Georgia’s
new deputy foreign minister in charge of talks with EU.
|
| 14 Jul. '10 |
Öffentlicher Fernsehsender GPB: ‘Entscheidung des Pariser Gerichtshofs in der Sache unfair’
The
Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB) said it was “disappointed” with a
decision of the Paris court of commerce, which ruled against GPB’s
lawsuit against Europe’s leading satellite operator, Eutelsat.
“[The
broadcaster] thinks that the court's verdict is unfair and groundless,”
the GPB said in a statement late on July 13 and added that it was now
considering whether to appeal the verdict or not.
According to GPB, court costs, related to case against Eutelsat, was up to GEL 900,000 (about USD 490,000).
In
its ruling on July 12, the Paris-based court rejected GPB’s motion
demanding from Eutelsat to restore its Russian-language First Caucasian
Channel back on W7 satellite operating at the 36 degrees East - a key
location for broadcasting in Russia and other CIS states. GPB was also
seeking reimbursement of financial damage caused by removal of the First
Caucasian Channel from Eutelsat’s satellite.
The GPB also said in the statement that it “continues working on further development of the First Caucasian Channel.”
“The
decision has been taken to restore the channel’s broadcasting within
next few months,” GPB said without giving further details.
After its
removal from the satellite in January, the First Caucasian Channel was
only available for viewers in Tbilisi through cable networks and on
internet. But in early June the channel suspended broadcasting -
although still keeping presence on internet - pending the decision of
the Paris court of commerce.
|
| 14 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili trifft den polnischen Außenminister Radoslaw Sikorski
After
holding talks in Tbilisi on July 13, Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw
Sikorski, met with President Saakashvili in Black Sea town of Batumi on
Tuesday evening.
“Mr. Sikorsky is young, but Georgia’s long-time
friend. He is not only important political figure in Europe, but also
good advisor. We always exchange opinions about important issues,”
Saakashvili said.
He said that despite global economic crisis, Poland
was the “only country in Europe” whose economy was developing. “And
Georgia is the only state in the region, which has achieved real
economic success,” Saakashvili said.
Earlier on July 13, the Polish
Foreign Minister met in Tbilisi with his counterpart, Grigol Vashadze,
as well as PM Nika Gilauri.
Sikorski reiterated support to Georgia’s
territorial integrity and said after meeting with Vashadze, that Poland
would not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“Poland is Georgia’s
one of the best friends, which helps us in EU and NATO. Poland is the
country whose advice we enjoy in our drive to integrate with EU,” the
Georgian Foreign Minister said.
In Tbilisi the Polish Foreign
Minister also met with two opposition representatives – MP Giorgi
Targamadze, leader of parliamentary minority and of Christian-Democratic
Movement and Irakli Alasania, leader of Our Georgia-Free Democrats.
Opposition leaders said that they raised the issues related with
electoral reform and media freedom during the meeting.
|
| 13 Jul. '10 |
Präsident Saakashvili trifft den weißrussischen Präsidenten Lukashenko in der Ukraine
President
Saakashvili has met with his Belarusian counterpart, Alexander
Lukashenko, in Crimea, Ukraine, the Georgian President’s administration
said on Monday.
The two presidents “expressed satisfaction that
dialogue between the two countries is deepening and this process is
taking place not only between the top leaders, but also between the
civil society groups, especially between the youth and business people,”
the Georgian President’s administration said in press release.
The
Belarusian President was in Yalta, Crimea on July 11, participating in
an informal summit of six CIS leaders, also including Presidents of
Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan.
On July 9
Saakashvili was in Kiev attending Ukrainian President Viktor
Yanukovych’s 60th birthday celebration, where he had a chance to meet
with his Ukrainian counterpart, according to the Georgian President’s
administration.
|
| 9 Jul. '10 |
Abchasische Abgeordnete verurteilten die Ausstrahlung des georgischen Dokumentarfilms “Absence of Will” durch einen lokalen Sender
Lawmakers
in breakaway Abkhazia passed on July 9 a statement condemning
broadcasting of a Georgian documentary film on the conflict by the
Abkhaz television station.
Authors of “Absence of Will”, documentary
produced by Tbilisi-based Studio Re, try to take a critical view of
Georgian policies towards Abkhazia and South Ossetian not only in run up
to the August war, but also in late 80s and early 90s of last century.
(The film is available on this link with English subtitles).
The
50-minute long film was broadcasted by the Sokhumi-based “Abkhaz State
TV and Radio Company” on June 23, followed by discussions in the TV
studio.
The move by the TV station angered many politicians and
public figures in Abkhazia, culminating with the statement of the
breakaway region’s legislative body. The statement was passed after the
film was screened separately for the lawmakers.
“Broadcast of this
film has triggered negative reaction from the significant part of the
[Abkhaz] society,” Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, quoted the statement
by the breakaway region’s parliament.
The statement says that
although the film is countering “some of the opinions about the launch
of Georgian-Abkhaz war” in early 1990s, by pointing finger at the
Georgian leaders “as a source of aggression,” it is not a reason to
consider the film as “liberal towards Abkhazia, or anti-Georgian, as
some [Abkhaz figures] try to portray it.”
“The film criticizes not
the essence of [the Georgian] politics, but only methods of resolving
the problem of so called territorial integrity of Georgia.”
“[The
film] is ideological bait directed against the Abkhaz people, the Abkhaz
statehood and against the Abkhaz-Russian relations,” the statement
says, adding that the broadcast of such film through the state
television station was “a mistake.”
|
| 7 Jul. '10 |
Regierung bestätigt "Plan zum Engagement durch Kooperation", welcher die Strategie für die besetzten Gebiete darlegt
The
Georgian government approved on July 3 an Action Plan for Engagement – a
document laying out steps for implementing goals of Tbilisi’s Strategy
on Occupied Territories: Engagement through Cooperation.
The Strategy
and its Action Plan, according to the government, provide
“human-centered approach” designed to reduce “isolation” and “improve
welfare” of people living in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The
Action Plan, which has been developed and which will be overseen by the
Office of Georgian State Minister for Reintegration, centers around
seven “instruments” the government offers to put in place to achieve the
goals of the Strategy.
These seven instruments are: status-neutral
liaison mechanism; neutral identification card and travel document;
trust fund; joint investment fund; cooperation agency; financial
institution and integrated social-economic zone.
Status-Neutral Liaison Mechanism
Tbilisi
offers to establish a status-neutral liaison mechanism under the
umbrella of international humanitarian organization with offices in
Sokhumi, Tskhinvali and Tbilisi.
The goal of this mechanism,
according to the Action Plan, should be facilitation of communication
between the Georgian government and “the authorities in control in
Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia” – the term which the
Strategy refers to the Sokhumi-based and Tskhinvali-based authorities,
which usually are described by the Georgian officials as Moscow’s
“proxy” or “puppet regimes”.
The same mechanism, the Action Plan
says, should also be in charge of executing “mutually approved projects
and support implementers in their operations.”
The status-neutral
liaison mechanism will consist of liaison officers appointed with the
consent of the both sides and their “small staff” based in Sokhumi,
Tskhinvali and Tbilisi.
The Action Plan notes that this mechanism can
be based on previous arrangements, in case of Abkhazia such as the
Georgian-Abkhaz Coordination Commission (or Council). There was the
attempt back in 2006 to revitalize this Commission. But only one meeting
in frames of this arrangement was held in Tbilisi in May, 2006.
Neutral Identification Card and Travel Document
The
Action Plan proposes amendments to the Georgian legislature that will
allow issuing of neutral identification cards and travel documents
(neutral with respect to citizenship status) to the residents of the
breakaway regions.
Authorities in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali have often
complained that the residents of the regions, which hold Russian
passports, are denied in entry visas to Europe and the United States.
Apart
of allowing holders of these documents to travel abroad, they will also
be able to gain access to social and education services available in
the rest of Georgia, according to the Action Plan. For the residents of
Abkhazia, such documents will be written in Abkhaz and Georgian
languages, which are official language in Abkhazia, according to the
Georgian constitution.
Trust Fund
An international
organization-managed trust fund, according to the Action Plan, will be
established, which will serve as an advisory body for donors, providing
grants to implementing organizations in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Joint Investment Fund
It
will be a privately operated body, funded by donor and business
organizations, to provide seed money for ventures on the both sides of
“division lines”.
Cooperation Agency
Cooperation Agency will be a
legal person of public law under the Office of Georgian State Ministry
for Reintegration, established to assist in carrying out state-funded
programs.
“It will assist organisations that seek help in finding
partners across the division lines, coordinate the efforts of local
authorities to improve the local operating environments, ensure that
project activity and business development complies with Georgian and
international law,” the Action Plan reads.
Financial Institution
The
Action Plan offers setting up of Financial Institution in Sokhumi and
Tskhinvali to facilitate cash transfers and other transactions. The
document says that such institution can be operated by a bank, which
already operates in Georgia.
Integrated Social-Economic Zone
The
Action Plan proposes creation of this zone in the adjacent areas of the
administrative borders with facilities for business and social services.
Enterprises and population in these zones “may be exempted from some
taxes,” according to the document.
Both Tskhinvali and Sokhumi have
rejected for number of times to even discuss Georgia’s Strategy. Abkhaz
leader, Sergey Bagapsh, said in February that the Strategy was “a
guideline of what Abkhazia should not do.”
|
| 5 Jul. '10 |
US-Außenministerin Clinton beteuert nochmals Georgien’s ‘unerschütterliche’ Unterstützung
Hillary
Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, reiterated Washington’s
“steadfast” support to Georgia, spoke out against “the continued
occupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, called on Tbilisi
not to be “provoked” by Russia and not to be focused on the past.
Clinton
paid a six-hour visit to Georgia on July 5, which was her final stop on
her tour of Eastern European countries, which also included Ukraine,
Poland, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
During her stay in Tbilisi the U.S.
Secretary of State held a town hall meeting with women leaders, met with
President Saakashvili and some opposition leaders and took a walk in
the old part of Tbilisi together with the Georgian leader.
Town Hall Meeting
The
town hall meeting in the National Library involved over hundred of
women, including from advocacy and media groups, opposition parties,
lawmakers and some senior government officials, as well as the Georgian
First Lady, Sandra Roelofs.
“I believe that the potential of this
country to serve as a beacon and model for democracy and progress is
extraordinary,” Clinton said in her opening remarks at the meeting.
During
question-and-answer session the Secretary of State was asked by Tina
Khidasheli of the opposition Republican Party whether the Obama
administration had “real a democracy agenda” for Georgia. “The real one
and not the one we have seen during the Bush times – that was ‘well, we
know what Saakashvili does, but he’s our guy’… is that any real weapon
the U.S. has to influence the democratic changes?” Khidasheli asked and
added that she was concerned about, what she called, increasing
skepticism towards the West among Georgians.
“The United States always has a democratic agenda,” Clinton responded.
“Our
view is that Georgia has made extraordinary progress and has
demonstrated resilience in the face of very difficult circumstances. But
of course, we raise issues - whether it’s criminal code, independent
judiciary or free media; we raise these issues as a friend, as a
supporter, as a believer in the significance of Georgian democracy.”
“We gonna continue to support democracy in Georgia,” Clinton added.
She
said that when people starting saying that they become skeptical of the
west, the alternative was to “work to overcome that skepticism, work to
fix the problem.”
Later during the same meeting she again addressed
the same issue and said: “It is beyond my imagination that a country
that has fought so hard to be independent, despite the difficulties
would be seeking another potential route.”
Another government critic,
Eka Beselia, a former member of ex-defense minister Irakli
Okruashvili’s party, who now leads an advocacy group, told the Secretary
of State that there were more than 60 “political prisoners” in Georgia.
“And I want to request you to ask President Saakashvili why he holds
political prisoners and why the judiciary is not independent,” Beselia
told Clinton and added that she herself became a victim, because her
family members faced criminal persecution “just because I was in the
opposition.”
“We raise all of these concerns with our meetings with
the officials; I will raise this and other concerns when I meet with the
President… I want to be clear that the United State supports the
Georgian people and the Georgian democracy,” Clinton responded.
When a
lawmaker from the ruling party, Chiora Taktakishivli, asked the
Secretary of State what was the U.S. agenda to facilitate return of
displaced persons back to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
Clinton responded that the U.S. was “appalled and totally rejected the
invasion and occupation of the Georgian territory.”
“We continue to
speak out against the continued occupation and we support the use of the
Geneva mechanism but it needs to be revived and it needs to be
intensified. And we intend to try to do that. I am not going to stand
here and tell you that this is an easy problem because this is not,”
Clinton said.
During the same meeting Clinton stressed that the best
way for Georgia was to move forward with its reforms and economic
development and not to focus on the past.
“It is a mistake to focus
on the past. Too many countries in this part of Europe are looking
backwards instead of forwards,” she said. “It does not mean you forget
the past; it does not mean you don’t take prudent measures to protect
yourself, but staying focused on what you can do today and tomorrow to
improve your lives and lives of your fellow citizens and building your
democracy and opening your economy and providing for justice and social
inclusion – that is for me a great mission of Georgia.”
She again
reiterated that while trying to reset relations with Russia, the United
States continued “to object and criticize actions by Russia which we
believe are wrong and on the top of the list is the invasion and
occupation of Georgia.”
She also “strongly urge” Georgia “not be
baited or provoked into any action that would give any excuse to the
Russians to take any further aggressive movements.”
‘Steadfast Commitment to Georgia's Sovereignty’
After the town hall meeting, the Secretary of State headed to the presidential palace, where she met with President Saakashvili.
Clinton
said in her opening remarks at the joint news conference after the
meeting that she arrived in Georgia to deliver “a clear message” from
President Obama, that the United States “is steadfast in its commitment
to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The United
States does not recognize spheres of influence,” she said and added that
President Obama and she had communicated this message also with the
Russian counterparts.
She said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to
abide with its commitments undertaken under the August 12 six-point
ceasefire agreement and to pull back its troops to pre-August war line.
She
also reiterated the U.S. position that there was no need for any
additional agreement, as insisted by Russia – a reference to Moscow’s
calls on Tbilisi to sign a non-use of force treaty or a declaration.
Moscow, however, itself refuses to sign such document citing that it is
not party into the conflict.
Echoing Tbilisi’s position on the
matter, Clinton said that if such agreement was anyway prepared, it
would only be acceptable if Russia also was the part of it.
She said
that Geneva talks were an important forum to help increase transparency
in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to help reduce tensions.
She said
that the U.S. “strongly urges” South Ossetians “to immediately” resume
participation in the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM).
She also said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to encourage South
Ossetians to return to that mechanism, which was established in frames
of Geneva discussions and involves regular meetings between the sides to
address security concerns on the ground.
She also called on the
Abkhaz side “to constructively participate” in the Geneva talks. Sokhumi
said last month that it was "temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva talks
– the move which Tbilisi said was in fact Russia’s attempt to undermine
Geneva talks with the hands of its “puppet regime” in Sokhumi.
Clinton
said the U.S. was concerned about construction of Russia’s “permanent
military base” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and added that Washington
“made it clear” to the Russian authorities that such move was not in
line with their commitments under the ceasefire agreement.
Clinton
thanked Georgia for its significant contribution to the NATO forces in
Afghanistan and added that this contribution showed evidence of
Georgia’s “diligent movement towards meeting the requirements” for NATO
membership.
Shortcomings Remain
At the joint news conference with
President Saakashvili, Clinton said that despite “difficult
circumstances” Georgia made “a real progress” in past few years.
“But,
as you know better than I, there are still shortcomings. We want to
urge Georgia to continue work of the Rose Revolution,” Clinton said.
U.S. ‘Decisive’ Assistance
Saakashvili said that the U.S. assistance was “decisive” for Georgia since its independence.
He
said that “repeated statements” defending Georgia’s sovereignty and
territorial integrity made by the Obama administration, as well as the
U.S. support to Georgia’s democracy were of vital importance for
Tbilisi.
He also said that Georgia remained committed to reforms and
modernization and although much remained to be done, Georgia was “a
model of political and economic reforms” and “a shining example at least
for this region.” He also added that despite occupation and challenges,
Georgia would never turn away from this path of “reforms and
modernization.”
‘Step-By-Step’ Security Cooperation
During the
press conference, Saakashvili was asked about “de facto restrictions” on
sale of U.S. arms to Georgia on which he responded by saying that
Georgia had “very good security cooperation” with the United States and
brought an example of Georgia’s contribution to the Afghan operation.
He
said that this security cooperation “is a process, a step-by-step
approach.” He said that “there is nothing to complain about” the U.S.
policy on this issue.
On the U.S. reset policy with Russia,
Saakashvili said that although initially some questions were raised
about the issue, it was now clear that the reset did not come at the
expense of principles.
“It is a value-based policy… That’s why we all love America,” he said.
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| 2 Jul. '10 |
Russischer Außenminister äußert sich zu den Georgien-Iran-Beziehungen
The
Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that the development of bilateral
relations between Georgia and Iran would not be directed against the
third countries, Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign
Ministry, said on July 1.
“We respect the rights of sovereign states,
like Iran and Georgia, to develop friendly, good neighborly relations
among each other. It is especially important for the countries
neighboring in this uneasy region. We hope that the development of
bilateral relations between Georgia and Iran will not be directed
against the third countries,” Nesterenko said at a press conference in
Moscow.
Nesterenko’s remarks followed a question from a journalist,
which was asked in a context of Iran’s nuclear program, saying that
signs of closer ties between Iran and Georgia emerged after Russia in
early June supported the UN Security Council resolution of sanctions on
Iran.
“As far as problem with Iran’s nuclear program is concerned,
Tbilisi can hardly play any role in this issue, because of Georgia’s low
authority on the international level… and because [Georgia] has no
levers to influence on this issue,” Nesterenko said.
President
Saakashvili said in late May that Georgia and Iran had agreed to cancel
visa requirements. “As far as political relations are concerned, it
depends on many international factors. In general we do not want to have
bad relations with anyone; we are not self-murderers. We'll do
everything that is rational,” he said.
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