The News in Brief
Monday, October 27
Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to attend Presidents’ Ball
The Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will attend the Presidents’ Ball in Warsaw, RIA Novosti has been told in the Polish Chancellery.
At the beginning of October President of Poland Lech Kaczynski announced through his staff that on November 11 the Heads of State of 20 countries would participate in festivities to mark the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of Poland. This week Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel confirmed her participation, and President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev, US President George W. Bush and President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili are among the other invited guests.
After a solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the guests will attend a lunch at the Royal Palace. The Presidents’ Ball itself will be held in the Grand Theatre in the evening.
(Black Sea Press)
Head of Ukraine Arms Commission denies allegations
The head of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commission on Issues of Arms Delivery to Georgia, Valeri Konovalyuk, has disproved information that criminal proceedings have been instituted against him by the Security Service of the Ukraine (SSU), RIA Novosti reports.
On October 22 the Security Service of the Ukraine claimed it had instituted proceedings due to the ‘disclosure of a state secret,’ a reference to the internet publication of the copy of a letter marked ‘Secret’ written by state company Ukrspetsexport, which has a monopoly on Ukraine’s arms sales.
“I would like to disprove the information which has been disseminated by the Press Service of the SSU concerning a criminal case being instituted against me. I have previously warned that we (the members of the commission investigating arms deliveries) were likely to be the subject of certain provocations, and that’s why I have to react today,” the Press Service of the Party of the Regions quotes Konovalyuk as saying.
“It is quite clear that our provisional investigation commission has undertaken serious work and investigated complex and dangerous issues, and is trying to use all the information it gains to carry out qualitative work promoting the security of our country,” Konovalyuk said. “As far as documents are concerned, those which concern the sale of the Buk-M1 anti-air missile complex are not secret, and there is much information about these sales in the Ukrainian mass media and on the internet. Much information was published before the commission was set up, and even some years ago,” the head of the Commission stated.
Konovalyuk has previously stated that during the delivery of Ukrainian arms to Georgia national and international legislation was violated. He has maintained that arms were being sold even after the beginning of the conflict in South Ossetia in August and are still being sold, but the assets from these sales are not being transferred to the state budget. The SSU has stated that “the inspection envisaged by the legislation proved that arms were legally delivered to Georgia, as confirmed by the international experts of the working group of signatories of the Vassenaar Treaty (including Russia) on October 15 of the current year in Vienna.”
(Black Sea Press)
Hungarian Foreign Minister to visit Georgia on October 28
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Kinga Goncz, is expected to arrive in Tbilisi on October 28, Black Sea Press has been told by the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
During his visit, the Hungarian Foreign Minister will meet Georgian Government officials and discuss the prospects of Georgia-Hungary bilateral relations. The Georgian side will inform Mr. Goncz about recent developments in Georgia.
(Black Sea Press)
The Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will attend the Presidents’ Ball in Warsaw, RIA Novosti has been told in the Polish Chancellery.
At the beginning of October President of Poland Lech Kaczynski announced through his staff that on November 11 the Heads of State of 20 countries would participate in festivities to mark the 90th anniversary of the restoration of the independence of Poland. This week Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel confirmed her participation, and President of Russia Dmitri Medvedev, US President George W. Bush and President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili are among the other invited guests.
After a solemn ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the guests will attend a lunch at the Royal Palace. The Presidents’ Ball itself will be held in the Grand Theatre in the evening.
(Black Sea Press)
Head of Ukraine Arms Commission denies allegations
The head of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commission on Issues of Arms Delivery to Georgia, Valeri Konovalyuk, has disproved information that criminal proceedings have been instituted against him by the Security Service of the Ukraine (SSU), RIA Novosti reports.
On October 22 the Security Service of the Ukraine claimed it had instituted proceedings due to the ‘disclosure of a state secret,’ a reference to the internet publication of the copy of a letter marked ‘Secret’ written by state company Ukrspetsexport, which has a monopoly on Ukraine’s arms sales.
“I would like to disprove the information which has been disseminated by the Press Service of the SSU concerning a criminal case being instituted against me. I have previously warned that we (the members of the commission investigating arms deliveries) were likely to be the subject of certain provocations, and that’s why I have to react today,” the Press Service of the Party of the Regions quotes Konovalyuk as saying.
“It is quite clear that our provisional investigation commission has undertaken serious work and investigated complex and dangerous issues, and is trying to use all the information it gains to carry out qualitative work promoting the security of our country,” Konovalyuk said. “As far as documents are concerned, those which concern the sale of the Buk-M1 anti-air missile complex are not secret, and there is much information about these sales in the Ukrainian mass media and on the internet. Much information was published before the commission was set up, and even some years ago,” the head of the Commission stated.
Konovalyuk has previously stated that during the delivery of Ukrainian arms to Georgia national and international legislation was violated. He has maintained that arms were being sold even after the beginning of the conflict in South Ossetia in August and are still being sold, but the assets from these sales are not being transferred to the state budget. The SSU has stated that “the inspection envisaged by the legislation proved that arms were legally delivered to Georgia, as confirmed by the international experts of the working group of signatories of the Vassenaar Treaty (including Russia) on October 15 of the current year in Vienna.”
(Black Sea Press)
Hungarian Foreign Minister to visit Georgia on October 28
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary, Dr. Kinga Goncz, is expected to arrive in Tbilisi on October 28, Black Sea Press has been told by the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
During his visit, the Hungarian Foreign Minister will meet Georgian Government officials and discuss the prospects of Georgia-Hungary bilateral relations. The Georgian side will inform Mr. Goncz about recent developments in Georgia.
(Black Sea Press)