The News in Brief
Tuesday, February 12
Stefan Fule to visit Georgia
The second meeting of Eastern Partnership informal dialogue will be held in Tbilisi on February 12-13. Georgia’s Foreign Affairs Department reports that the event will be hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili from the Georgian party. Also, State Minister for Europe and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Aleks Petriashvili, will take part in the informal dialogue.
From the EU- the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service Helga Schmidt, Vice-President and Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas. High level delegations of all the countries involved in the initiative will visit Georgia to take part in the event. The MFA reports that the event is important as it precedes the third summit of the Eastern Partnership planned in Vilnius on November 28-29 in 2013.
The first meeting of the Eastern Partnership informal dialogue was held in Moldova last year on June 5. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule launched the informal Eastern Partnership dialogue in 2012.
(IPN)
US ambassador welcomes dialogue between president and government
Ambassador of the United States to Georgia welcomed the readiness of the president and the governmental authorities of Georgia to hold dialogue on disputable issues. The ambassador said that Friday’s incident was a good lesson for both sides.
“I think everybody has learned a lesson from the violence on Friday. Nobody wants to see Georgian politics move forward in a dangerous direction as it has in the past and there`s been constructive language issued by both sides which I think the respective sides are studying and are looking for ways to build on these positive phrases for successful cohabitation,” the ambassador said.
(Rustavi 2)
Sozar Subari – Violence was observed from both parties outside the National Library
Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance Sozar Subari said the violence was observed from both parties outside the National Library. Answering the questions of the media how he would assess the February 8 developments, Subari said what happened is not a good example for any government – they must live and work so that they are able to go out in public.
The minster said that everyone should be responsible, those who provoked people and those who were acting violently.
Subari also added that there were people outside the library who were wrongfully punished, tortured and he understands their aggression, though he does not justify their actions.
Subari says that the high ranking officials should respect the investigation and show up for the questioning, otherwise it will be insolence.
(IPN)
Salaries of soldiers serving in Georgia increased by 25%
The Ministry of Defense of Georgia has a new document. Yesterday, the Minister of Defense, Irakli Alasania, introduced The Minister’s Vision for 2013-2014 to the diplomatic corps, civil society and media representatives.
“Our focus will be on increasing transparency in order to make civilian control over the Armed Forces more effective. We have already increased the salaries for the military servicemen in Afghanistan. Salaries of 89% of soldiers serving in Georgia have been increased by 25% since February 1. Several working groups with NGOs have already been set up in order to involve civil society effectively in the defense reformation process. The system established by us provides an effective transformation into a fully professional army stage by stage. This will be an advance for increasing defense capabilities and NATO interoperability. We also talked about our Euro-Atlantic aspiration. The Defense Ministry of Georgia will make its own contribution in these efforts to move forward rapidly,” declared the defense minister after the presentation of the document.
(Front News)
Ivanishvili and Alasania leave for Turkey
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and Defense Minister Irakli Alasania are preparing for their official trip to Turkey. Alasania said on February 11th that they will leave this week, but did not specify the date of departure. “We cooperate with the Turkish and Azeri side and this week I will leave with PM Ivanishvili and discuss bilateral relations between the two countries as well as share the plans of the Defence Ministry,” Alasania said, adding that a visit is planned to Armenia and Azerbaijan in March that will focus on military cooperation.
“Security in the region cannot be ensured in the country. We need to work out all the possible formats for the regional security where Georgia will be one of the leading countries,” Alasania said, while presenting the “Minister’s View” on Monday.
(Netgazeti)
The second meeting of Eastern Partnership informal dialogue will be held in Tbilisi on February 12-13. Georgia’s Foreign Affairs Department reports that the event will be hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Kvirikashvili from the Georgian party. Also, State Minister for Europe and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Aleks Petriashvili, will take part in the informal dialogue.
From the EU- the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, Deputy Secretary General for the External Action Service Helga Schmidt, Vice-President and Commissioner for Transport Siim Kallas. High level delegations of all the countries involved in the initiative will visit Georgia to take part in the event. The MFA reports that the event is important as it precedes the third summit of the Eastern Partnership planned in Vilnius on November 28-29 in 2013.
The first meeting of the Eastern Partnership informal dialogue was held in Moldova last year on June 5. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton and European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule launched the informal Eastern Partnership dialogue in 2012.
(IPN)
US ambassador welcomes dialogue between president and government
Ambassador of the United States to Georgia welcomed the readiness of the president and the governmental authorities of Georgia to hold dialogue on disputable issues. The ambassador said that Friday’s incident was a good lesson for both sides.
“I think everybody has learned a lesson from the violence on Friday. Nobody wants to see Georgian politics move forward in a dangerous direction as it has in the past and there`s been constructive language issued by both sides which I think the respective sides are studying and are looking for ways to build on these positive phrases for successful cohabitation,” the ambassador said.
(Rustavi 2)
Sozar Subari – Violence was observed from both parties outside the National Library
Minister of Corrections and Legal Assistance Sozar Subari said the violence was observed from both parties outside the National Library. Answering the questions of the media how he would assess the February 8 developments, Subari said what happened is not a good example for any government – they must live and work so that they are able to go out in public.
The minster said that everyone should be responsible, those who provoked people and those who were acting violently.
Subari also added that there were people outside the library who were wrongfully punished, tortured and he understands their aggression, though he does not justify their actions.
Subari says that the high ranking officials should respect the investigation and show up for the questioning, otherwise it will be insolence.
(IPN)
Salaries of soldiers serving in Georgia increased by 25%
The Ministry of Defense of Georgia has a new document. Yesterday, the Minister of Defense, Irakli Alasania, introduced The Minister’s Vision for 2013-2014 to the diplomatic corps, civil society and media representatives.
“Our focus will be on increasing transparency in order to make civilian control over the Armed Forces more effective. We have already increased the salaries for the military servicemen in Afghanistan. Salaries of 89% of soldiers serving in Georgia have been increased by 25% since February 1. Several working groups with NGOs have already been set up in order to involve civil society effectively in the defense reformation process. The system established by us provides an effective transformation into a fully professional army stage by stage. This will be an advance for increasing defense capabilities and NATO interoperability. We also talked about our Euro-Atlantic aspiration. The Defense Ministry of Georgia will make its own contribution in these efforts to move forward rapidly,” declared the defense minister after the presentation of the document.
(Front News)
Ivanishvili and Alasania leave for Turkey
Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili and Defense Minister Irakli Alasania are preparing for their official trip to Turkey. Alasania said on February 11th that they will leave this week, but did not specify the date of departure. “We cooperate with the Turkish and Azeri side and this week I will leave with PM Ivanishvili and discuss bilateral relations between the two countries as well as share the plans of the Defence Ministry,” Alasania said, adding that a visit is planned to Armenia and Azerbaijan in March that will focus on military cooperation.
“Security in the region cannot be ensured in the country. We need to work out all the possible formats for the regional security where Georgia will be one of the leading countries,” Alasania said, while presenting the “Minister’s View” on Monday.
(Netgazeti)