Tag Archives: Georgia

Georgia’s anti-discrimination law fuels tension

MAY 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s parliament passed an anti-discrimination bill it needed to implement for further integration into the EU but the conservative Orthodox Church has said it will protest against it.

Media reported that Georgia’s parliament passed the law unanimously.

The bill, its supporters and its detractors, give a good insight into the division coursing through Georgian society between modernisers and traditionalists.

The EU, which Georgia is desperate to join, has called on legislation that protects the rights of minorities. This has been generally accepted by Georgians, although the conservative Orthodox Church continues to rile against it.

And the Orthodox Church in Georgia is powerful. Patriarch Ilia II is considered a genuine power-broker, politicians cosy up to religious leaders and priests lead demonstrations. Last year, priests led a march against a gay rights parade that triggered violence. Tolerance in modern day Georgia only goes so far.

For the Church, the new laws are virtually heresy and it has promised to protest against it. Their main difficulty with the law is its protection of homosexuality.

Patriarch Ilia II was succinct. “Not a single believer will accept such law,” he said.

For NGOs pushing for the new legislation it has also been a slight disappointment. They were disappointed that the law finally adopted had been watered down from its original state.

Expect more tension between modernisers and traditionalists.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Ex-president criticises Georgian government

APRIL 22 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a speech via a video-link at the opening of a library in Tbilisi, former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili said he was still unable to visit Georgia because he was on a blacklist. Prosecutors in Georgia want to question Mr Saakashvili about alleged crimes carried out by ministers in his government. He says the allegations are politically motivated.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Georgia’s foreign trade grows

APRIL 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s foreign trade increased by 11.5% during the first three quarters of the year compared to the same period in 2013, the state’s statistics agency said. Compared to the first quarter of 2010, Georgia’s foreign trade is now nearly double. The figures highlight Georgia’s economic growth.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

EU wants closer relations with Georgia

APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a show of solidarity, the European Union will speed up a deal with Georgia to improve integration of its political and economic links.

The foreign ministers of Germany and France, Frank- Walter Steinmeier and Laurent Fabius, announced the plan on a visit to Tbilisi.

Their main aim was to reassure Georgia that the West does want Georgia in its club.

“I am sure that by the end of June the agreement will have been signed and that it is an important milestone in the history of Georgian and European relations,” Mr Steinmeier said according to media reports.

Since Russia’s de facto annexation of Crimea, the West has sent conflicting messages to Georgia. US President Barack Obama said that neither Georgia nor Ukraine would be part of NATO, although the NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen then said that the Western military alliance wanted closer associations with both countries.

In any case, clearly wary of Georgia’s difficult relations with Russia, Mr Steinmeier and Mr Fabius were eager to underline that the cooperation deal with the EU did not preclude Georgian trade with Russia.

“We don’t see any contradiction between the signing of this agreement and Georgia’s economic relations with other countries, particularly Russia,” Mr Fabius said.

For Georgia, the turmoil in Ukraine has thrown its own thorny relationship with Russia, and NATO, back into the spotlight.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Greek police arrests Georgian ex-minister

APRIL 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Police in Greece arrested Data Akhalaia, the former head of Georgia’s intelligence agency, when he tried to cross the border into Italy on a fake passport one month ago, media reported. Mr Akhalaia is wanted in Georgia for involvement in a murder in 2006.

ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

Georgia celebrates Easter

APRIL 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Easter Service at Tbilisi’s’ Sameba Cathedral has been the one place where implacable political foes in staunchly Orthodox Georgia can come together. This year, though, was different.

On Easter Sunday, April 20, only Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili and his associates attended Sameba Cathedral. At the service Patriach Ilia II delivered an epistle warning of the dangers of pseudo-liberals, an ongoing debate in Georgia.

The opposition United National Movement, instead, visited services at Orthodox, Catholic and Baptist churches and congratulated Armenian Christians on the holiday. With a local election on June 15, commentators saw this as a move to woo minorities. Many are worried about a perceived increase in Georgian nationalism under the present government.

Also missing from Sameba Cathedral was President Giorgi Margvelashvili. He has had a public falling out with his patron, billionaire former PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, and reportedly refuses to be seen with members of the government. He attended church in his small hometown.

Mr Ivanishvili, the government’s main backer, made no public appearance, fuelling widespread speculation he has left the country. A fractious Easter, in an increasingly fractious Georgia.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 181, published on April 23 2014)

Georgia worries about Russia in Ukraine

APRIL 15 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s intervention in Ukraine has made Georgia feel more vulnerable, Georgian president Georgi Margvelashvili told Reuters in an interview. Mr Margvelashvili also said that the West should work with Russia rather than isolate it. “It should be restrained by engagement,” he said.

(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)

Georgia complains to Russia about airspace violation

APRIL 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s government complained to Russia that one of its aircraft, a single propeller engine AN-2, intruded on its airspace. Although relations are much improved since the brief war the two neighbours fought in 2008, tension still exists. Georgian officials described the flight as a provocation.

(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)

Georgia mulls anti-discrimination bill

APRIL 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — With the carrot of closer EU ties dangling before it, the Georgian government introduced a long delayed anti-discrimination bill to parliament.

The bill, whose passage is necessary to conclude a visa-free travel deal with the EU, is meant to provide protection against discrimination on the grounds of ethnicity, colour, gender, religion and sexual orientation. In highly conservative, macho Georgia, discrimination still persists.

A first draft, prepared by the Justice Ministry together with civil society groups, was ready in January and it had envisaged financial penalties for state and private sector institutions that broke the law.

After consultation with various lawmaker, though, the new draft ditched these provisions.

Human Rights activist Tamta Mikeladze, who helped draft the original version, is disappointed. She said the Georgian Orthodox Church lobbied the government to water down the original version.

“I can’t say whether this will be enough for the EU to grant visa-free travel, but I can tell you that it’s not enough to protect minorities from discrimination,” she said.

The government wants to pursue EU integration and pander to the demands of the Church, a powerful group, which contains many anti-European elements. One of its major fears is that it will be forced to accept same-sex marriages.

It remains to be seen if this anti-discrimination bill will be enough to either persuade the EU that Georgia deserves visa-free travel and if it will improve the plight of minorities in the country.

(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)

Georgia mulls opening a development bank

APRIL 9 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia is considering launching a state-run development bank to support large-scale infrastructure projects, media reported. Former Georgian PM and head of the Georgian Dream coalition Bidzina Ivanishvili first voiced the idea of a Georgian Development Bank.

(News report from Issue No. 180, published on April 16 2014)