Day: November 16, 2023

The President of the Federal Council of the Austrian Parliament, Claudia Arpa, together with an accompanying delegation, is on a working visit to Georgia in the week of 13 November. The Austrian official has held meetings with the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, the Prime Minister, the Head of the Georgian-Austrian Parliamentary Friendship Group, and attended the Bertha von Suttner Prize award ceremony at the Dadiani Palace. The Federal Council President also visited the occupation line at the Enguri river.

On November 13, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili met with his Austrian counterpart and hailed the recent dynamics in bilateral relations and thanked Austria for supporting Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. “Shalva Papuashvili welcomed the recommendation issued by the European Commission concerning the granting of the EU candidate status to Georgia and expressed his hopes for the official receipt of the status in December” the Parliament reported, adding that Speaker expressed hope for Austria’s support.

According to the Georgian Parliament, the Austrian official congratulated Georgia on receiving the EU Commission’s positive recommendation and “accentuated the importance of compliance with nine priorities set out by the European Commission.”

“The parties underlined the joint events purposed to raising awareness of the youth on democracy and encouragement of civil education, the letter of intent on which was signed within the framework of the visit of the President of the National Council of Austria, Wolfgang Sobotka,” the Parliament’s statement concludes.

On November 14, the President of the Federal Council continued her trip with a visit to the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Garibashvili. According to the Georgian government administration, Prime Minister Garibashvili expressed the hope that Austria will continue to support Georgia on its European integration path.

According to the Austrian Embassy in Tbilisi, “interesting discussions” were held between PM Garibashvili and the Austrian Parliament’s Federal Council President on EU integration, and economic and political developments. The Austrian official also congratulated on the European Commission’s recommendation of Georgia’s EU candidacy.

On November 15, Claudia Arpa and her delegation attended the award ceremony of the Bertha von Suttner Prize at the Dadiani Palace in the city of Zugdidi in western Georgia “to personally congratulate the winner on his achievement”.

On the same day, she also held a working lunch in Tbilisi with the Head of the Parliamentary Georgia-Austria Friendship Group, Anri Okhanashvili.

On November 16, according to the Austrian Embassy in Georgia, President Arpa and her delegation joined the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) patrol to “learn more about the situation along the Enguri river.”

“Thanks to the Mission for its important work! Austria has been supporting and will continue to support the EUMM including by providing high-caliber staff. Thanks to the Austrian Mission members to join our patrol and provide important insight on the situation on the ground and the conflict-affected population,” the Austrian Embassy wrote.

Also Read:

• 31/01/2023 – President Zurabishvili Meets Austrian Chancellor
• 30/01/2023 – Austrian Chancellor Visits Tbilisi

On November 16, the Parliament voted on the early termination of the mandate of “Georgian Dream” MP and Vice Speaker of the Parliament, Davit Sergeenko. With 78 in favor and 2 against, Sergeenko’s mandate was finally terminated.

The question of terminating Sergeenko’s mandate has been raised since July 14, when the Committee on Rules and Procedural Issues decided to end his term due to excessive and unexplained absences. According to the chairman of the Committee, Irakli Kadagishvili, Sergeenko’s parliamentary credentials were considered invalid because he missed 25 out of 32 regular sessions during the spring session of 2023. However, Parliament rejected the termination of Sergeenko’s powers during the plenary session on September 5.

According to Kadagishvili, the issue was raised again on October 27, when MP Davit Sergeenko applied to the Speaker of the Parliament to terminate his parliamentary powers before the end of his mandate. The Committee on Rules and Procedures voted in favor of the dismissal today.

Sergeenko is a former health minister and longtime Bidzina Ivanishvili cadre. Notably, Sergeenko voted against the draft law “On the transparency of foreign influence” in its first reading, which was withdrawn by the ruling majority in the face of mass protests. After the GD was forced to vote down the bill following the mass protests in March of this year, Davit Sergeenko expressed his desire to resign from Parliament, stating: “Being a politician is not what I dreamed of. I prefer to work as a doctor. Undoubtedly, the 10th convocation is the last convocation when I am in the Parliament, public service, and politics.”

Also Read:

• 06/09/2023 – MPs Vote to Void Dumbadze’s Mandate, Keep Sergeenko

On November 16, at the second International Conference on Competition Policy and Consumer rights, the Chairman of the Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission (GNERC) Davit Narmania told journalists that “Abkhazia receives electricity from Russia, and they’re responsible for paying for it”.

“The only obligation from the 1990s is the 40-60 ratio of electricity generated by EnguriHES, which is being implemented. The Georgian side has no other obligations in this regard,” said Davit Narmania.

Asked whether Georgia would step in if occupied Abkhazia failed to pay, Narmania noted: “We have no obligation in this regard. I have no other additional information. Normally, no.”

The day before, the de facto Minister of Economy of occupied Abkhazia Christina Ozgan noted a “difficult situation in the energy sector” developing in Abkhazia. According to her, in the fourth quarter of this year Abkhazia faced a shortage of electricity.

“The most important thing to note is that no one will maintain the energy system of Abkhazia except us. We have to understand that electricity is a commodity that has to be paid for. It will not be possible to solve the problem indefinitely only with social assistance from Russia,” she emphasized.

Also Read:

• 21/10/2019 – New Head of Energy Regulatory Commission Elected