Day: January 22, 2024

Parliament official: Georgia “embarking on EU membership path”  Agenda.ge

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia reported that there are more Russians leaving the country than those entering  ИА Ореанда-Новости

https://t.co/mTP6LV7MnF
Establish bi-ethnic or multi-ethnic Israel with equal rights for all! #News #Times #NewsAndTimes #NT #TNT #Israel #World #USA #POTUS #DOJ #FBI #CIA #DIA #ODNI #Mossad #Netanyahu #Putin #Russia #GRU #Ukraine #SouthCaucasus #NewAbwehr #Bloggers… pic.twitter.com/Oa4v7mFxQq

— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) January 22, 2024

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In 2023, 5.6 billion manats ($3.3 billion) were allocated from the state budget for the reconstruction and restoration of the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.

The authorities of Poland and Ukraine have agreed to create joint defense-industrial enterprises

In 2023, the revenues of the general budget of Azerbaijan amounted to 50,343.6 million manats ($29.6 billion), and the expenses amounted to 40,313.8 million manats ($23.7 billion).

For Spheres of Influence Uncovered, JAMnews and our media partner, the German organization N-ost, are looking for interesting stories for cross-border media projects.

The topic should be about economic issues that are important both domestically and have global implications.

The articles that we will produce as part of this project should focus on economic issues. For example, the economic influence of China, Russia or the European Union in Georgia.

Please send submissions here. Submissions will be accepted until January 28, 2024.

We are waiting for ideas for stories that will affect economic ties and relations between Georgia and any other country. We want to make complex cross-border economic issues accessible to a wide audience.

Articles will be produced based on the selected stories.

Spheres of Influence Uncovered is an international media project that aims to stimulate and expand public debate on economic and geopolitical issues in the participating countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. To this end, we support financially and professionally the work of journalists interested in writing on topical issues.

If you have a topic on foreign investment or other high-impact economic cooperation – for example, Russian investment and its impact on the labor market, or competition between the EU and China for critical minerals – please contact us.

There will be compensation up to 800 euros per author, depending on the complexity of the topic and its disclosure. All this is determined individually, before starting work on the topic. The highest compensation is for research authors; payment for analytical articles is more modest.

Spheres of Influence Uncovered is a journalistic project. We promote news and fact-based articles that make complex economic issues accessible to a wide audience.

We are particularly interested in stories that have international potential – that is, journalists from two or more countries need to collaborate. We can help you connect with colleagues in other countries. We especially welcome ideas that involve mutual cooperation between journalists from our project countries.

We are also interested in multimedia stories (please email us a video story idea) as well as fact-based stories.

Communication is mainly in English but please feel free to write to us even if you speak only one of the languages of the project countries (Georgian, Serbian, Russian, Uzbek, etc.).

Our partners in this project are Anhor in Central Asia, Balkan Insight in the Balkans and JAMnews in Georgia and the Caucasus. Your work will be published on these media platforms, although we also welcome you to publish your work in your own media.

In the fall of 2024, Spheres of Influence Uncovered will hold an event in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where the most active participants of this project will be invited. You may be among them.

Send your proposal at this link.

Again, the proposal submission deadline is January 28, 2024.

Speaker of Georgian Parliament against Center for Tolerance

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili commented on the activities of the “Center for Tolerance” under the Public Defender and its head Beka Mindiashvili. And this time Papuashvili turned to the organization’s donor – USAID.

Papuashvili did so after finding out that the Center for Tolerancen was not under the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. According to Papuashvili, criticism of the head of the “Tolerance Center” Beka Mindiashvili against the Georgian Patriarchate is a manifestation of “religious intolerance, hostile rhetoric and incitement to hatred.”

In turn, Beka Mindiashvili said that the statement of the Speaker of Parliament is a gross violation of ethics by a high-ranking political figure.

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• Georgia’s human rights situation was fragile in 2023 – Human Rights Watch
• How the tradition of producing non-alcoholic beer from rose hips became a family business in Georgia

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Statement by Shalva Papuashvili

“I appealed to the Public Defender for clarification. It turned out that the so-called Tolerance Center under the Public Defender is not a structure of the Public Defender’s office. It is a separate, independent project, which is problematic because it is a misappropriation of the name of a constitutional body in a way that misleads citizens and presents the NGO as a state institution.

Regarding this so-called funding for the center. It is funded under one of USAID’s Unity in Diversity programs. I am deeply saddened that for the first time USAID found itself at the center of a scandal related to projects funded in its name. It appears that a man characterized by religious intolerance and fomenting religious hysteria manages to receive American funding, and yet for a cause that is the exact opposite of what he is doing.

Promoting activities against the Georgian Church and its parishioners is, of course, not in the interest of the Georgian people, but at the same time I strongly believe that funding religious intolerance in another country is not in the interest of the American people either. Therefore I expect that the USAID leadership will soon clarify this issue and act in the best interests of the American and Georgian peoples.”

Beki Mindiashvili’s response

“This statement ignores the principles of religious neutrality, separation of church and state. At the same time, the Speaker of Parliament is incompetent in discussing and assessing religious-theological issues. From this point of view, his attempt to ‘protect’ the Church is hypocritical.

Such statements may be based on the government’s desire to politically manipulate the Church while at the same time acting against the culture of tolerance and religious freedom. Since its inception, the “Center for Tolerance” has defended religious freedom and served the goals of civic integration; it will continue to do the same in the future, no matter who opposes its cause and existence. Also, the Center for Tolerance has successfully cooperated with the Public Defender for many years, but it is not a structural unit of the Public Defender Institute.”

USAID response to Papuashvili’s statement

The USAID office in Georgia also issued a statement in response to the letter of Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

The statement released by the public broadcaster said that the U.S. government is working with many organizations for the benefit of Georgia through USAID to support tolerance.

“We maintain ongoing, open and transparent communication with the Georgian government, and our programs support Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.”

During his visit to “Ag Sheher” (Baku White City) on January 22, the head of state got acquainted with the ongoing work.

This new part of the capital covers an area of 1,650 hectares and consists of 10 blocks of different styles and 10 km of coastline. At the moment,…

Biden’s failure to deter Iran risks World War III in the Middle East  The Hill