Day: March 20, 2024

Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson reacted to the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s tour in South Caucasus, saying the Alliance’s “general aspirations to consolidate its presence” in the region “are visible to the naked eye” and “NATO’s attempts to expand in some way its influence and presence are unlikely to add stability and predictability to the situation in the Caucasus” the  Russian state-owned news agency TASS reported on March 19.

According to the same agency, Peskov pointed out that the South Caucasian states have “a sovereign right” to have such contacts, however adding that “of course, we are closely watching, but we intend to mainly focus on our bilateral relations and cooperation tools that our country has with the countries of the region.”

On March 17, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg began his three-day tour of the South Caucasus with a visit to Baku where he met with the President as well as Defense and Foreign Affairs ministers. He arrived in Georgia on March 18 where he met with the President and the Prime Minister. The NATO Secretary-General concluded the tour in Armenia on March 19, meeting with the President and the Prime Minister.

Also Read:

• 18/03/2024 – NATO Chief Visits Georgia

Georgian Dream MP Rati Ionatamishvili was elected yesterday, March 19, as the new Chair of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament. 83 MPs supported his candidacy.

The Human Rights Committee was previously chaired by Mikheil Sarjveladze until March 11, when he was appointed as the new Minister of Health.

The new Chair of the Human Rights Committee, Ionatamishvili, was the MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party in the ninth (2016 to 2020) and tenth (2020 to date) convocations of the Parliament, both times from the party list. In the legislative body, he has been a member of several committees in the past, including the committees of Human Rights, the Legal Issues, the Defense and Security, and the Healthcare and Social Issues.

In addition to his roles in the legislative body, Ionatamishvili served as Vice President of the Committee of the National Paralympics of Georgia and was a member of its Board of Directors from 2013 to 2016. From 2014 to 2015, he was an Advisor to the Mayor of Tbilisi. From 2015 to 2016 he was a member of the Tbilisi Sakrebulo [City Assembly].

Also Read:

• 11/03/2024 – PM Kobakhidze Announces Government Administration Appointments
• 08/02/2024 – Parliament Confirms PM Kobakhidze and his Cabinet of Ministers