Day: June 7, 2024

Live update: Biden: PM heeded my warning against major Rafah offensive, scaling down IDF ops there https://t.co/9VNBUro04Y

— ToI ALERTS (@TOIAlerts) June 7, 2024

No visa cancellation for Georgia

The EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, speaking to students, stated that the Georgian people should not be penalized for the government’s adoption of the “foreign agents” law, and that the likelihood of the visa-free regime between Georgia and the EU being canceled is low.

“I have repeatedly called on the EU that the Georgian people should not be punished and should not have to pay for something they did not do. On the contrary, people protested, and we still see these protests today. Therefore, the likelihood of canceling the visa-free regime is low precisely because it would primarily affect ordinary citizens,” said the ambassador.

According to him, the EU continues to support Georgia, and in this regard, its position has not changed.

“Our support is evident, and we have not changed our position. We collectively decided to grant Georgia candidate status [for EU membership]. A place is reserved for you, which is currently empty, and I do not know how long it will remain so. We want a representative from Georgia to take this seat with the same rights and obligations as other members.

The most alarming thing is that other countries aspiring to join the EU and being candidates are moving forward and do not want to waste time. The big challenge is for Georgia not to miss this opportunity.”

Regarding individual sanctions against members of the Georgian government, Herczyński called it a “difficult but not impossible” process. The decision on this issue must be made by EU countries by consensus.

• The visa-free regime between Georgia and EU countries was implemented on March 28, 2017. From March to December 2017, 170,000 Georgian citizens took advantage of it.
• The European Union reserves the right to review the visa-free regime if Georgia fails to meet its obligations. The Georgian government states that despite existing problems, there is no danger of a review at this stage.
• Georgian citizens seeking asylum in Europe most often cite unemployment at home as their reason. Many also travel to Europe for health reasons, due to issues in the country’s healthcare system.
• Georgian crime remains a serious problem in Europe, with Germany being the most vocal about it. German officials have even requested that the Georgian Minister of Internal Affairs take effective measures.

No visa cancellation for Georgia

Fierce gun battles between Israeli troops and Hamas-led Palestinian fighters were also taking place.

Residents said tanks that have taken control along the border with Egypt made several raids towards the west and the center of the southern city, wounding several residents who had been trapped inside their homes and were taken by surprise.

“I think the occupation forces are trying to reach the beach area of Rafah, the raids and the bombing overnight were tactical, they entered under heavy fire before they retreated,” said one Palestinian man.

“It was one of the worst nights, some people were wounded inside their homes, before being evacuated this morning,” he told Reuters via a chat app.

Israeli forces have also operated inside the Al-Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip on the ground, while it kept two other camps and a city nearby under heavy bombardment from planes and tanks, killing and wounding several Palestinians, medics said.

The armed wings of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and smaller other groups reported their fighters carried out attacks against invading Israeli forces in several areas in central and southern the enclave.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators, backed by the United States, have stepped up efforts to reach a cease-fire deal, that will halt hostilities and see the release of Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel, but sources close to the talks said there were no signs of a breakthrough.

Since a brief weeklong truce in November, all attempts to arrange a cease-fire have failed, with Hamas insisting on its demand for a permanent end to the conflict. Israel says it is prepared to discuss only temporary pauses until the militant group is defeated.

“We have shown all the flexibility needed to reach a deal, but the Israeli occupation continues to refuse any commitment to end the aggression and pull its forces from the Gaza Strip,” a Hamas official told Reuters.

“The occupation and the Americans are to blame for the absence of a deal so far because they don’t want this war on our people to end,” he said.

Hamas precipitated the war by attacking Israeli territory last October 7, killing around 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. About half the hostages were freed in the November truce.

Israel’s military assault on Gaza has killed more than 36,000 people, according to health officials in the territory, who say thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble.

U.S. and Israeli officials have told Reuters about half of Hamas’s forces have been killed in the conflict. Hamas does not disclose fatalities among its fighters and some officials say Israel exaggerated the figures. Israel’s own military death toll is almost 300.

It will be their first face-to-face talks since Zelenskyy visited Washington in December, when the two wrestled with Republican opposition to more Ukraine aid. They will meet again next week at a G7 summit in Italy, as rich nations discuss using Russian assets frozen after the Ukraine invasion to provide $50 billion for Ukraine.

Zelenskyy told Reuters last month that Western countries are taking too long to make decisions about aid.

Biden in remarks in Normandy, France, on Thursday drew a link between the World War Two battle against tyranny and Ukraine’s war with Russia, calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a “dictator.”

The $225 million in new weaponry includes artillery rounds and air defense interceptors, among other items, sources said.

Ukraine has struggled to defend the Kharkiv region after an offensive launched by Moscow on May 10 has overrun some villages.

Biden last week shifted his position and decided Ukraine could launch U.S.-supplied weapons at military targets inside Russia that are supporting the Kharkiv offensive.

The United States is trying to catch up with Ukraine’s weaponry needs, deputy national security adviser Jon Finer said in Washington on Thursday.

“If there were two things that we could provide an infinite number of to the Ukrainians to try to turn the tide in this war, it would be artillery munitions and air defense interceptors,” but the U.S. lacked supply, Finer told a forum by the Center for a New American Security.

Outside the physical battlefield, the Russia-Ukraine war is “also a competition that takes place in our factories, the factories in Europe, the factories in Ukraine,” he said.

Reaching consensus on the frozen assets has been complicated, Daleep Singh, deputy national security adviser for international economics, told the same group.

“We’re waist-deep in the sausage-making of trying to strike a deal,” said Singh, who said he was heading back to Italy on Friday to continue the negotiations.