Armenia aims to meet 30 percent of its military-technical needs through local production, the Secretary of the country’s Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, said at the II World Armenian Summit, Report informs via Armenian media.
Day: September 18, 2024
On September 17, the de-facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the occupied Tskhinvali region issued a statement regarding the Georgian Dream honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili’s broaching Georgia’s apology to “Ossetian sisters and brothers” for the August 2008 war, saying that the message should be viewed in the context of Georgia’s pre-election campaign and that Tskhinvali expects the subsequent “practical measures” in the future.
The statement says: “We expect that this real step, attesting to the sincerity of the good intentions voiced by Ivanishvili, will soon result in a legally binding document of Georgia’s refusal to use or threaten to use force against the Republic of South Ossetia and the Republic of Abkhazia,” the statement of the de-facto agency says.
“In the period preceding the parliamentary elections in Georgia, the topic of Georgian-Ossetian relations will be used, one way or another, in the internal political pre-election struggle. However, the prospect of establishing relations cannot depend on the political situation in Georgia at a certain point in time,” the statement notes.
The statement concludes that the political vector of the occupation regime is conditioned by the need to “comprehensively strengthen allied and integration ties with the Russian Federation, which is the guarantor of peace and security in the region and on whose territory the majority of the divided Ossetian people reside”.
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On September 18, the Migration Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia refused to grant critical Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Sadigov, editor-in-chief of Azel.tv international asylum, Sadigov’s lawyer confirmed to Civil.ge.
According to Dimitri Nozadze, Sadigov’s lawyer and representative of the NGO “Rights Georgia”, Sadigov received the denial document in his cell in the Azerbaijani language. The Georgian version of the document hasn’t been sent yet, so the details of the denial are unknown. Nozadze told RFE/RL’s Georgian Service that they plan to appeal to the court once they receive the document.
Afgan Sadigov was arrested in Tbilisi on August 3. The MIA reported plans to extradite the journalist to the Azerbaijani government. The journalist was sentenced to three months’ pre-extradition detention on August 4 by Judge Ketevan Jachvadze of the Tbilisi City Court.
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On September 18, U.S. Ambassador Robin Dunnigan said the Georgian government is “isolating Georgia,” citing, in particular, the statement made by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze during their bilateral meeting a day earlier, in which Kobakhidze warned the Ambassador that the U.S. had reached “critical limits” by imposing new sanctions on Georgians officials and individuals and that another such decision would cause Georgia to “reconsider” its position on Georgian-American relations.
“Actions by the Georgian government, recent anti-democratic actions, disinformation about the United States and the West, and statements like the statement that the Prime Minister made yesterday – none of that helps Georgia or the Georgian people. Taking actions and making statements that further isolate Georgia from the West, from Europe, and from the United States, is not in the interest of the Georgian people,” stated the U.S. Ambassador.
Ambassador Dunnigan emphasized that Georgian people “overwhelmingly” see their future with Europe and the West. She added: “…actions and statements that isolate Georgia don’t help that goal. I want to reiterate once again that there is no stronger supporter in the world than the United States for the Georgian people and for the Georgian people’s Euro-Atlantic integration. We will continue to support the Georgian people and continue to help make Georgia a stronger, more economically prosperous country that will be a member of the EU. And statements that try to isolate Georgia from the United States aren’t helpful for anybody.”
The meeting between PM Kobakhidze and Amb. Dunnigan
The comment by the US ambassador was preceded by the meeting between the U.S. Ambassador and the Georgian Prime Minister held on September 17, after the U.S. State Department imposed financial sanctions and visa restrictions on 64 Georgians who undermine democracy in the country. According to the Government Administration’s press release, PM Kobakhidze expressed his “concern” over the sanctions during the meeting.
PM Kobakhidze told the Ambassador that “the American side drew closer to critical limits, and that, should another decision of this kind be made, may call for essentially reconsidering Georgia’s position on Georgian-American relations.” The PM accused the U.S. State Department of trying to improve the opposition’s chances in the upcoming elections with this decision, noting that it is “counterproductive, because in reality it will not have any impact on the opposition’s election outcomes, nor will it intimidate the ruling team.”
According to the press release, the Prime Minister also stated that U.S. decision will “further cement the public’s motivation to take a strong stance and stand guard over Georgia’s independence and sovereignty on October 26.”
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