#SouthCaucasus
an oxygen tank in the passenger cabin had exploded – Aktau crash – https://t.co/wY69Kt9TJ6 https://t.co/CYe9FOsI2A
“The version of a gas cylinder exploding in the cabin of the aircraft is absurd and false,” Zulfugar Asadov, a cabin crew member who survived the…— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 27, 2024
Day: December 27, 2024
#SouthCaucasus
“an oxygen tank in the passenger cabin had exploded, passengers had lost consciousness …
The crew made two attempts to land on the runway, but lost altitude and stability.”
Azerbaijani plane that crashed near Aktau lost control systems before entering Kazakh… pic.twitter.com/vbGapcYDVk— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 27, 2024
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has called for a formal debate on suspending Georgia’s EU accession process. She cited what she described as the ruling Georgian Dream party’s “increasingly authoritarian policies.” She said Germany is considering various options with the EU partners, including “ending visa-free travel for Georgian leaders to launching targeted sanctions.”
The foreign minister expressed concerns that “instead of progress,” after being granted the EU candidacy in December 2023, Georgia has seen “alarming setbacks.” She pointed to elections heavily criticized by international observers, violent crackdowns on demonstrators, the controversial foreign agents’ law, and restrictions on LGBTQI+ rights. “Georgian Dream is squandering the historic opportunity offered by the European Union,” Baerbock said.
Baerbock said, “Europe dwells [in Georgians’] hearts; the pro-European protests are their voice,” but GD leaders are “responding with intimidation, violence, and water cannons.” She called on GD leaders to “do everything to end the major political crisis, to win back trust and the people in Georgia real prospects for the future.” The statement stopped short of calling for specific solutions, including the early elections, which both protesters and the country’s President Salome Zurabishvili say are way out of the crisis.
Germany has been responding to the Georgian Dream’s authoritarian drift, its decision to halt the EU accession process, and police violence against protesters. On December 4, Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, announced that no new development cooperation projects would be approved with Georgia, nor would any new loan agreements be signed. German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer also highlighted the economic consequences of Georgia’s drift from EU values, noting that foreign investment was being deterred, citing the example of Heidelberg Cement’s exit from the Georgian market.
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