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Compiled by Salome Modebadze
Friday, November 21
No MAP in December
Resonansi reports that on December 2-3 a NATO ministerial meeting will be held at which the matter of giving Georgia a Membership Action Plan will be settled. It is said however that a MAP will not be granted.
Another important meeting for Georgia will take place on December 3. On this date the 26 EU members will decide what kind of relations to establish with the Caucasus. Although Mikheil Saakashvili announced after his recent meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the EU was developing a ‘special relationship’ with Georgia, Brussels sources don’t confirm this information.
“Russia is our near neighbour. Europe needs Russian gas and to have a dialogue with it. America is far away from Russia, and that’s why it doesn’t care about the problems we have with them,” Antonio Missiroli, the Chief Policy Analyst at the European Research Centre, noted while speaking to journalists.
Are Kaladze and Shevchenko connected with Yushchenko poisoning?
Kommersant claims that two international footballers, Georgia’s Kakha Kaladze and Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko, will be questioned about the poisoning of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, Sakartvelos Respublika reports.
Shevchenko has been asked by the General Prosecutor’s Office to give evidence concerning this poisoning. The Office would also like to talk to Kakha Kaladze, now with Milan but formerly with Dynamo Kiev. Another Ukrainian, Andrey Gusin, has already given testimony to investigators.
There is no clear information about why the footballers are believed to be connected with the poisoning of Yushchenko. There may be questions in relation to their mutual friend Tamaz Tsintsadze, who attended the dinner where Yushchenko was supposedly poisoned.
New Embassies to open
Ten new Georgian Embassies will open next year, Sakartvelos Respublika writes. Papuna Petriashvili, the Deputy Minister of Finance, mentioned this whilst discussing the budget for 2009 at a meeting of the European Integration Parliamentary Committee yesterday.
The Embassies will be established in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, Ireland, Finland, Portugal, South Korea and at UNESCO. It’s also planned to open a consulate in Dubai. 6 million GEL has been set aside for the establishment of the new Embassies.
Refugees to receive 200 GEL
Grigol Mgaloblishvili, the Georgian Prime Minister, has visited the village Koda in Tetritskaro region, Sakartvelos Respublika reports.
The Prime Minister visited refugees lodged in the village and became familiar with their living conditions. He said that the refugees lodged in Koda a couple of weeks ago have all the things they need to liver at present. Other tiny problems would be settled soon. Furthermore, each refugee will receive 200 GEL to purchase future needed items.
250 families accommodated in Koda have been also visited by Koba Subeliani, the Minister of Refugees and Resettlement, Zurab Melikishvili the Chairman of Budget and Finance Committee, Davit Kirkitadze the Governor of Kvemo Kartli, and the representatives of Georgian singers Davit Gomarteli, Otar Koberidze and Marina Beridze.
Resonansi reports that on December 2-3 a NATO ministerial meeting will be held at which the matter of giving Georgia a Membership Action Plan will be settled. It is said however that a MAP will not be granted.
Another important meeting for Georgia will take place on December 3. On this date the 26 EU members will decide what kind of relations to establish with the Caucasus. Although Mikheil Saakashvili announced after his recent meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that the EU was developing a ‘special relationship’ with Georgia, Brussels sources don’t confirm this information.
“Russia is our near neighbour. Europe needs Russian gas and to have a dialogue with it. America is far away from Russia, and that’s why it doesn’t care about the problems we have with them,” Antonio Missiroli, the Chief Policy Analyst at the European Research Centre, noted while speaking to journalists.
Are Kaladze and Shevchenko connected with Yushchenko poisoning?
Kommersant claims that two international footballers, Georgia’s Kakha Kaladze and Ukraine’s Andriy Shevchenko, will be questioned about the poisoning of President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, Sakartvelos Respublika reports.
Shevchenko has been asked by the General Prosecutor’s Office to give evidence concerning this poisoning. The Office would also like to talk to Kakha Kaladze, now with Milan but formerly with Dynamo Kiev. Another Ukrainian, Andrey Gusin, has already given testimony to investigators.
There is no clear information about why the footballers are believed to be connected with the poisoning of Yushchenko. There may be questions in relation to their mutual friend Tamaz Tsintsadze, who attended the dinner where Yushchenko was supposedly poisoned.
New Embassies to open
Ten new Georgian Embassies will open next year, Sakartvelos Respublika writes. Papuna Petriashvili, the Deputy Minister of Finance, mentioned this whilst discussing the budget for 2009 at a meeting of the European Integration Parliamentary Committee yesterday.
The Embassies will be established in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, India, Ethiopia, Ireland, Finland, Portugal, South Korea and at UNESCO. It’s also planned to open a consulate in Dubai. 6 million GEL has been set aside for the establishment of the new Embassies.
Refugees to receive 200 GEL
Grigol Mgaloblishvili, the Georgian Prime Minister, has visited the village Koda in Tetritskaro region, Sakartvelos Respublika reports.
The Prime Minister visited refugees lodged in the village and became familiar with their living conditions. He said that the refugees lodged in Koda a couple of weeks ago have all the things they need to liver at present. Other tiny problems would be settled soon. Furthermore, each refugee will receive 200 GEL to purchase future needed items.
250 families accommodated in Koda have been also visited by Koba Subeliani, the Minister of Refugees and Resettlement, Zurab Melikishvili the Chairman of Budget and Finance Committee, Davit Kirkitadze the Governor of Kvemo Kartli, and the representatives of Georgian singers Davit Gomarteli, Otar Koberidze and Marina Beridze.