Press Scanner
Complied by Keti Baramidze
Tuesday, May 18
Pressurising school staff is inadmissible
In an interview with Kviris Palitra Minister of Education and Science Dimitri Shashkin has announced that holding election meetings at schools or other such institutions is inadmissible and as soon as the election campaign began the Ministry gave strict instructions to school directors about this.
“Education system staff are completely free in their political choice. Any pressure being put on them is intolerable. We’ve received four complaints already. Whether or not the complaint is well-founded we still react to it.
"I want to stress again that not one single person employed in the education system is under threat. Their relatives and they themselves may take whatever political position they wish without fear of being sacked. It won’t happen under any circumstances,” said Shashkin.
Georgia has a very large number of prisoners
Kviris Palitra reports that head of the European Union delegation to Georgia Per Eklund has announced that in Georgia there are 400 prisoners for every 100,000 head of population and this drastic proportion frightens the European Union greatly.
“We are holding active discussions with the Georgian Government concerning this. In Europe we have only 150 prisoners for every 100,000 people and as in Georgia the number is 400 per 100,000 this is really worth worrying about. Some improvements have been noticed but still much more needs to be done,” concluded Per Eklund.
Russia is preparing something for Georgia
In an interview with Kviris Palitra political analyst Mamuka Areshidze talks about possible tensions in the country and comments on the Mamisoni pass, where Russian border guards are located.
“Speculation about the Mamisoni is a means of distracting attention from other things. Russian border guards were there last year also and there is nothing new about this. One thing is unarguable however - Russia is preparing to do something against Georgia and this is obvious. Its aim is clear, to separate Georgia into small pieces and destroy its statehood in order to control any energy corridor going through Georgia, either from Azerbaijan or Central Asia. Russia needs this urgently.
"We should not forget the upcoming Sochi Olympics and the elections in Russia in 2012. In these circumstances the major enemy from Putin's point of view is not only the North Caucasus but Georgia, not the Georgian authorities but Georgia itself as a political and geographical entity,” Areshidze said.
In an interview with Kviris Palitra Minister of Education and Science Dimitri Shashkin has announced that holding election meetings at schools or other such institutions is inadmissible and as soon as the election campaign began the Ministry gave strict instructions to school directors about this.
“Education system staff are completely free in their political choice. Any pressure being put on them is intolerable. We’ve received four complaints already. Whether or not the complaint is well-founded we still react to it.
"I want to stress again that not one single person employed in the education system is under threat. Their relatives and they themselves may take whatever political position they wish without fear of being sacked. It won’t happen under any circumstances,” said Shashkin.
Georgia has a very large number of prisoners
Kviris Palitra reports that head of the European Union delegation to Georgia Per Eklund has announced that in Georgia there are 400 prisoners for every 100,000 head of population and this drastic proportion frightens the European Union greatly.
“We are holding active discussions with the Georgian Government concerning this. In Europe we have only 150 prisoners for every 100,000 people and as in Georgia the number is 400 per 100,000 this is really worth worrying about. Some improvements have been noticed but still much more needs to be done,” concluded Per Eklund.
Russia is preparing something for Georgia
In an interview with Kviris Palitra political analyst Mamuka Areshidze talks about possible tensions in the country and comments on the Mamisoni pass, where Russian border guards are located.
“Speculation about the Mamisoni is a means of distracting attention from other things. Russian border guards were there last year also and there is nothing new about this. One thing is unarguable however - Russia is preparing to do something against Georgia and this is obvious. Its aim is clear, to separate Georgia into small pieces and destroy its statehood in order to control any energy corridor going through Georgia, either from Azerbaijan or Central Asia. Russia needs this urgently.
"We should not forget the upcoming Sochi Olympics and the elections in Russia in 2012. In these circumstances the major enemy from Putin's point of view is not only the North Caucasus but Georgia, not the Georgian authorities but Georgia itself as a political and geographical entity,” Areshidze said.