Georgia’s Security Concept to be completed soon

Consultations on drafting Georgia’s new Security Concept document are underway at the Georgian Parliament. On Monday the Deputy Secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council (NSC), Batu Kutelia met representatives of the Parliamentary minority. According to the Parliament’s press service, three out of the four recommendations given by the opposition Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM) were taken into consideration by the NSC. According to Kutelia, these included paying more attention to the issue of strengthening democratic institutes in the country.

MP from the Christian-Democratic Movement, Nika Laliashvili raised the issue at Monday’s meeting. He said it is necessary to evaluate the instability of democratic institutions in the country as a risk. Laliashvili suggested this is “especially important against a background where there are forces in the country that plan to stage revolutions and unrest.” NSC’s Kutelia said a working group is working on several versions in terms of democratic institutions. “The issue might be discussed in the preface of the document, in order to make this issue a kind of umbrella and a determinant imperative of the document,” he stated.

The threat of total “vanishing and assimilation” of Abkhazian ethnicity might also be included in the Security Concept document. The issue was raised by the CDM leader, Giorgi Targamadze who noted that CDM cannot suggest the exact wording for a paragraph on the issue, but commented that “this specific risk should be included in the document.” Batu Kutelia pointed out that the draft document includes risks related to Abkhazia, including one in terms of demographics. “It is completely possible to include a specific part in the document on the threat of the Abkhazian ethnic group’s total assimilation and vanishing,” he said.

The Parliamentary opposition group demanded completion of the part in the Security Concept related to Russia’s aims during the 2008 conflict. The initial draft of the document says that the aim of Russian Federation in 2008 was to “change the democratic government of Georgia.” The CDM has claimed the document should indicate that Russia’s aims also included “occupying the country and returning it from the European orbit to the Russian orbit.” Deputy Secretary of the NSC agreed with the Christian-Democratic Movement MPs, saying that an appropriate part is being worked out.

An issue on which Kutelia and the Parliamentary opposition have so far failed to agree, is the CDM proposal to include a paragraph in the document on the special role of the Orthodox Church in Georgia and making a note about the status of Georgia’s state language. CDM members suggest that this would eliminate the “poor level of integration of national minorities in Georgia.” Kutelia said the CDM should present “specific wording and arguments” on these issues. In addition, the NSC Deputy Secretary said that the term “multiethnic nation” is more relevant in the National Security document than “multiethnic people” as suggested by the parliamentary opposition.

According to Kutelia, working on Georgia’s National Security Concept document will be completed by the end of spring. The new document will replace the one adopted in 2005. A plan to update the concept was announced on February 15 by the Secretary of the NSC, Giga Bokeria.