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Burjanadze unlikely to be welcomed into Georgian Dream

Rezonansi reports that Republican Party co-leader and member of the Georgian Dream coalition Davit Berdzenishvili said that they have not discussed the issue of whether or not to include Nino Burjanadze.

He said that coalition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili has clearly expressed himself with regards to Burjanadze, but her membership is not confirmed.

"Perhaps, we can find some form of relationship with her;, however, [her] presence in the coalition will not be considered," Berdzenishvili said.



Labour Party protests against increased cost for ambulance service

"At present, ambulance fees are 20GEL paid by the insurance company, and 20 GEL by the medical facility. But if the National Movement party wins the elections, [they are] determined to impose a 40 GEL [fee]," Labour Party General Secretary Soso Shatberashvili said, according to Rezonansi.

The government's decision was made on January 10, to raise ambulance fees to 40 GEL. "The Labour party considers this "equal to murder... It is impossible to call the ambulance because [people] do not have the money".



Vashadze: Georgia has right to join any alliance

Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze has said that Georgia is an independent country and therefore has the right to join any alliance, Versia writes. He made this comment in response to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who has expressed his government's unhappiness with Georgia's continued pursuit of NATO membership.

"Russia does not recognize that a sovereign state has the right to join any organization it wants. Since 2008, between all normal, democratic states and the Russian Federation there has been a sharp disagreement with respect to this issue. On the one hand, the civilized, democratic world supports Georgia's territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence...; On the other hand, there is a state which does not recognize [our] territorial integrity, independence, and the people's elected government," Vashadze remarked.