President cancels visit to Belgium
By Tea Mariamidze
Monday, October 27
President Giorgi Margvelashvili cancelled his visit to Belgium and called a Security Council meeting on October 28. However, it still remains unclear who will attend the meeting. Several ministers called the president to change the date as they would not be able to attend the meeting.
After making the statement over the meeting, the Georgian Embassy in Belgium released a statement. According to the statement, the President of Georgia was invited to the Kingdom of Belgium to attend the events dedicated to the 100th anniversary of World War I on October 28.
The embassy informed that the reason of the cancelation was the National Security Council meeting scheduled for October 28 in order to discuss the possible threats related to the Agreement on the Alliance and Integration between Russia and Abkhazia.
“The same information was sent to the University of Leuven, where the President should have delivered a speech. This is the only information released by the embassy, which was sent to the Belgian side - both official and academic circles. No additional assessments were made by the embassy about the cancellation of the visit,” the statement says.
Security Council Secretary Irine Imerliahsvili stated that the most important development in the country currently is the situation in Abkhazia.
However, commenting on the meeting, several ministers stated that the president should have agreed the date with them, including the ministers of defense and foreign affairs.
Three permanent members of the National Security Council - Irakli Alasania, Aleksandre Chikaidze and Maia Panjikidze will not attend the meeting. In addition, invited members Nodar Khaduri, Paata Zakareishvili and Alex Petriashvili are not going to attend the meeting. As for the Prime Minister, who is a permanent member of the National Security Council, his position on the above-mentioned issue is still unknown.
Responding to the ministers’ statements, Imerlishvili said that the comment from the defense minister was nothing more than unserious…” It is given in black and white in the constitution of Georgia that the National Security Council session is convened by the president and its date is also fixed by the president. All members of the council have been provided with this information,” she said.
The National Security Council members’ decision looks like an act of sabotage, Editor-in-chief of the Rezonansi newspaper, Lasha Tughushi said.
“When you ignore the president, who called the meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the issues with regard to Russia’s aggression, it's not a serious approach. I think that such people should not be in politics,” Lasha Tughushi said.
