The Daily Beat: 11 April
Civil society organizations issued a joint statement, urging the government to step up efforts to secure EU candidate status. Relying on their sources in Brussels, the CSOs believe there is a likelihood that the EC could recommend EU candidate status for Georgia in October 2023, stressing that “any legislative initiatives or actions that contradict core European values will be considered as sabotage of the candidate status and contrary to the Georgian Constitution.” They also emphasized that their primary goal is to make every effort to secure candidate status. “We, as a united society, must proudly announce at the end of 2023 that Georgia is a candidate country for EU membership,” the joint statement reads. More than 140 CSOs signed a statement.
Don’t miss a beat!
Vice PM, Culture Minister Tea Tsulukiani criticized the imposition of US sanctions on four Georgian judges, calling it an “inadmissible” trespassing on Georgia’s sovereignty. “As the former minister of justice and the lawyer of the European Court of Human Rights, with 20 years of experience, I firmly, loudly, and principally condemn the decision of our friendly country – the United States,” Tsulukiani said, amending the statement with a late conciliatory note that misunderstandings may occur even among the partners.
The Public Defender released the 8th annual Equality Report, assessing the situation in the fight against discrimination, its prevention, and equality. The report stated that despite the call of the European Commission to the Georgian authorities to protect the equality of vulnerable groups in 2022, progress has yet to be observed in this regard. During the reporting period, the Office of the Public Defender examined 153 facts of alleged discrimination. Most of them – 20% – related to the case of alleged discrimination based on a different opinion, followed by 13% – sex/gender-related discrimination.
Due to the high risk of landslides, the Department of Highways has suspended traffic on the Rikoti Pass – the main highway connecting the eastern part of Georgia with its western regions. Reports suggested that the land mass had collapsed due to the collapse of an unstable slope mass. According to the authorities in charge of road and traffic safety, intensive work is underway to clean up and clear the roads at this stage.
