The Daily Beat: 30 August
The President’s Office announced that from 31 August, President Salome Zurabishvili will begin a series of meetings with European leaders to lobby for the country’s EU candidate status. According to the President’s office, she will start the series of meetings by visiting Berlin to meet her German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
In response to the President’s announcement, the government issued a statement denying permission for a series of international visits by the President to lobby the country’s European future. According to the government statement, Salome Zurabishvili has been officially denied permission to visit Germany, Ukraine, the Swiss Confederation, Poland, the Kingdom of Belgium, the Kingdom of Denmark, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Israel. In its statement, the government also urged the President to comply with the constitution, reminding her of the need for the government’s consent while exercising representative powers in foreign relations.
The ruling Georgian Dream party leader, Mamuka Mdinaradze, also decried the President’s international plans, accusing her of disrespecting the constitution. Mamuka Mdinaradze justified the government’s denial of Zurabishvili’s international visits, citing the President’s harsh criticism of the Georgian Dream government and its foreign policy course. “…Every Georgian citizen, everyone, must say that the recommendations have been fulfilled and that Georgia deserves [EU candidacy]. To say otherwise and that Georgia is following Russia’s path is to sabotage Georgia,” claimed Mdinaradze.
UK parliamentary delegation led by Jonathan Djanogly, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia in the House of Commons, is visiting Georgia, where the delegation held meetings with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Georgian Dream party chair Irakli Kobakhidze and the head of the parliamentary committee on Defense and Security, Irakli Beraia. According to the official press releases, parties discussed Georgia’s economic and political situation, the main directions of the UK-Georgia strategic partnership, regional and global security situation, and prospects of future cooperation. PM Garibashvili thanked the UK delegation for Georgia’s support and said this visit is yet another clear demonstration of the strategic partnership between Georgia and the UK.
Germany’s coalition government approved a bill by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser to list Georgia and Moldova as safe countries of origin. The move aims to speed up asylum application processing and facilitate faster deportations for rejected people. According to the ministry data, 99.9% of applications from both countries were rejected in 2022 and the first half of 2023. Together, they make up more than a tenth of all rejected applications. Some 8,865 Georgians and 5,218 Moldovans applied for asylum in Germany last year.
The anti-occupation movement “Power is in Unity” reported the ongoing reinforcements of the checkpoints along the Tskhinvali occupation line. According to the leader of the movement, David Katsarava, an additional defensive fence is being built approximately 2 km from the central highway, and the Russian engineering unit is actively digging trenches, preparing robust fortifications.The information is accompanied by drone footage of the newly built fortifications. The anti-occupation movement “Power is in Unity” regularly patrols the occupation line and reports on the situation.
