The Daily Beat: 6 September
President Salome Zurabishvili shared a video on social media with French President Emanuel Macron, saying they had a very productive conversation regarding Georgia’s EU candidacy. In a video, President Macron wished Georgia the best of luck on the European path, pledging to back the President’s efforts on this journey. “I want to express my support for the brave fight for democracy and the rule of law and for what I believe represents the future of the Georgian people – a truly European path, said the French President in a brief video message. Being under impeachment procedure at home, President Zurabishvili continues her unauthorized trip to European capitals to lobby for Georgia’s faltering EU candidacy.
US State Department’s principal deputy spokesperson, Vedant Patel, urged the Georgian government and all stakeholders to come together and implement the necessary reforms required to achieve EU candidate status, highlighting the need for unity. “So we‘ve been clear as have been Georgian people… that they see their future with Europe, and the European Union has given Georgia a clear road map to achieve a candidate status,” said Vedant Patel in response to the question about the intention of “Georgia’s pro-Russian government” to impeach the president.
Speaking at the conference in Tbilisi, Chinese Ambassador to Georgia Zhou Qian confirmed China’s interest in infrastructure projects of the “Middle Corridor,” including the Anaklia deep sea port project. “Generally speaking, we, Chinese companies and enterprises, are interested in all infrastructure projects, the “Belt and Road” and “the Middle Corridor.” If conditions are good, Chinese companies have no problem participating in constructing Anaklia Port or other projects,” Zhou Qian stated.
According to the Europe editor for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Rikard Jozwiak, voices are heard in Brussels for the first time, questioning whether the Georgian government may be deliberately trying to get rejection of the candidate’s status from EU to blame Brussels for not being reliable and never intending to accept Georgia. This view, voiced previously by the Georgia opposition, seems to be shared by some EU officials.
Opposition parties “Girchi – More Freedom” and “Droa” joined forces, creating an alliance for forthcoming parliamentary elections. According to the press release, “Girchi” and “Droa” pledged not to cooperate with Russia, replace the Soviet-style one-party system, and have a clear vision of the future.
Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili announced the introduction of the new security rules for Parliament, outlining the conditions for access passes, rules of conduct for visitors, as well as consequences for breaching them and defining security levels based on potential danger. According to new regulations, visitors are now banned from hanging banners, distributing information material, or placing demonstration material on the premises of the parliament building.
