The Daily Beat: 22 March

In a brief statement issued by the Spokesperson of the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission told Georgia that the comprehensive reform of the judiciary, with an accent on the integrity of all leading positions in the judiciary, is a part of “fundamentals” – the preconditions for opening the accession negotiations. The statement comes after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Speaker Shalva Papuashvili denounced the EU-proposed “vetting” of Georgian judges, describing it as “contrary” to the constitution.

EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, called on the Georgian government to speed up the reforms needed to implement the European Commission’s nine conditions. “Time is running, and progress needs to be made. The road map is very clear, with nine steps. We need to sit down together and make sure that time is not wasted and that within the next few months, we will have enough progress so that we will move to the next stage,” – the EU Ambassador stated at an EU-sponsored event on Friday.

In conclusions adopted by the European Council, among other things, the leading EU institution “takes note of Georgia’s ongoing efforts and encourages the country to advance on the outstanding priority reforms.” The European Council also pledged “to continue to support Georgia in strengthening its resilience and addressing the challenges it faces as a consequence of Russia’s actions to undermine Georgia’s territorial integrity as well as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.”

During the parliament interpellation, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili responded to the questions of opposition MPs on the participation of the Georgian diaspora in the upcoming parliamentary elections. According to Minister Darchiashvili, despite the efforts made by consular services abroad, the number of people who are on the consular registry list “unfortunately remains low.” Regarding the opening of additional polling stations abroad, the Foreign Minister noted that the number of stations abroad will correspond to the data of registered citizens.  

A new MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, Imeda Nikuradze, replaced Mikheil Sarjveladze, who was appointed as the new Minister of Internally Displaced Persons from Occupied Territories, Labor, Health and Social Affairs. Parliament approved the credentials of Imeda Nikuradze with 89 votes. Previously, Imeda Nikuradze worked as a lawyer for Elita Burji LLC, a construction company connected to the founder of the Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili. Currently, the Cartu Foundation, founded by Ivanishvili, has full ownership of Elita Burji.