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June 26 - July 2, 2015 WEEKLY PUBLISHED EVERY FRIDAY www.georgiatoday.ge Price: GEL 2.50 Georgia Today 24 p., Travel Today 4 p. ISSUE No.772 Georgian President Meets UK Travel PM Cameron and US Senator McCain at Slovakia Conference Today IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE THE BRUTAL REVOLUTION P.4 When Fiction Meets BUSINESS HEADLINES Reality: Georgian Artists Refused Make Your Visas Business Look GOOD Georgia Today meets the New Collective theatre on the WEB P.11 President Giorgi Margvelashvili addressed top EU and US group, among 20 groups representatives on the importance of Georgia’s geopolitical chosen from 300 to take part role and the significance of securing EaP countries. in the Flare Festival...but P.17 P.2 rejected for British visas. Armenian Tbilisi Zoo Electricity Receives Message of Confidence from Protests the EU Association Stir Russian of Zoos and Aquaria P.15 FLIGHT SCHEDULE Concerns of Georgia Today analyses the Georgian Exports – another Yerevan protests and the Untapped Potential P.4 ‘Maidan’ Kremlin’s response. An in-depth analysis by P.12 Galt&Taggart. P.6 2 JUNE 26 - JULY 2 POLITICS U.S. State Department Commends Georgian President Meets UK PM Cameron and Georgia’s Efforts to Fight Terrorism US Senator McCain at Slovakia Conference By Steven Jones Abkhazia’s coastline,” notes the report. By Steven Jones Some regional cooperation between The U.S. Department of State has re- the neighbouring countries of Georgia Georgian President Giorgi Margve- leased a report concerning Georgia’s ef- was also mentioned in the report in terms lashvili visited the Slovakian capital forts in combating terrorism. of sharing cross-border terrorism-related city of Bratislava to participate in the “In 2014, Georgia continued its robust information with its neighbours Turkey, annual Global Security Forum held on engagement with the United States across Armenia, and Azerbaijan – through po- June 19-21. a range of counterterrorism-related issues lice attaches and working-level interac- President Margvelashvili, during the and remained a strong U.S. counter- tion at border crossings. visit, held meetings with leaders of Eu- terrorism partner. However, there are con- As for international cooperation, the ropean countries, US Senators and par- tinuing concerns about Georgia as a tran- report mentions Georgia’s active engage- ticipated in the Georgian-Slovak Busi- sit and source country for international ment on counterterrorism issues at the ness Forum. terrorism,” the report says. international, regional, and bilateral lev- “We managed to raise the Georgian “Media reported that, as of December, els, and its participation in regional or- issue. World leaders held in-depth dis- between 50 and 100 Georgian nationals ganisations such as the Council of Eu- cussion about our country’s security from the Muslim-majority regions of rope Convention on the Suppression of guarantees,” noted the president add- Adjara and the Pankisi Gorge were fight- Terrorism and the Organisation of Black ing: “We had the opportunity to discuss ing in Syria and Iraq for either al-Qa’ida Sea Economic Cooperation, and the security issues with the leaders of affiliates or the Islamic State in Iraq and GUAM including Organisation for De- NATO founding countries, such as the that it will turn into a big problem,” he were emphasized at the meeting.” the Levant (ISIL), including senior ISIL mocracy and Economic Development. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom warned. As Georgia is the largest non-NATO commander Tarkhan Batirashvili (aka “In 2014, Georgian law enforcement and the United States Senators. We also Margvelashvili also held a bilateral member in terms of contribution to the Omar al-Shishani)”. The report reads. officials participated in counterterrorism- talked to new members of the alliance.” meeting with the British Prime Minis- international peace keeping missions “Given Georgia’s geographic location, related training and capacity-building The Georgian President addressed ter David Cameron. including Afghanistan, Margvelashvili violent Islamist extremists continued to exercises with the Governments of Tur- participants of the forum at the session According to the Presidential Admin- and Cameron discussed the security en- transit through the country between the key, the UK, Israel, and Slovakia, as well dedicated to security concerns in the istration, Cameron expressed his condo- vironment in the region and worldwide. Russian Federation’s North Caucasus and as with the George Marshall Center in Eastern Partnership countries: “Fluctua- lences to the people of Georgia affected Along with the British PM, Syria and Iraq,” it continued. Germany, the OSCE, and the UN,” adds tion Zone: EU Neighborhood Strategy”. by the flood tragedy of June 13. Margvelashvili also met with the US The U.S. State Department underlined the report. He focused on the situation in the The Administration also claimed the Senator John McCain attending the the continued efforts of Georgia to en- There were other important aspects occupied territories, the importance of sides discussed close political and eco- GLOBSEC forum. hance its counterterrorism legislation in covered in the report such as integration Georgia’s geopolitical role for Europe nomic co-operation and perspectives Focusing on successful cooperation 2014: “In April, the Georgian govern- of different religious and ethnic groups: and the significance of security of East- between the two countries: “The Presi- within the Georgia-US Charter, issues ment amended the Criminal Code to “the Muslim-majority Adjara region al- ern Partnership countries for the safety dent of Georgia thanked the British PM of global security and the importance criminalise participation in international ready enjoys significant autonomy, and of Europe, paying special attention to for supporting Georgia’s European and of Georgia’s participation in NATO-led terrorism, recruitment for membership in legislation passed in February gives more the threats in the region and Russia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, the country’s coalitions were underlined at the meet- a terrorist organisation, and failing to autonomy to municipalities and villages, neighbourhood policy. sovereignty and territorial integrity, as ing. According to McCain, the United hinder a terrorist incident.” including in the Muslim-majority Pankisi “Russian politicians send a clear well as non-recognition of the occupied States appreciates Georgia’s contribu- The report also acknowledges Gorge.” message about their attitude to neighbo- territories.” tion to international missions. Georgia’s hard work towards strengthen- In addition, the Georgian gover- uring countries. They regard the coun- Cameron is said to have pledged The Georgian President thanked ing its overall border security, in part due nment’s willingness to make amend- tries as their “territorial property” support in the implementation of the John McCain for supporting Georgia’s to its goal to attain visa-free travel to the ments to the Criminal Code and other where they are authorised to use mili- NATO substantial package and Euro- territorial integrity, sovereignty and EU. “However, Tbilisi’s lack of control relevant legislation related to terrorism tary force,” the President noted, add- pean integration: “The position of the non-recognition policy, as well as its over its Russian-occupied territories of (to fully implement UN Security Coun- ing that such a policy brings nothing United Kingdom over inadmissibility European and North Atlantic integra- South Ossetia and Abkhazia, harsh ter- cil Resolution 2178) was emphasised: positive to either Russia or the region. of the so-called “contracts” between the tion process and officially invited him rain, and a continuing tense relationship “The country would benefit from addi- “If there is any tension in Russia’s Russian Federation and the occupation for the annual Ambassadorial due to be with Moscow limited the country’s abil- tional legislation to allow for the creation neighboring countries, we may think regimes of Abkhazia and South Ossetia held in September in Tbilisi. ity to secure its northern border but with of a means to identify and sanction indi- significant U.S. support, the Georgian viduals who are not included on UN sanc- Coast Guard is now better equipped to tions list and to improve the Georgian EU Extends Sanctions against Russia patrol the country’s maritime borders, government’s ability to prosecute terror- The European Union’s Foreign Af- with the exception of Russian-occupied ism cases.” fairs Council decided to extend the eco- nomic restrictive measures against Rus- sia by six months on June 22. “The European Union has extended economic sanctions against Russia up to January 31, 2016 with a view to com- plete implementation of the Minsk agreement,” said Susanne Kiefer, Press officer for the Foreign Affairs Council. The decision was made without dis- cussion and Kiefer announced it before to the events in Ukraine and the reunifi- the EU will be made promptly. “It is nec- all 28 EU countries Foreign Ministers cation of Crimea with Russia on August essary to carry out some bureaucratic pro- arrived in Luxembourg. 1, 2014. Later, the sanctions were ex- cedures to document those decisions, but The EU summit adopted a political dec- panded. Russia imposed a package of we expect that the elaboration will be laration to extend economic sanctions response sanctions against the U.S., completed very quickly,” noted Peskov. against Russia for six months in March this Australia, Canada, the European Union “Russia was not the initiator, but in year, linking the lifting of sanctions with and Norway on August 7, 2014. this case of the extension of the sanc- the compliance of the Minsk agreements Regarding the latest extension, tions, we will act on a reciprocity prin- for the period until the end of the year. Dmitry Peskov, Press Spokesman for the ciple,” he added. It is expected that the Sanctions were first imposed by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, list of goods to which the embargo will EU against the Russian Federation due stated that retaliatory sanctions against last remains virtually unchanged.