ON BIDZINA Visit in NY Billionaire Ivanishvili Has Agreed to Return to Politics PAGE 2
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Issue no: 1043 • APRIL 27 - 30, 2018 • PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY PRICE: GEL 2.50 In this week’s issue... Georgia's Foreign Minister FOCUS Meets Counterparts during ON BIDZINA Visit in NY Billionaire Ivanishvili has agreed to return to politics PAGE 2 NEWS PAGE 2 MEP Moody on Sanctions, Smokescreens & Workers' Rights POLITICS PAGE 4 White Sails: Welcoming a New New Draft on “Protecting” Religious Feelings Living Standard with 10,000 sq.m. of Recreational Space Causes Controversy in Georgia BUSINESS PAGE 9 BY THEA MORRISON Isle of Women, Mexico SOCIETY PAGE 12 member of the parliamentary oppo- sition party, the Alliance of Patriots Tbilisi’s Unmissable Plunge into of Georgia (APG), Emzar Kvitsiani, has initiated a draft law which makes the World of Art insults of religious feelings punish- Aable by law. The draft has already been submitted to Par- liament and Sopio Kiladze, the Chair of the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of Parliament, which has to make the fi rst deci- sion about the draft approval, stated she supports the initiative. Continued on page 3 Special CULTURE PAGE 12 Special Offer Only for Readers of Offer from Regus Emerging Georgian Artist Gains Popularity in Rome Free day pass to co-working 1 Free Month Offi ce Meeting room for whole day at one hour price with Live Choose your deal and contact us at [email protected] to redeem your voucher. Performances CULTURE PAGE 15 GEORGIA TODAY 2 NEWS APRIL 27 - 30, 2018 Georgia's Foreign Minister Meets Counterparts during Visit in NY BY THEA MORRISON eorgia’s Vice-Premier and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mikheil Janelidze, held several high-rank meetings with his counter- Gparts within the framework of the United Nations (UN) ‘High-Level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace’ in New York. At the meeting with his Swedish coun- terpart, Margot Wallström, the ministers discussed increasing the dynamics of cooperation between the two countries in different spheres, particularly the cooperation between law enforcement agencies to eradicate issues of violations of EU-Georgia visa-liberalization rules. The Swedish Foreign Minister posi- tively assessed the decision to send a Georgian police attaché to Sweden. The ministers also emphasized the importance of using visa-free and free Photo: Georgia’s Foreign Minister meets his Moldavian counterpart. Source: MFA Georgia trade regimes for developing trade and business contacts between the coun- zations. Special attention was paid to Janelidze and Tudor Ulianovschi dis- Georgian FM focused on the government to in the 2008 ceasefi re agreement which tries. cooperation within the framework of cussed Georgia-Moldova cooperation, peace initiative aimed at improving the obliges the Russian Federation to with- Discussions also focused on the recent the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. as well as Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic inte- lives of those living in Georgia’s two draw its forces from the occupied regions. developments in Georgia's occupied Janelidze introduced his counterpart gration process. Russian-backed breakaway regions of He underlined that the Government of regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to Georgia's priorities during the Chair- The importance of exchanging bilateral Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia supports the peaceful resolution including human rights violations and manship of the Open Government Part- high-level visits was also noted. The He introduced the meeting participants of the confl ict and thanked the UN mem- frequent imprisonment of Georgian nership. Georgian Foreign Minister invited his to the grave human rights and living ber states for assisting Georgia in this citizens. Mikheil Janelidze thanked the Tahon in turn expressed interest in Moldavian counterpart to Georgia. conditions of the people at these regions, process. Swedish side for supporting Georgia. sharing the successful experiences of The UN high-level meeting was held noting that the missions of the UN and In his speech, Janelidze also spoke He also met Côte d'Ivoire Minister of Georgia in fi elds such as civil service, on 24-25 April at the UN Headquarters, other international organizations are not about the joint efforts and responsibility Foreign Affairs, Marcel Amon Tahon. good governance, education and health- gathering contributions from top speak- admitted to these regions to monitor the of the international community in the The two emphasized cooperation care. ers with experience in peacebuilding situation there. process of securing and maintaining between Georgia and Côte d'Ivoire within At the meeting between the Georgian and sustaining peace. Georgian minister added that Russia world peace. the framework of international organi- and Moldavian Foreign Ministers, While delivering his speech there, the does not fulfi ll the obligations it agreed Image source: blog.lboro.ac.uk Bidzina Ivanishvili Returns to Politics BY THEA MORRISON eorgian billionaire and founder of Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who was Prime Minister of GGeorgia from 25 October 2012 to 20 November 2013, is to return to politics and chair his party. The information was released by Geor- EU, UNDP Assist Georgian Parliament to Promote gian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili after the GD meeting. He stated the party Strategic Vision, Transparency & Accountability offered Ivanishvili the chance to return to politics and he agreed. outh engagement, sport and the other international political deci- The PM said everyone knows how integrity and the develop- sions, such as the achievement of the important Ivanishvili is for the ruling ment of human capital are Sustainable Development Goals, will be party. in the spotlight of the 2018- at the center of our work,” Mikheil Kave- “He is capable of strengthening the next few days a political session and Russia, founded Georgian Dream (GD) 2020 Strategy and Action lashvili said. main political core of the party [GD]. party congress will be held. coalition in 2012 which shot ahead in YPlan presented by the Parliament’s Com- The Strategy and Action Plan of the He can provide more and new dynamics "The political council and delegates popularity of then ruling party United mittee on Sports and Youth Affairs on Parliament’s Committee on Sports and for further development, and more effi - from all over Georgia will unanimously National Movement in the October par- 25 April to representatives of the Geor- Youth Affairs has been developed with ciency and progress for both executive elect Bidzina Ivanishvili as the new chair- liamentary elections. In 2013, Ivanishvili gian Parliament, Government, Tbilisi the assistance of the European Union and legislative authorities and self-gov- man and will also elect new members quit politics but according to opposition municipality, Olympic and Paralympic (EU) and United Nations Development erning bodies," Kvirikashvili explained. of the political council," he added. parties, he has remained as the “informal Committees, youth organizations and Program (UNDP), based on the results According to the Prime Minister, in the Ivanishvili, who is often affi liated with governor” of the country ever since. donor agencies. of a baseline research conducted in 2017. The event opened with an address from Niels Scott, UNDP Head in Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, Georgian Parliament noted that the recent Global Parliamen- Armenian Opposition Presents Nikol Pashinyan Speaker, followed by welcome remarks tary Report, published jointly by the from Janos Herman, Ambassador of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) and European Union to Georgia. UNDP in October 2017, acknowledges as PM Candidate Mikheil Kavelashvili, Chairperson of the development of the action plans by Sargsyan’s resignation alone will not "I warn Karen Karapetyan not to step BY THEA MORRISON the Parliament’s Committee on Sports the Georgian Parliament’s committees stop the protests. into the government building anymore," and Youth Affairs, stressed that in the as an innovative approach to increase “The ruling Republican Party of Arme- he added. coming three years, the Committee will effectiveness of parliament operation. nia (RPA) has to surrender. We will not The opposition leader stated that the pay particular attention to its primary Eight out 15 parliamentary committees he Civil Contract party allow them to appoint a new PM,” he 'My Step' initiative would start protest function of law-making. started publishing their annual reports leader of Armenia, MP stated. actions at noon, on April 26. “Georgia’s legislation on youth and and three-year strategies and action plans Nikol Pashinyan has been The opposition leader added that the “One more step and we will fi nish this sports will be developing in several key in 2014 when the practice was fi rst initi- named by the Yelq faction police stated they will not execute act- story,” he said, adding that the blocking areas, including youth activities, revision ated with the assistance of the EU and as its candidate for Prime ing PM Karen Karapetyan's orders. of roads and bridges is among the actions of the Law on Sports and development UNDP under their larger initiative for TMinister, a post that became vacant on ”The police and the police chief have scheduled for April 26. or revision of the regulations related to strengthening parliamentary democracy April 23, after the PM and ex-President said they will refuse to execute Kara- Armenian media reports that at least international legal instruments and in Georgia. The 2017 Open Parliament Serzh Sargsyan resigned amid large-scale petyan's instructions. He is not the acting 80 trucks are waiting for this purpose political obligations. The implementa- Action Plan has mandated all parliamen- protest rallies all over Armenia. Prime Minister and they are not author- on the Yerevan-Sevan highway, ready tion of the Association Agreement with tary committees to develop and publish During an April 25 rally, Pashinyan ized to comply with his instructions," to drive into Yerevan and block the the European Union, sports conventions their annual action plans.