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Digital Messenger.Pmd WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 The Messenger P3 “Impartial, Informative, Insightful” GEL 3.00 The #125 (4929) MessengerWEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 WWW.MESSENGER.COM.GE US Ambassador Kelly Degnan 28 MEPs call on says Georgian Parliament can Georgia to defend suspend appointment of the Pride March Supreme Court judges BY NATALIA KOCHIASHVILI all preparations be made to pro- tect the right of protesters to free- n a joint June 28 address com- dom of expression and peaceful Iing ahead of the Pride celebra- assembly.” tions slated for July 1-5 in capi- MEPs write that the last com- tal Tbilisi city, members of the ment of Irakli Kobakhidze, the European Parliament’s chairman of the ruling Georgian LGBTIQ+ Group are urging Dream party, when he said that Georgia to adhere to the dignity in his opinion, the march of dig- march and ensure that its obli- nity should not take place, stat- gations under the Association ing it is against universal hu- Agreement are met. man rights. The addressee of the letter, The signatories also noted which is signed by 28 MPs, is that Georgia has commitments the Minister of Internal Affairs, under European Convention on Vakhtang Gomelauri. Along Human Rights and the Associa- with Gomelauri, the addressees tion Agreement with the EU to are EU Ambassador Carl tackle discrimination against Hartzel and Joseph Borrell, women, LGBT persons, as well High Representative for Foreign as ethnic and religious minori- Affairs and Security Policy. ties. “We have seen how in pre- They write that Pride demon- vious years homophobic groups strations are a peaceful tool of have taken advantage of these political advocacy and one of the celebrations to build on their ways to materialize the univer- hatred and attack LGBTI peace- sal right to freedom of expression ful protesters. and peaceful assembly, and an MEPs also recalled a 2012 BY VERONIKA MALINBOYM country’s other international High Council of Justice should important step for LGBTQ ac- decision by the ECHR which partners have actively been have refrained from appointing tivists and community members recognised that Georgia’s failure S Ambassador to Georgia supporting Georgia’s improve- judges to the Supreme Court. to increase their visibility and to protect peaceful demonstra- reach out to the public. It is in tors amounted to a violation of Kelly Degnan has stated ments in the field of justice as However, it is indicated that U this context that they write to Article 3 (prohibition of inhu- that the Georgian Parliament it a necessary precondition for the draft law on appointment Gomelauri, asking “not only man or degrading treatment) has the power to suspend the the eventual EU and NATO to the Supreme Court should that the Pride be held in the taken in conjunction with Article appointment of the Supreme integration. Earlier this week, be submitted to the Parlia- name of peaceful assembly and Court judges and uphold the 310 Georgian judges issued a ment, which will take into freedom of expression, but that CONTINUED ON Page 3 EU-brokered April agreement joint letter condemning the account the conclusion of the between government and “politically motivated and Venice Commission published opposition. unhealthy processes” that in 2019, open voting in the “I am very pleased that the undermine Georgia’s judiciary. High Council of Justice and judges have commented that On June 17, the High the need to substantiate the they are ready to work with Council of Justice nominated latter’s nominations. everyone to improve the nine candidates for the Su- There should also be sub- judiciary. The US and interna- preme Court . In particular, stantial reform of the High tional partners have been Giorgi Gogiashvili, Gocha Council of Justice for transpar- helping Georgia for the last 25 Abuseridze, Levan Tevzadze, ency, integrity and credibility, years, because the rule of law, Ketevan Meskhishvili, Giorgi including appointments, an impartial judiciary is a Shavliashvili, Revaz Nadaraia, evaluations, promotions, prerequisite for NATO and EU Bidzina Sturua, Eka Zarnadze, transfers, measures and membership”, Ambassador Lasha Gochiashvili. complaints to the Venice Degnan said. According to the EU- Commission and the OSCE / According to the publication of the LGBTIQ+ Equality Kelly Degnan added that brokered agreement of April ODIHR and the ODIHR which Strategy, in particular its chapter 4 on “Leading the call both the United States and the 19, under the current rule, must be fully performed. for LGBTIQ+ equality around the world”, the EU must continue to strengthen its engagement in LGBTIQ+ issues. Opinion & Analysis News in Brief Politics / Economics What happens after Patriarchate urges UNICEF in Georgia: Pashinyan’s victory? government to stop Our priority is to have supporting Pride Week children return to their biological families FULL STORY ON Page 2 FULL STORY ON Page 2 FULL STORY ON Page 3 P2 Opinion & Analysis The Messenger WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2021 What happens after Pashinyan’s victory? BY MALKHAZ MATSABERIDZE weapons, which made it impos- sible to repel Azerbaijani drones, n June 20, Pashinyan won did not work either. It is also Othe early parliamentary important for Armenia to seek elections in Armenia. The ma- Western guarantees of security, jority of voters in Armenia reaf- which will irritate Russia. firmed their support for the The main task for Georgia in leader during whose rule Arme- the South Caucasus region re- nia suffered a heavy defeat in the mains unchanged - to maintain Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. good neighborly relations with However, this support has not Armenia and Azerbaijan. How- diminished the severity of the ever, the new geopolitical situa- failure, nor the promises made tion in the region after the 2020 earlier for the reforms to be car- war is not entirely clear. In the ried out. conditions of the increased influ- In the June 20 parliamentary ence of Russia and Turkey in the elections, Pashinyan’s Civic Pact South Caucasus, the activity of party won 71 seats and can form the West in the region is impor- a government on its own. The tant for Georgia. Georgian state and the opposi- Georgia welcomed the agree- tion also congratulated ment reached between Armenia Pashinyan on his victory. Ac- and Azerbaijan through the me- cording to the statements made diation of Georgia and the by the representatives of the op- United States, according to position, they were able to hold which Azerbaijan released 6 Ar- early elections in Armenia menian prisoners of war, and (which the opposition in Georgia Armenia handed over the maps has been demanding), in accor- of the mined fields to Azerbaijan. dance with democratic stan- make a unilateral compromise. tween Azerbaijan and Armenia. in protest of Turkey’s open as- Lithuanian Foreign Minister dards. In this sense, Armenia However, the existing reality Azerbaijani military units in the sistance to Azerbaijan during the Gabrielius Landsbergis said af- was considered the leader of the provides very little basis for such southern part of Armenia, in war. Armenia has also filed a ter a visit to the South Caucasus democratic process in the South a prediction. several places about 200 sq. km. lawsuit against Turkey at the that Russia’s influence in the Caucasus. We can name several factors: They occupied the territory and European Court of Human region was growing and that However, the defeated politi- 1. Armenia maintains part of declared that on their maps from Rights in Strasbourg, accusing more Europe was needed in the cal forces in Armenia have their Nagorno-Karabakh after the the Soviet period it was the ter- it of sending Syrian mercenar- South Caucasus. He said that if opinion regarding the quality of 2020 war - about 2,500 square ritory of Azerbaijan. Pashinyan ies during the war in Azerbaijan Europe does not return to the democracy of the elections. For kilometers. The small Armenian immediately asked for Putin’s and of human rights abuses in South Caucasus, there may not example, the Kocharyan bloc population remains there thanks help and set up a branch of a Nagorno-Karabakh. be a place to return soon. Hu- ‘Armenia’, which took second to Russian peacekeepers. Their Russian military base in south- 4. Pashinyan promises the manitarian aid, support for re- place, does not recognize the elec- departure also means the depar- ern Armenia (Syunik). Armenian society a wide range forms, election monitoring, me- tion results. ture of the Armenian population. 3. After the war in 2020, the of reforms, but he will need to diation - such should be the Eu- After Pashinyan’s victory, Ilham Aliyev is no longer talk- Azerbaijan-Turkey union is take urgent measures to restore ropean soft power in the region. many predictions are made ing about any status that the deepening and from the position the country’s defense capabili- The European Union is already about his future policies. Accord- Armenian population of of the winner, Armenia is de- ties. Today, Armenia’s security fulfilling this mission in relation ing to the most ‘pink’ forecasts, Nagorno-Karabakh will have in manded to open a transport cor- depends essentially on Russia’s to Georgia. However, despite the the Nagorno-Karabakh problem Azerbaijan. Will the Armenian ridor, which will connect military presence. But Armenia agreement reached through can be considered solved and now society reconcile with the final Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan seems to be disappointed by Rus- Charles Michel, there are seri- nothing will hinder the develop- loss of Nagorno-Karabakh? Will and Turkey with free movement sia. Russia was actively arming ous differences and controversies ment of Armenia’s cooperation it forgive Pashinyan? on the territory of Armenia. At Azerbaijan and during the war, among Georgian political forces with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
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