Georgian PM Reiterates Support For Ukraine at Charity Conference
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili spoke of Georgia’s staunch support for Ukraine at the High-Level Donors’ Conference for Ukraine, held in Poland.
“We condemn Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine which is a clear and blatant violation of fundamental principles and norms of International law,” PM Garibashvili declared.
“My government has stood in full solidarity with the Ukrainian people and mobilized our resources to alleviate the effects of the devastating war….. [We] will continue supporting Ukraine politically and in a practical sense both bilaterally and in multilateral formats,” PM Garibashvili pledged.
According to PM Garibashvili, Georgia has already contributed USD 7 million, 500 tons of humanitarian cargo to Ukraine, and is assisting 28,000 Ukrainians currently living in Georgia.
In addition, the Prime Minister announced that Georgia will deliver an additional USD 7 million to Ukraine by the end of 2022.
The conference — that managed to raise EUR 6.5 billion for Ukraine — was co-hosted by Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, along with the European Council and the European Commission.
30 CSOs, Including Europe-Georgia Institute Demand Government Release EU Questionnaire Answers
30 Georgian Civil Society Organizations called on the Georgian Government on May 2 to release the answers they submitted to the first part of the EU membership questionnaire.
The appeal comes after the government refused to publish the answers on April 29, with Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili saying it would be inadvisable to make the response public. The CSOs pointed out that in line with Georgian legislation, public information can be made secret only if it is considered to be a professional, personal, commercial, or state secret.
The CSOs thus asserted that the Government should either make the document public or reveal the legal grounds which justify their refusal.
According to the them, the need to publish the response stems from a high level of interest from the public in the country’s European aspirations. In this context, they said that 88% of Georgians support the EU integration, citing a public opinion survey.
The Government should redact the sections to be kept secret, in line with Georgian and EU laws, and release the rest of the document, the signatories suggested.
Subsequently, they appealed to the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Oliver Várhelyi to ensure the transparency of the process.
Council of Europe Issues 25th Report on Conflict in Georgia
Council of Europe published the 25th report on Conflict in Georgia on 4 April 2022. The report reviews the security and human rights situation in the Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia for the period between October 2021 – March 2022.
According to the report, concerns remain over the human rights situation in the occupied regions, including the rights to life, freedom of movement, property, and education in the native language, among others.
The document also reviews the Covid-19 vaccination program, material help and informational media campaigns launched by the Georgian government in Abkhazia. It also remarks that the same assistance was offered to people living in the but the proposal was rejected by the Kremlin-backed authorities.
The report also states that no progress has been made in regard to internally displaced persons’ return to their homes in the occupied regions.
In Abkhazia, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) the World Health Organization (WHO), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) engage in humanitarian efforts, while in South Ossetia/Tskhinvali region, only International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) operates.
See the full report here: https://bit.ly/3skUEU2