Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia Sign Association Deals with EU

Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and the European Union signed association agreements that foresee the creation of a free-trade zone with the EU during a summit in Brussels Friday. Kiev has only signed the economic part of its association agreement. Following the political upheaval in Ukraine, the EU’s heads of state and governments decided to split the association agreement into two parts. The political part of the agreement was signed on March 21. The economic section of the agreement stipulates the free-trade zone is to go into effect in the fall, after it is ratified by the Ukrainian parliament. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry hopes the legislature will approve the EU association agreement in July. Russia has free-trade agreements with Ukraine and Moldova in the CIS framework while Georgia, which is not a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, is still party to several CIS trade agreements.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140627/190730285/Ukraine-Moldova-Georgia-Ink-Association-Deals-with-EU-Create.html

Billionaire Ivanishvili Gets Back His Georgian Citizenship

Georgia’s top court has ruled to restore the citizenship of former prime minister and billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili more than two years after it was revoked by presidential decree. The Supreme Court of the former Soviet state said in a statement late Monday that it had decided to cancel a 2011 decree issued by then-President Mikheil Saakashvili that stripped his political rival Ivanishvili of Georgian citizenship. Ivanishvili, 57, who founded and formerly headed the Georgian Dream coalition, was originally granted Georgian citizenship in 2004 – in addition to his existing Russian citizenship – but it was revoked after he received a French passport in 2010. Georgia allows dual citizenship, but Ivanishvili was stripped of his Georgian citizenship on the grounds that he could not have citizenship in three countries. The tycoon gave up his Russian citizenship in the run-up to the 2012 parliamentary election. He also tried to renounce his French citizenship, but the French authorities said he had to become a Georgian citizen first in order to avoid ending up stateless. After the court's ruling, he now holds dual Georgian-French citizenship.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140128/186984364/Billionaire-Ivanishvili-Gets-Back-His-Georgian-Citizenship.html

Georgia Doubles Wine Exports as Russian Market Reopens

Russia bought almost half of all wine exported by Georgia in 2013, just months after a longtime ban was lifted, Georgia’s agriculture ministry said Monday. Georgia sold 21.8 million bottles to Russia after Moscow ended an embargo in June that had been imposed in 2006. The level of demand has prompted the Caucasus nation to double its forecast for Russian wine sales in 2014 from 12-15 million bottles to more than 30 million, Georgy Seturidze, head of the Georgian-Russian Economic Cooperation Center, told Prime news agency. The reopening of the Russian market helped Georgia to double wine exports this year to 44.7 million bottles, the ministry’s annual report showed. It sold wine to 48 countries worldwide in 2013. Russia banned imports of Georgian wines, mineral water and agricultural products in 2006, citing low quality of such goods. The measure, which Georgia described as politically motivated, was imposed as relations soured between the Kremlin and Georgia’s pro-Western leader Mikheil Saakashvili. Talks about lifting the ban began shortly after the opposition Georgian Dream coalition led by billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili won parliamentary elections last year. The Georgian Dream’s candidate, Georgy Margvelashvili, won October’s presidential election to succeed Saakasvhili. In March, Russia’s consumer rights watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, cleared 36 Georgian winemakers and four mineral water producers to resume deliveries to Russia. Exports of Georgian wine and other agricultural goods to Russia resumed in June.

http://en.ria.ru/business/20131216/185616873/Georgia-Doubles-Wine-Exports-as-Russian-Market-Reopens.html

Russia, Georgia Unlikely to Restore Ties by Sochi Games

Russia and Georgia are unlikely to restore their diplomatic ties by the time Russia holds the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in its southern Black Sea resort of Sochi, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said. “Probably not. For this you need time and the right conditions,” Ivanishvili told Deutsche Welle in an interview when the German broadcaster asked him if that was possible.  “We are working on resuming regular flights between Moscow and Tbilisi. There are ongoing negotiations on visa facilitation and even the abolition of visas. But one thing is problematic, for example, the construction of barriers at the borders with Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Ivanishvili, Georgia’s premier since October 2012, said. Russia and Georgia severed diplomatic ties in 2008 after Moscow recognized de-facto independent Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states following a brief military conflict over South Ossetia. Georgia’s new government, elected in the October 1, 2012 polls, said normalizing ties with Russia was among its top priorities.

http://en.ria.ru/politics/20130703/182026410/Russia-Georgia-Unlikely-to-Restore-Ties-by-Sochi-Games---PM.html

Georgian Priests Charged Over LGBT Rally Violence

Two high-ranking Georgian priests have been charged in connection with the May 17 attack by conservative activists on a gay rights rally in downtown Tbilisi, the News Georgia news agency reported on Thursday. The head of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, Antimoz (Tamaz) Bichinashvili, and the head of the Ioane-Tornike Eristavi Monastery, Iotam (Irakli) Basilaya, have been charged with using or threatening the use of force to infringe on the right to peaceful assembly, the Georgian Interior Ministry said. They face up to two years in prison if found guilty. Gay rights activists from the Identoba (Identity) group planned to hold a rally outside the former parliament building on the city’s central Rustaveli Avenue last Friday to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. Tbilisi authorities had authorized the event. However, thousands of anti-gay protestors, mostly Christian activists, priests and members of conservative non-governmental organizations, gathered in the designated location before the rally began, forcing gay activists to change the venue. Several dozen gay rights activists who came to take part moved to a small area adjacent to Freedom Square, about two hundred meters away from the initial site. After it became known that the venue of Identoba’s rally had been changed, participants of the anti-gay demonstration moved toward Freedom Square, breaking through police cordons on their way. A total of 28 people, including three police officers and one journalist, were injured in ensuing violence. Though the Georgian Orthodox Church has officially denounced the attack, it said that its clerics and believers only reacted to “an event that was provocative from the very beginning.”

http://en.ria.ru/world/20130523/181314483/Two-Georgian-Priests-Charged-Over-LGBT-Rally-Violence.html

Georgian Ex-Prime Minister Arrested

Authorities in Georgia have arrested former Prime Minister Ivane Merabishvili and former Health Minister Zurab Chiaberashvili. Georgian prosecutor Shota Tkeshelashvili told journalists in the western city of Kutaisi that the two have been charged with embezzling public funds. Tkeshelashvili said Merabishvili, Chiaberashvili, and "other individuals" had planned and enacted "illicit actions in order to buy off voters in favor of the United National Movement in the parliamentary elections of October 1, 2012, as well as to sponsor covertly the aforementioned party with state funds." Both Merabishvili and Chiaberashvili are close associates of President Mikheil Saakashvili. Reacting to the news, Saakashvili compared the two arrests to the jailing in Ukraine of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

http://www.rferl.org/content/georgia-saakashvili-allies-arrested/24992767.html

Interpol Denies Russia's Request to Arrest Georgian Politician

A Georgian lawmaker sought by Russia over his suspected role in an alleged plot to topple President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he would return to Georgia from Lithuania after Interpol withdrew his name from its wanted list. “I will return to my homeland on the earliest flight,” Givi Targamadze told Georgia’s Pirveli Radio. Russian investigators charged last year Targamadze and three Russian leftist activists with plotting to seize power in a number of Russian cities as part of a plan to overthrow Putin. One of the men charged, Konstantin Lebedev, a former member of a pro-Kremlin youth group, was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail last month after pleading guilty to the charges. His lawyer said he would also testify against Targamadze and his former fellow activists - Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov and another member of the leftsit movement, Leonid Razvozzhayev. All three men deny the charges, which could see them jailed for up to ten years. Udaltsov says the charges are the Kremlin's revenge for his role in helping to lead mass anti-Putin protests in Moscow last year. Georgia's foreign minister, Maia Panjikidze, said Targamadze - an ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili and the former head of the Georgian parliament’s defense and security committee - was free to return home. Targamadze has been in Lithuania for the past few months. Lithuania refused to extradiate Targamadze in April. Interpol refused to issue a warrant on the grounds that his prosecution in Russia was politically motivated.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130508/181033174/Georgian-Putin-Plot-Lawmaker-to-Return-to-Tbilisi.html
http://lenta.ru/news/2013/05/13/politik/

Georgian Patriarch Calls to Ban Abortion

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II called on the Georgian authorities to pass legislation banning abortion in the country. As Ilia II stated in his Easter epistle, the difficult demographic situation in the country makes this necessary. "It needs to be done in the short term, although of course there must be some exceptional cases. The media must prepare the population for a positive perception of the initiative, which will allow for a positive attitude in the country toward large families and negative attitudes towards abortion," the patriarch said. According to Ilia II, 36,000 abortions are performed in Georgia annually, although this is just the official figures, and in fact there are many more abortions performed. He also noted an average of 14,000 babies are stillborn in Georgia every year.

http://en.trend.az/regions/scaucasus/georgia/2147076.html

Former Georgian Prison Chiefs Arrested over Torture

The former heads of three prisons in Georgia have been arrested over accusations of torturing prisoners, the News Georgia news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Georgian Prosecutor General Archil Kbilashvili. Speaking with journalists, Kbilashvili said the arrested people include the former director and two top officials of Ksani Penal Colony No. 15, the former director of Rustavi Penal Colony No. 6 and his deputy, and the former director of Prison No. 2 in Kutaisi. The detained individuals have been charged with inhumane treatment, torturing and beating inmates.

http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20130416/267053726.html

Saakashvili Signs Law Stripping Him of Vital Powers

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed amendments to the country’s Constitution on Wednesday, which reduce his authority and tip the balance of power toward the prime minister. The Georgian parliament passed the amendments, which include stripping the president of the right to appoint or dismiss the government without parliamentary approval, on March 25. “Today [on Wednesday] the Georgian president signed amendments to the Constitution; they will be published and will come into force later today,” Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili said. The signing marks a new victory for billionaire Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose Georgian Dream coalition has been locked in a power struggle with Saakashvili's United National Movement after winning the parliamentary elections last October.

http://en.ria.ru/politics/20130327/180280921/Saakashvili-Signs-Law-Stripping-Him-of-Vital-Powers.html

Georgian Parliament Confirms Course for EU, NATO Integration

The Georgian parliament on Thursday approved a 19-point resolution, in line with which Georgia will continue its integration into the European Union and NATO, and will have no diplomatic relations with "states recognizing the independence of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia." (This basically means Russia.) The resolution was approved by 96 deputies of the 150-member parliament. “Georgia will conduct dialog with Russia both with the use of international mechanisms in the format of Geneva talks and in bilateral format to settle the conflict and develop good-neighborly relations,” the document says. Georgia broke off diplomatic ties with Russia after the two nations fought a brief war over Abkhazia and South Ossetia in August 2008.

http://en.ria.ru/world/20130308/179883040/Georgian-Parliament-Confirms-Course-for-EU-NATO-Integration-----.html

Georgian Lawmaker Charged with Plotting Riots in Russia

Russian investigators have charged Givi Targamadze, the head of the Georgian parliament’s defense and security committee, with plotting mass riots, Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said Thursday. Targamadze was charged in absentia with preparing to organize mass riots, jointly with Russian opposition figures - Left Front leader Sergei Udaltsov, activist Konstantin Lebedev and another activist who is being held at a prison in Irkutsk, Leonid Razvozzhayev. Udaltsov and Lebedev are currently under house arrest.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130215/179478466/Top-Georgian-Lawmaker-Charged-with-Plotting-Riots-in-Russia-----.html

Georgian Protesters Sabotage Saakashvili’s National Address

Hundreds of the Georgian president’s opponents blocked the entrance to the National Library in Tbilisi on Friday, preventing Mikhail Saakashvili from delivering his annual State of the Nation address, Georgian TV stations reported. The protesters, who demanded Saakashvili’s resignation, gathered at the entrance, saying they wanted the embattled Georgian leader to pass through the so-called “hallway of shame.” According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, some 200 protesters were former political prisoners arrested for participating in protest actions staged by Georgia’s opposition between 2005 and 2011. They were released on amnesty in January. When Saakashvili failed to appear, protesters attacked members of the president’s United National Movement (UNM) party and Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava, preventing them from entering the building. “The president decided to give a televised address, and not to come to the library, to avoid civil unrest. He will give the address at 8 p.m. (4 p.m. GMT) local time from his residence,” Saakashvili's spokesperson Manana Mandzhgaladze told journalists on Friday.

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_09/Georgian-protesters-sabotage-Saakashvili-s-national-address/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/saakashvili-speech-venue-protests-18443077
http://www.lenta.ru/articles/2013/02/09/library/

Georgia Releases Political Prisoners

Georgia has released 190 inmates, recognised by the country’s new parliament as political prisoners. They were given amnesty on Saturday despite a veto by President Mikhail Saakashvili. Many had been detained during anti-government protests. Others were convicted of spying for Russia or trying to overthrow the government.

http://www.euronews.com/2013/01/13/georgia-releases-political-prisoners/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-13/georgia-releases-190-political-prisoners-under-new-amnesty-law.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/world/europe/georgia-frees-190-inmates-deemed-political-prisoners.html

Georgia Ex-Minister Faces Torture Charges

Georgia’s former defense and interior minister Bacho Akhalaya has been charged with false imprisonment and torture, Chief Prosecutor Archil Kbilashvili said on Tuesday. The prosecution alleged that in February 2010, on Akhalaya’s orders, 19 servicemen were locked up in a bathhouse for “indiscipline,” where they spent three nights without food or heating. Akhalaya was detained last Wednesday along with another two military officials over charges of abuse of office, degrading treatment, physical and verbal abuse of subordinates, false imprisonment and torture. On Friday a Tbilisi city court ordered that Akhalaya be taken into custody pending trial.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20121113/177422921.html

Georgia Prison Torture Prompts Mass Protests

Since Tuesday, thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in several Georgian cities after national TV channels broadcasted video footage of prisoners being abused by guards in a Tbilisi prison. As a result, the prison minister of Georgia has resigned. Masses of Georgians joined spontaneous rallies in Tbilisi, Batumi, Poti, Gori and other cities after Maestro TV and TV-9 showed guards in the Gldan detention facility beating and raping prisoners them with rubber truncheons.  Hundreds of protesters shut down traffic in central Tbilisi as they marched to the Interior Ministry building. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has suspended the country's entire prison staff.

http://rt.com/news/georgia-torture-prison-protest-455/ (video)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19646826

Israel Recognizes Georgian "Neutral Travel Documents"

Israel has recognized the "neutral travel documents" issued by Georgia for residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the "occupied territories" of Georgia, the office of the Georgian State Minister for Reintegration said on Thursday, which welcomes the decision of the Israeli authorities. According to Georgian authorities, neutral travel documents and neutral identity cards are documents of a humanitarian nature, allowing residents of the territories to receive social services and the opportunity of free movement abroad. Currently, these documents are recognized by Japan, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, USA, Bulgaria, Poland and Israel. Hundreds of such documents have been issued.

http://en.trend.az/regions/scaucasus/georgia/2058499.html

http://www.lenta.ru/news/2012/08/24/neutral/

Putin: Russia Had Prepared for Georgia War

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia did have a contingency plan for its 2008 war with Georgia and had even trained militiamen in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Putin's confession immediately led Georgia to accuse the Kremlin of starting the brief but bloody war on 2008. Speaking on the fourth anniversary of the war, Putin said he had approved the contingency plan to counter a possible attack from Georgia months before the conflict broke out. "There was a plan, it's no secret in my opinion," Putin said at the Kremlin in televised remarks. "It's within the framework of this plan that the Russian side acted. It was prepared by the General Staff at the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007." "It was approved by me, agreed with me," said Putin. "Moreover, within the framework of this plan the training was conducted of South Ossetian militiamen," he said, adding that the men proved very helpful during the conflict. Putin, who at the time served as prime minister after the maximum two consecutive Kremlin terms allowed by the Constitution, said he called Medvedev twice to discuss the conflict. Georgia said Putin's revealing comments proved that the Kremlin was responsible for the conflict. "Such a confession never happened before and it's a paradox that even today some people are arguing about who was the aggressor," the head of Georgia's National Security Council, Giga Bokeria, told journalists. The two neighbours clashed when President Mikheil Saakashvili's military attempt to reassert control over Moscow-backed South Ossetia was crushed by Russian troops who pushed deep into Georgian territory. After the war that stunned the West, Russia recognised South Ossetia and the fellow Georgian rebel region of Abkhazia as independent, a move that has been followed by only a handful of other far-flung states.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1218985/1/.html
http://rt.com/politics/putin-ossetia-war-plan-168/

Saakashvili: Georgia May Join NATO in 2014

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who took part in the NATO summit in Chicago, believes that Georgia is highly likely to become a full-fledged NATO member in 2014. "The next summit is due to take place in 2014 and Georgia has very good chances of becoming a full-fledged member of NATO together with the three Balkans countries. I have never been so sure of that as I am now," Saakashvili told reporters in Chicago. "I think our ill-wisher - I will not name him - will do everything to destabilize Georgia before the next NATO summit, including during the elections, and then will say that a country like Georgia can't join NATO, like they did in 2008. However, the people of Georgia are already experienced and will not make the same mistake again," Saakashvili said.

http://www.kyivpost.com/news/russia/detail/128030/
http://www.lenta.ru/news/2012/05/22/nato/

Abkhazian President Escapes Assassination Attempt

An assassination attempt has been made on the President of the Republic of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab. President Ankvab was unharmed, however, one bodyguard is dead and two more are seriously injured. The President's convoy was blown up by a powerful roadside bomb in the Gadaut region of the republic of Abkhazia, in the North Caucasus. After that, the convoy came under crossfire from a machine gun and a grenade launcher. Since 2005 Ankvab’s residence and his cars have been hit by grenades and gunfire five times. He has been wounded on several occasions. Abkhazia is a breakaway province of Georgia, whose independence was recognized by Russia in 2008.

http://rt.com/news/murder-attempt-president-abkhazia-911/ (video)