The Messenger
March 18, 2022
US Ambassador Meets Opposition, Comments on Sanctions Against Russia
The US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan held a meeting with opposition members of parliament on March 17. According to her, very good discussions took place, during which they talked about the current developments in the region and her meetings in Washington.
After the meeting, she emphasized the importance of two key issues – constant communication with all political parties in order to express US support for Georgia; and unity against unprovoked Russian aggression.
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Agenda.ge
March 18, 2022
Manufacturing events and creating false narratives of genocide to justify greater use of military force is a “tactic” Russia has used before, including in Georgia in 2008, the United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday at a press briefing.
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Agenda.ge
March 18, 2022
Imposing a visa regime and closing the border with Russia would not serve Georgia’s security in being protected from “Russian saboteurs”, Vakhtang Megrelishvili, one of the leaders of the opposition Girchi party, said on Thursday in comments about the security situation of the country on the backdrop of the armed conflict in Ukraine.
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Rustavi2
March 18, 2022
The Georgian Dream will not even consider the initiative of the United National Movement or Lelo concerning Ukraine. Such a statement made today the Speaker of Parliament.
“Ukraine has been under Russian aggression for 3 weeks. We are all watching this war. What we see on the part of our opposition, in particular the UNM and Lelo, is their attempt to make hysteria here, and unfortunately, all these signs are proved by their actions to somehow make a chaos here, to drag Georgia into something irreparable.
“Therefore, we said that we did not even consider the initiatives of this part of the opposition. We see what the purpose of all this is and we have mentioned this purpose many times. This purpose is to cause chaos and drag the country into war, armed conflict, of course, we will not allow that.“
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Agenda.ge
March 18, 2022
Sarjveladze accused the opposition of using “all means, whether rational or not, ethical or unethical,” in its false portrayals of the Government, despite the latter’s repeated statements and actions supporting Ukraine in the ongoing war. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
The opposition is trying to “artificially create” a situation to present the Georgian Government as not being in solidarity with Ukraine amid Russian invasion of the latter in an “absurd” attempt, Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Georgian Parliament, told Imedi TV on Friday.
Sarjveladze accused the opposition of using “all means, whether rational or not, ethical or unethical,” in its false portrayals of the Government, despite the latter’s repeated statements and actions supporting Ukraine in the ongoing war.
They try to somehow worsen the relations between Georgia and Ukraine in this difficult situation for Ukraine. This is a political juggling,” Sarjveladze said.
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Agenda.ge
March 18, 2022
On March 11, ruling Georgian Dream party head Irakli Kobakhidze said Georgia was the “only country in the world” where the opposition was using the war unleashed by Russia in Ukraine for a “campaign to damage this country”.
The ruling party head told local media the Government was protecting the interests of the state and its citizens, and would not allow the country to be “drawn into a war, or cause irreparable damage” to the economic interests of the population.
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There has been “no communication” between the Georgian and Ukrainian authorities over Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressing the Georgian Parliament, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told reporters on Friday, in response to the local opposition’s initiative over the matter.
Papuashvili highlighted it had been the opposition’s initiative to hold a video link address of the Ukrainian President to the Georgian lawmaking body, stressing the idea had not originated from Zelenskyy or his Government.
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Papuashvili also added the opposition’s initiative would not be considered by the ruling party, and accused some opposition parties of “attempting to create hysteria” with their moves.
What we see from our opposition, in particular the United National Movement and Lelo [parties], is their attempt to create hysteria here, to drag Georgia into something that will be irreparable. Therefore, we have stated that we would not even consider initiatives by this part of the opposition,” Papuashvili said.
Khatia Dekanoidze, a leader of the United National Movement, said on Thursday Zelenskyy was “ready to address” the Georgian people in a video link to the Parliament in Tbilisi.
Anti-bellum 