Agenda.ge
January 26, 2023
The ruling party Head said it would be “difficult” to evaluate why Degnan refrained from answering the question and stressed neglecting the rule of law principle was a “serious problem”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday called the United States Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan’s statement on former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s clandestine return to Georgia – “unfortunate”. The rule of law is a “supreme principle” and it should be effective in the USA as well as in Georgia, he said.
Kobakhidze responded to Degnan’s recent interview with the local media Adjara TV, where she had been asked by the journalist that she “represented the country with the highest rule of law and democracy” and if any former president had illegally crossed the US state border [like Saakashvili’s arrival in Georgia], would not it have been an “insult” to the country. The Ambassador said it was a “hypothetical question” and she could not and would not answer it.
The ruling party head said it would be “difficult” to evaluate why Degnan refrained from answering the question and stressed neglecting the rule of law principle was a “serious problem”.
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The Messenger
January 26, 2023
Bill Browder discusses finalizing Magnitsky Act with Saakashvili’s lawyer and uncle
The [U.S.-born] British financier, author of the Magnitsky Act, Bill Browder met with the uncle Timur Alasania and Massimo D’Angelo, the lawyer of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Browder wrote on Twitter that at the meeting they discussed the completion of the Magnitsky list in the Saakashvili case.
“Just finished meeting with Timur Alasania (Mikheil Saakashvili’s uncle) and Massimo D’Angelo (Saakashvili’s lawyer) to discuss finalising a Magnitsky list for those torturing Mikheil in prison. Mikheil is dying and time is of the essence,” Browder wrote.
On January 8, Mikheil Saakashvili wrote an open letter to the author of the Magnitsky Act, Bill Browder and asked him to help local Georgian groups compile a new list of Magnitsky, before the fatal outcome. Browder responded to Saakashvili’s letter and asked the ex-president to have his team prepare documents on who is obstructing medical treatment and who is responsible for his ‘poisoning’ and ‘torture’.
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Rustavi2
January 26, 2023
Former US Congressman Adam Kinzinger responds to the fact of summoning the Ukraine’s Charge d’Affaires Andrii Kasianov to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia.
“Curious when the last time they summoned the ambassador of Russia, or even condemned Russia? Hey Georgian Dream Party, you know Russia is losing right?” writes Adam Kinzinger.
It should be mentioned that Georgia does not have diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation at all.
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Civil Georgia
January 26, 2023
Ukraine, Georgia Diplomats Summoned in Tbilisi, Kyiv
The Georgian Foreign Ministry announced on January 25 that it had summoned Andrii Kasianov, Ukraine’s charge d’affaires in Georgia, to provide an explanation for the remarks he made a day earlier. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported on the same day that the Georgian Ambassador George Zakarashvili met Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Yevhen Perebyinis.
In his interview with “Європейська правда”, Kasianov “did not rule out” that the possible resumption of flights between Georgia and Russia could prompt evacuation of the Ukrainian citizens from Georgia. Georgian Deputy Minister Lasha Darsalia noted that the remarks were “groundless and harm bilateral relations.”…
On January 24, MP Irakli Kobakhidze, leader of the ruling Georgian Dream party, called Kasianov’s remarks a “shameful speculation” and stressed that “Ukraine might have had to evacuate its citizens from Georgia if we had supplied Buk air defense systems (SA-17 Gadfly) to Ukraine, which would have meant our involvement in a military conflict.”
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that while meeting the Georgian envoy, Deputy Minister Perebyinis “expressed hope that Georgia will change its position and join those partners who provide Ukraine with weapons and military equipment and that Tbilisi will join all the sanctions introduced by the EU against the aggressor state.”…
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The Messenger
January 26, 2023
Chargés d’affaires of Ukraine summoned by MFA of Georgia to clarify his recent statement
The chargés d’affaires of Ukraine, Andrei Kasyanov was summoned by The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia regarding his statement on the possible evacuation of Ukrainian citizens from Georgia in case of resumption of direct flights between Georgia and Russia.
After the meeting, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs press center said that Andrey Kasyanov was asked to clarify his recent statements.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that the First Deputy Minister expressed his concern regarding the statement, calling it ‘groundless’ and said it damages the relations between the two countries.
Anti-bellum 