The Week in Brief
Friday, March 28
Georgia’s top foreign affairs officials were in Brussels lobbying for a Membership Action Plan at the NATO Bucharest summit. Together with Kiev and backed by Washington, Tbilisi says a MAP is crucial to regional security [see article]. But at least six NATO member states are thought to oppose extending the plan to Georgia and Ukraine.
The Georgian parliament refrained from firing a return salvo at the Russian Duma, which advised the Kremlin to consider recognizing the independence of secessionist South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Ruling party leaders said they don’t want to stir things up before the NATO summit next week.
Opposition campaigners abandoned their 17-day hunger strike after a second call from the Patriarch to stand down. The protest won no government concessions; the opposition say upcoming parliamentary elections are stacked against them. Some warned of a ‘revolution’ if the elections are rigged.
The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that Georgia is behind recent deadly explosions in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Georgian officials deny any involvement in the two blasts, and challenged Moscow to either produce evidence or apologize for making the claim.
Station management said Imedi TV, off-air since late December, could resume broadcasting in April. The pro-opposition channel, brainchild of late billionaire and government foe Badri Patarkatsishvili, is at the center of an ownership dispute involving the founder’s family, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Boris Berezovsky and a Patarkatsishvili step-cousin who emerged from the woodwork.
Eight candidates were shortlisted to be the next director general at the Georgian Public Broadcaster. Journalist Ia Antadze, widely tipped to take the post, was not among them. After the state-owned channel was accused of political bias in its coverage of the presidential election campaign, the opposition demanded its director general’s resignation.
The Georgian Orthodox Church celebrated the 91st anniversary of the renewal of its autocephaly, or religious autonomy within Christian Orthodoxy.
The Georgian parliament refrained from firing a return salvo at the Russian Duma, which advised the Kremlin to consider recognizing the independence of secessionist South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Ruling party leaders said they don’t want to stir things up before the NATO summit next week.
Opposition campaigners abandoned their 17-day hunger strike after a second call from the Patriarch to stand down. The protest won no government concessions; the opposition say upcoming parliamentary elections are stacked against them. Some warned of a ‘revolution’ if the elections are rigged.
The Russian Foreign Ministry alleged that Georgia is behind recent deadly explosions in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Georgian officials deny any involvement in the two blasts, and challenged Moscow to either produce evidence or apologize for making the claim.
Station management said Imedi TV, off-air since late December, could resume broadcasting in April. The pro-opposition channel, brainchild of late billionaire and government foe Badri Patarkatsishvili, is at the center of an ownership dispute involving the founder’s family, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, Boris Berezovsky and a Patarkatsishvili step-cousin who emerged from the woodwork.
Eight candidates were shortlisted to be the next director general at the Georgian Public Broadcaster. Journalist Ia Antadze, widely tipped to take the post, was not among them. After the state-owned channel was accused of political bias in its coverage of the presidential election campaign, the opposition demanded its director general’s resignation.
The Georgian Orthodox Church celebrated the 91st anniversary of the renewal of its autocephaly, or religious autonomy within Christian Orthodoxy.