The Week in Brief
Friday, April 18
Russia announced it is deepening support to separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia [see article]. Moscow’s strengethening of trade and legal ties, which Tbilisi condemned as ‘creeping annexation,’ drew international rebuke.
The Saakashvili administration reiterated proposals for conflict settlement in Georgia’s breakaway regions, and asked his ministers to develop a comprehensive conflict resolution package. The proposals were swiftly rejected by separatist leadership, which accept nothing short of independence.
The Christian Democratic Party circulated a petition for a constitutional amendement granting official status to Georgian Orthodox Christianity. The party says it’s needed to protect Church from state, but a Patriarchate spokesman notes the constitution already guarantees independence.
Sokhumi, in breakaway Abkhazia, is attempting to put its dilapidated airport back into shape for international flights. Planes could come from Russia and possibly Turkey, but Tbilisi said it will oppose any air links.
President Mikheil Saakashvili inaugurated a free economic zone and the reconstruction of Poti port, saying his vision is of the country as the region’s Dubai. An investment fund from the United Arab Emirates is expected to invest USD 1.5 billion after winning a 49-year management concession.
Staff from the small cable television station Maestro held a silent protest, demanding a license to air political programs alongside their usual fare of music videos and call-in entertainment shows. Station bosses say they are being gagged by the government; national communications commission officials say Maestro broke the law by broadcasting political material in November 2007.
Georgia marked a homegrown version of Valentine’s Day called Sikvarulis Dghe, or Love Day. The faux holiday was invented in the 1990s by the publisher of a celebrity tabloid to placate an upset girlfriend.
The Saakashvili administration reiterated proposals for conflict settlement in Georgia’s breakaway regions, and asked his ministers to develop a comprehensive conflict resolution package. The proposals were swiftly rejected by separatist leadership, which accept nothing short of independence.
The Christian Democratic Party circulated a petition for a constitutional amendement granting official status to Georgian Orthodox Christianity. The party says it’s needed to protect Church from state, but a Patriarchate spokesman notes the constitution already guarantees independence.
Sokhumi, in breakaway Abkhazia, is attempting to put its dilapidated airport back into shape for international flights. Planes could come from Russia and possibly Turkey, but Tbilisi said it will oppose any air links.
President Mikheil Saakashvili inaugurated a free economic zone and the reconstruction of Poti port, saying his vision is of the country as the region’s Dubai. An investment fund from the United Arab Emirates is expected to invest USD 1.5 billion after winning a 49-year management concession.
Staff from the small cable television station Maestro held a silent protest, demanding a license to air political programs alongside their usual fare of music videos and call-in entertainment shows. Station bosses say they are being gagged by the government; national communications commission officials say Maestro broke the law by broadcasting political material in November 2007.
Georgia marked a homegrown version of Valentine’s Day called Sikvarulis Dghe, or Love Day. The faux holiday was invented in the 1990s by the publisher of a celebrity tabloid to placate an upset girlfriend.