“2012 will be a hard year,” predicts MFA

“2012 will be an especially hard year,” the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze stated in his annual report to Parliament on December 27.

According to him the hard times are related to elections. “. Elections are always a hard period for diplomacy.”

The Minister paid more attention to existing problems in the Ministry and future goals than any particular achievements of 2011. According to him, one of the most serious problems of the Ministry was a lack of qualified staff. “As Georgian universities are still not on a level to prepare such specified specialists, we mostly have to train people on the job,” thus the Minister shifted attention to the special training centres, Diplomatic Academy and financial needs of the Ministry. At the same time, the broadening of diplomatic relations and launching them with those states Georgia still lacks diplomatic ties with, are to be the main priorities of 2012.

As for the main achievements of 2011, negotiations on free trade and a visa free regime with the European Union were named by the Minister.

A special report has also been made by the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Vera Kobalia. According to the Minister, Georgia’s economic growth was visible for international organizations and Georgia’s economic rate has increased. “The role of industry and tourism also increased this year,” Kobalia said. She also underlined that 6.5% economic growth was fixed for the year.

The issues named by Georgian ministers regarding economic growth and serious achievements in the diplomatic field have always been disputed by the Georgian opposition. Representatives of different opposition parties frequently mention the hard economic conditions in the economic field and the general state of hardship in the state.

As for Georgian analysts, as Soso Tsiskarishvili told The Messenger, in the state “where economy is the slave of politics” talking about impartial statistics is unimaginable, and “that the figures named by the Ministry are cheating themselves and the people”. As an example the analyst named the figure frequently mentioned by the authorities, namely the supposed “3 million tourists”. “Let us ask the people living on the coast how many tourists came in reality. They were expecting tourists and say that compared to in former years the number of holiday seekers were even a bit less this year.” As for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the analyst expressed his surprise “Why does the Minister worry so much about the fact that there are elections in 35 states in 2012. Let him worry about his own one, as at least in 25 of the 35 states impartial elections will be held.” However that was not the only issue which surprised the analyst, namely the decision that employees of the Ministry would need special permission from the Ministry to go abroad even for a weekend. “Such restrictions are made in times of war, which makes it seem as though the authorities are preparing for war if they do not get the outcome they expect from the 2012 elections … as demonstrated by all the fear and panic of the authorities in October when Bidzina Ivanishvili decided to enter Georgian politics.”