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The News in Brief

Thursday, October 17
Georgia receives official invitation to attend the Vilnius Summit

Georgia has received the official invitation to the Vilnius Summit. The heads of diplomatic missions of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries received invitations from the Deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania on October 15. The invitations are signed by the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaite, President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, and the Head of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso.

The invitation reads that holding the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Lithuania pays great importance to the Eastern Partnership. Deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania hoped that the Vilnius Summit will be an important step in deepening cooperation with each Eastern Partnership country. He said the results of the summit will help EaP countries to achieve political and economical equilibrium with the European Union.

The third EaP summit will be held in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania on November 28-29. (InterPressNews)



Alexi Petriashvili meets James Appathurai

Georgian State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili met with the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai at the NATO headquarter in Brussels. The parties discussed the prospects of NATO integration. Georgia’s progress in this direction was highlighted. The ongoing democratic processes and importance of conducting presidential elections at a high level was underscored. Appathurai confirmed NATO’s readiness to continue supporting Georgia’s European Atlantic aspirations.

“Georgian government will not spare effort to speed up the country’s integration in NATO. In this direction, we have full support from the NATO member countries and from the NATO leadership. We hope that at the next summit, steps carried out by the government of Georgia, aspiration of Georgian population to make Georgia a North Atlantic Alliance member, will be reflected in NATO decisions,” the State Minister declared. Petriashvili also had a meeting with Germany’s permanent representative of NATO Herbert Salber. During the visit, the state minister will participate in the Marshall Foundation discussion and on 17 October will give a speech at the Crans Montana International economic forum.

“I met yesterday with Alex Petriashvili, Georgian Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration. He made a clear, realistic and convincing case for why, when the upcoming elections go well, Georgia should move closer to joining NATO. We also had a very open discussion of all the hurdles Georgia has to clear. I know how strong political differences can sometimes be in Georgia, but all Georgians should be satisfied that Alex is making their case,” Appathurai posted on Facebook. (InterPressNews)



Paata Zakareishvili – Process of building barbed wire fences halted

It seems that the process of erecting barbed wire fences has been stopped, the state Minister for Reintegration, Paata Zakareishvili, stated.

He said that through the support of the MIA, they visited up to 40 villages adjacent to the boundary line with the representatives of the ministries in the last three months.

“We saw additional conditions at the location. On today’s session we will discuss what the ministries’ contribution can be in solving these issues. A lot of issues will be discussed. Including the provision of firewood, providing a gas supply that has already started and a promise by the Ministry of Energy to manage the gas line installation of the Georgian villages in 6 months,” Zakareishvili said.

“We hope halting the processes will continue, but anything can be expected from Russia. The timetable must not be disrupted by some activities carried out by Russia. We have to take care of people in any conditions,” he stated. (InterPressNews)



Irakli Alasania warmly received at MIA

Defense Minister Irakli Alasania was received by Interior Minister Irakli Gharibashvili on October 16. The deputy ministers of law enforcement structures and the Chief of Joint Staff of the Armed Forces also attended the third gathering in the series of working meetings between the state structures.

The two ministers discussed matters of coordinated work, as well as the topic of cooperation in academies of the ministries including preparation of specialists. Joint training for employees of the ministries was also scheduled. (Georgian News)



Tsulukiani: We will act rapidly to complete extradition within 40 days

If the extradition procedures for Davit Kezerashvili are not completed within 40 days, we will request the extension of his detention, Justice Minister of Georgia, Tea Tsulukiani, told journalists on October 16. According to Tsulukiani, the former Defense Minister Davit Kezerashvili was not hunted down on Interpol.

"Nevertheless, the Interpol Department of the Georgian Ministry of Interior cooperated with French colleagues very effectively; so did the Legal Support Department of the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia. Yesterday [15 October], the French court applied a 40-day long extradition detention towards Davit Kezerashvili. Within this term, the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Georgia must provide materials on criminal cases instituted against him in Georgia," the Justice Minister said.

Tea Tsulukiani said that two criminal cases have been instituted against Kezerashvili. One concerns money laundering whilst another corruption for protecting business. (Tabula)



Georgian, Latvian border agencies adopt prospective cooperation plan

The four-day visit of the delegation of Latvia's border agency led by its head General Normunds Garbars continues. During the visit the Latvian delegation held a meeting with the director of Georgia's Border Police, Colonel Koba Botchorishvili and other high-ranking agency employees.

According to the report, during the meeting the parties discussed and signed a prospective plan for cooperation of the two countries' border agencies. Within the visit to Georgia the Latvian delegation will also hold meetings with Deputy Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri and the director of the Patrol Police David Tsinaridze. The visit of Latvia's border agency's delegation to Georgia will end on October 17. (Trend)



Strasbourg Court to announce decision on Georgia’s lawsuit against Russia in 2014

The decision on Georgia's lawsuit against Russia that has been considered by the Strasbourg Court will be announced in 2014.

This is the respond received by the agency after the Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani took an interest in the fate of the lawsuit and reminded the Strasbourg court that the verbal proceedings on this case were completed in June 2012. “The Court did not specify why the publication of the decision was late,” a statement of Georgia's Ministry of Justice published on Tuesday said.

In connection with the mass deportation of Georgians from Russia, Georgia filed a lawsuit against Russia in the Strasbourg Court in March 2007. On April 16, 2009, there was a verbal hearing on this lawsuit attended by the Georgian and Russian sides. On June 30, 2009, the court recognized the lawsuit justifiable and given the importance of the case, handed it over for consideration of the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court.

That Court questioned witnesses within the hearing beginning February 1, 2011, over five days. The first two days were devoted to listening to 10 witnesses presented by the Georgian side and in the following days, the court heard the witnesses from the Russian side.

On June 13, 2012, the Grand Chamber of the European Court again heard the arguments of the parties, after which the court concluded its consideration of the case in essence.

This year, Georgia's Minister of Justice Tsulukiani officially took an interest in the fate of Georgia's lawsuit against Russia and requested a written response about when the decision on the above mentioned case will be announced. (Trend)



Georgian musicians to hold gala concert in St. Petersburg

Gala concert of Georgian musicians’ will be held at the grand concert hall of St. Petersburg, within the project “Diamonds from Georgia”, on October 16-17. Russian web page muztorg.ru has released this information. The poster says that the Georgian conductor Nikoloz Rachveli, as well as singer Nani Bregvadze, Eka Mamaladze, Natalia Kutateladze, Nato Metonidze, Liza Bagrationi, Mzia Nioradze, Mikheil Kolelishvili, Temur Kvitelashvili, Dato Evgenidze and Jimi Askaneli will take part in the two-day gala concert.

Rachveli will conduct the concert on 16 October. October 17 will be the evening of composer Gia Kancheli. The concert will be led by the Prima ballerina Irma Nioradze. (InterPressNews)