Press Digest 10.09.2014
Georgia will have to open its doors to a great number of IDPs soon
Foreign investments freeze in Georgia
Irakli Sesiashvili: Georgia must empower its preventative forces and form a powerful army that will be apt to repel any kind of aggression from its enemies***
Georgia will have to open its doors to a great number of IDPs soon
"A great number of IDPs may soon converge on our country again to find a shelter here. As the locals of Gali claim, after new de-facto leader Raul Khajimba took up the reigns in the region, the situation here has become unbearable. As per the residents of the village, they are sure that the situation will even worsen in the region after the inauguration ceremony of the President. Their move to do away with the Georgian language schools in Georgia’s breakaway region really took the cake; every single day the Georgian population is being oppressed and humiliated here. And the only way out from this dead-end critical situation, as the locals see it, is to flee the region,” reports the Rezonansi gazette.“If we believe Leader of the “European Democrats,” Paata Davitaia, the process of persecuting Georgians has already been launched in Georgia’s breakaway enclave of Abkhazia; and due to the Government’s inaptitude to deter their aggression against the Georgian language population, Georgia will have to take around 20-25 thousand Georgians under its wing soon. “I’ve focused on this issue for 4 months; I sounded concerns as soon as reports that Mr. Khajimba was to be elected as President reached my ears. I have repeatedly held briefings and appealed to the Government to take urgent measures to iron out the issue; all this have proven to be fruitless though. Time has vindicated our predictions; now they are looking over Georgia’s Abkhazian passports in the region as if the Georgian population has illegally gotten hold of them. They have already taken over the Georgian schools here; however, much more is still on the way; troubles are incrementally brewing; they have already drafted a scenario how to banish the Georgian language population from the region. It’s without question that we will be faced with a great deal of IDPs in the immediate future. The process has already started – Khajimba plans to decrease the number of the Georgian residents in Abkhazia to 10-15 thousands. Today as many as 40 thousand Georgians reside here but soon those who will refuse to accept their conditions will be forced to leave the region,” maintains Mr. Davitaia.
“The leader of the “European Democrats” has also named the reasons that, in his mind, have deteriorated the situation in the region. He thinks that the acting authorities have failed to pursue a trenchant policy and take effective measures to ease the sufferings of the Georgian language population here. “The acting political biggies have their heads in the clouds; they think that they can hold negotiations with the leader of Abkhazia. However, I do not really think that they will involve themselves in any kind of dialogue with the leadership of Georgia. These people are not interesting in holding negotiations with those who refuse to recognize the independence of Abkhazia. Khajimba plans to merge the Defense Ministries of Abkhazia and Russia into a single body; you probably guess what this means – they will attach their social system to that of Russia’s. And in a couple of years, this issue will undoubtedly be raised. A referendum will be held here, as it has been held in Crimea not so long ago; Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia will have its President; the region itself will be an integral constituent element of Russia though. All signs to presume that this will soon happen have already surfaced in Abkhazia. If the Georgian leaders took more active steps in the international scene and tried to bring the issue of Abkhazia to light, the situation here could have been rectified, but…,” says Mr. Davitaia.
“However, Executive director of the Caucasian House, Giorgi Kanashvili, maintains that all the allegations saying that the Georgian people will be forced to flee Abkhazia are a bit over the top. “Based on information that is in my hands at this point in time, I cannot really allege that the situation in the region has changed from bad to worse. They have not gotten involved in conflict with the Georgian language population, and the signs making us think that the Georgian people will soon be chased out of the region have not really emerged yet,” asserts Mr. Kanashvili.
"We would like to remind our readers of the fact that a couple of days ago, the Russian militaries raided one of the schools in the village and tore up all Georgian language text books. “We have either to bow before Russians and kiss their knees or leave the region. They are moved by a strong desire to replace the Georgian language schools with the Russian language ones, and if they manage to realize their plan, our life here will obviously become pointless,” declared a resident of the village of Otobaia, Irma Salia.
Foreign investments freeze in Georgia
"If compared with the previous year, in the 2nd quarter of 2014, the foreign investments have ratcheted down in Georgia. It must also be interesting to note that as official reports have it, several energy projects are being carried out in Georgia; however, the investments have substantially decreased even in this sector, reports the Rezonansi gazette.
“As the data from the National Statistical Service have it, in the 2nd quarter of 2014, the foreign investments carried out in our country ran up to $151 million. If compared with the 1st quarter of 2013 and 2014, we can conclude that the amount of foreign investments has decreased and fewer investors have poured the financial resources in the projects in Georgia. In the 2nd quarter of the last year, foreign investments of 208 million USD, that is 57 million dollar more than in 2014, was carried out in our country,” reads the article.
"Expectations were high that this year more investments will be carried out in the energy sector than in other sectors. However, the foreign investors have reportedly channeled less financial recourses in this sector too,” reads the article.
“As for the foreign investments carried out in Georgia in the 1st quarter of 2014, as the Statistical Service informs, in the 1st quarter of 2014, the investments of 260 million USD -- that exceeds those of the 1st quarter of 2013 by 15 per cent and the 4th quarter of the same year – by 20 per cent -- have reportedly been carried out in Georgia, reads the paper.
“Poverty is endemic in this country, and it obviously needs different type of approach. On top of this, cohabitation, court trials and other events taking place here, have scared the investors, and in the wake of this, Georgia has, in fact, been left without investments,” declares expert Emzar Jgerenaia.
“We must create the economic system that will be founded on the modern norms of market economy. As for the private investors, they will manage to find their allies and partners without assistance from our President or other high officials,” maintains expert Demur Giorkhelidze.
Irakli Sesiashvili: Georgia must empower its preventative forces and form a powerful army that will be apt to repel any kind of aggression from its enemies
"From the military point of view, our country has made a substantial progress, and today our armed forces are much better prepared than in 2008. However, this does not mean that we must slacken attention and be at our ease. Precisely this is the reason why NATO is strongly determined to provide us with its military back-up,” declared Chairman of the Parliament’s Security Committee, Irakli Sesiashvili.
“I want to emphasize that today the alliance is actually moved by a desire to help us in finding our niche in its family. The Government that came into power in 2012 has ensured the West that Georgia must join NATO. And the West that has not even expected that our country could have achieved such great success in this direction now is seriously moved by a desire to open its door to us,” alleges Mr. Sesiashvili.
“As for MAP, this issue is more political than practical. When the Western leaders refused to grant MAP to us, they had comprehended perfectly well that the possibilities for more broadened cooperation must have been adequate to the effectiveness of the steps we have taken in this direction. Precisely, for this reason they have bestowed an extremely important package on “intensified cooperation” upon us,” states Irakli Sesiashvili.
"Support and assistance from NATO has never been as large-scale as it is today. The package on “intensified cooperation” with the alliance is classified as secret; however, I can tell you that this package involves all measures they must adopt to advance our defense system. And the fact that the U.S. Defense Minister visited our country shortly after the Wales Summit, once again verifies the validity of the allegation as per which NATO is seriously determined to give us a status of its full member state,” says the respondent.
"When we realize our long-cherished dream and join NATO, we will definitely do our mite to ensure the world security. We don’t plan to be an ordinary member of the alliance and create further problems for its member countries. This also means that Georgia must empower its preventative forces and form a powerful army that will be apt to repel any kind of aggression from its foes,” concludes the respondent.
