POLITICS
GEORGIA TODAY APRIL 1 - 4, 2016
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Philip Hammond Emphasizes A No-Show! Georgian Regional Importance at Parliament Calls off Session Young Politicians Forum for State Security Report BY MERI TALIASHVILI
BY TAMAR SVANIDZE
I
n the framework of his visit to Georgia, the United Kingdom (UK) Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond attended the Young Politicians Forum which annually brings together future leaders from the South Caucasus region. In his welcoming speech the Secretary stressed the importance of the diversity and regional location of Georgia. “The opportunities for different people of this diverse region to mix and to understand one another should be growing not decreasing. There is an economic cost to unresolved conflicts, particularly when closed borders prevent the regional trade that is such an effective engine of economic growth. There is also real human cost to consider, too,” Mr Hammond said. “I know the cost of conflicts from my time as Secretary of Defense of the UK. Twentyfive years on from the collapse of the Soviet Union, thousands of refugees and internally displaced persons in this region remain unable to return to their homes, including many here in Georgia. Working together is the key to unlocking the true potential of this region- a region which is located on the crossroad of Europe and Asia, a traditional crossing place between East and West and North and South; a region that could become a significant link in a new Silk Road.” The Young Politicians Forum, which aims to develop the ability of youth and to build a bridge of trust among them, was held this year for the fourth time, with the support of Georgia, The Netherlands and Great Britain. GEORGIA TODAY spoke to Levan Tsutskiridze,
A UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond
Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy. “It was very important that participants from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and The Netherlands heard the message from the leaders of those countries which play a key role in shaping the world order. Also, I’m delighted at the consensus of the participants on issues such as security, democracy and ensuring of individual freedom,” Tsutskiridze said. During his visit, the UK Foreign Secretary also met the Georgian Prime Minister, members of the Georgian government and the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament. He also laid a wreath at the Heroes Memorial in Tbilisi and visited the construction site of BP’s South Caucasus pipeline expansion which, along with the Shah Deniz 2 project, is bringing a significant investment of £20bn to the region.
Russia Boycotts International Nuclear Security Summit
BY NICHOLAS WALLER
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ussia has opted to boycott an upcoming nuclear security summit to discuss measures aimed at preventing terrorist groups from obtaining weaponsgrade radioactive materials. Moscow’s decision to snub the summit has been widely panned by the other participants, who see Russia’s absence as a major blow to the international community’s efforts to better coordinate the arms control measures of the world’s main nuclear powers. Russia overwhelmingly has the world’s largest nuclear weapons arsenal, with nearly 5,000 active warheads at its disposal. In recent years the Kremlin has overtly blocked any cooperation with organizations headed by Western powers, specifically those from the US and UK, after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused both governments of trying to dictate nuclear arms reduction terms. Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zahkarova reiterated Putin’s comments when she announced in late January that Moscow had no intention of attending the 31 March-1 April summit, saying the meeting only took into consideration “the opinions of a specific group of states.” Her comment was widely seen at the time as a thinly veiled reference to the summit’s NATO members, whom Russia considers its main foes. This year’s gathering marks the fourth security summit held in as many years. Russia had sent delegates to the first three meetings, which led to the elimination of weapons-grade uranium from 12 countries that were deemed susceptible to terrorist activities, including the theft of nuclear materials.
“All they’re doing is isolating themselves by not participating, as they have in the past,” Ben Rhodes, a top official on the White House National Security Council, told reporters in a conference call Wednesday. “Their decision to boycott the summit is a serious concern,” he added. Zakharova’s comments are the latest in a series of provocative measures taken by Putin’s Kremlin as it de-couples from most international nuclear watch organizations. In early 2015, Russia formally ended a two decadeold, U.S.-funded program to scrap obsolete nuclear weapon systems and secure facilities where Sovietera radiological material was stored. Since Putin’s February 2014 invasion of Ukraine’s Crimea Peninsula, however, Russia has repeatedly threatened to redeploy tactical and intern-continental ballistic missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave on the Polish border and the since-annexed Crimea in effort to deter the West from expanding the NATO deeper into the republics that once made up the Soviet Union. Despite Moscow refusing to attend the summit and as relations between Russia and the West continue to deteriorate to their lowest point since the Cold War, Russia has thus far continued to implement the New START treaty signed by US President Barack Obama and then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in 2010. The treaty calls for both nuclear powers to cut their number of strategic nuclear missile launchers by half. Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili and President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine will also attend the summit. Both hope to discuss security guarantees from the other participants amid growing concerns in each country that Moscow-backed separatist movements in Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and Ukraine’s Donbass could try and procure or sell nuclear material. A recent incident in the impoverished former Soviet republic of Moldova that involvied the smuggling of radioactive materials by members of Russia’s FSB security services with ties to Russian organized crime has deeply alarmed Kyiv and Tbilisi, both of whom fear similar incidents within their own borders.
parliament session scheduled for Wednesday with the aim of having lawmakers hear a report from the Head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri was called off due to lack of attendees. Member of Parliament (MP) from the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, Irma Nadirashvili, accused the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling coalition of purposely boycotting the session to prevent the expected grilling of the Security Chief by MPs. Gomelauri, who served as Head of the Security Service of Georgia’s billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili before becoming Deputy Interior Minister in spring 2013, and later Minister of Internal Affairs, said that it is not his fault that quorum was not reached. “I came here to deliver my report and answer all the questions. The failing is on the side of the MPs who chose not to come to the hearing,” Gomelauri said. Gomelauri proceeded to comment on the latest hot topic in the area of security, the so-called ‘sex tapes.’ Regarding the private videos that were expected to be disseminated on March 31, he said, “We hope that no more videos will be published, though we cannot say with 100% certainty they won’t be. Investigation is in progress through the Prosecutor’s Office and we are also providing assistance.” He announced that a special group has been established to assist the investigation which includes the Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Security Service of Georgia, and special agencies from the United States and Great Britain. Georgian society was recently shocked by the
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Head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri
two surveillance videos uploaded onto Youtube depicting the intimate sex lives of prominent public figures and working journalists. The sender threatened to release more videos if those in the video refused to publicly resign from their respective duties by 31st March. At a meeting of three parliamentary committees on Monday, Deputy Head of the State Security Service, Levan Izoria, hinted that, although he did not rule out any theory, Russia could be behind the leaked surveillance videos recently used to threaten government members. Izoria said that videos were uploaded from Ukraine, Sweden and Lithuania and pointed out that the tapes, which were recorded during Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency, were taken and kept out the country following the UNM loss at the October 2012 election.