Issue no: 933
• MARCH 31 - APRIL 3, 2017
• PUBLISHED TWICE WEEKLY
FOCUS ON BREAKS & TIES
PRICE: GEL 2.50
In this week’s issue...
As Britain backs out, Georgia works on deepening relations with its EU counterparts PAGE 4-6
Georgian, Latvian Presidents Mull Deeper Ties NEWS PAGE 2
What Brexit Means for the EU, Russia, and Georgia POLITICS PAGE 4
FM Janelidze: Georgia is an Important Global Coalition Partner POLITICS PAGE 5
Microsoft Georgia Presents Cloud Technology Strategy BUSINESS PAGE 10
Source: coffinmew.co.uk
UN Security Council Discusses Developments in Georgia’s Occupied Territories BY THEA MORRISON
T
he Security Council of the United Nations (UN) discussed the recent developments in Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia at a closed meeting on
March 28. The issue was raised by the Ukrainian Delegation and, as the Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yelchenko said, the issue will not be suppressed "as long as Ukraine is a member of the Security Council and even after that”. The top issues discussed at the meeting were: Reduction of crossing-points connecting breakaway Abkhazia with the rest of Georgia, illegal parliamentary elections in Abkhazia, unification of armies under the Russian Armed Forces, as well as the upcoming referendum on changing the name of occupied South Ossetia. While delivering his speech, Yelchenko stated the situation is deteriorating in the breakaway regions. “Some people think that this is a frozen or sleeping conflict but the situation reminds us very well of our own painful experience in Crimea. The action by the Russian Federation, which aims at the factual unification of the armed forces of the Russian Federation and Ossetia and
New Season of Tbilisi Fashion Week Kicks off in April SOCIETY PAGE 16
78-Year-Old Classic Writer Guram Dochanashvili Summons Us to Love the Earth & Mankind CULTURE PAGE 17
St David’s College Rugby Tour to Georgia SPORTS PAGE 19
Abkhazia; closing down of crossing-points; the ethnic situation in the field of human rights; all, in our opinion, deserve the attention of the Security Council,” he said. United Kingdom’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, also made a comment, saying the so-called elections in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region are a “farce”, and the UK does not recognize them.
All the delegations of the UN Security Council were in favor of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity except the Russian Federation. Russia’s acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Pyotr Ilyichev, said "the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia is not a conflict, so the Security Council should not distract its attention to it." Continued on page 3