OC Media

OC Media

EU criticises elite corruption, lack of skilled staff and more in Georgia AA report

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The European Par­lia­ment (Dato Parulava /OC Media)

The European Par­lia­ment has expressed concerns over high-level cor­rup­tion, human rights pro­tec­tion, labour safety, judicial inde­pen­dence, and more in Georgia in a report on the imple­men­ta­tion of the country’s EU Asso­ci­a­tion Agreement. Despite crit­i­cisms, the report’s summary said overall assess­ment of the imple­men­ta­tion process was positive. [Read more…]

Georgians and Ossetians mark 10th anniversary of August War

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Protest outside the former Russian embassy in Tbilisi, 7 August 2018 (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

On Wednesday, com­mem­o­ra­tions were held in Tbilisi, Tskhin­vali (Tskhinval), and elsewhere com­mem­o­rat­ing the 10th anniver­sary of the August 2008 War. As the pres­i­dents of three countries gathered in Tbilisi, Georgian pres­i­den­tial candidate Salome Zura­bishvili described the war as ‘reck­less­ness, the obses­sions of a deranged president, or confusing collusion with a centuries-long enemy’. [Read more…]

EU Parliament says no deal until Azerbaijan frees political prisoners

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Azer­bai­jani President Ilham Aliyev and EU foreign-policy chief Federica Mogherini (RFE/RL)

The European Par­lia­ment has said it will not ratify a com­pre­hen­sive agreement with Azer­bai­jan if the country ‘does not respect fun­da­men­tal EU values and rights’. In Wednesday’s plenary session, par­lia­ment instruct­ed the European Council, European Com­mis­sion, and specif­i­cal­ly EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini to pri­ori­tise fun­da­men­tal freedoms and the fight against cor­rup­tion in ongoing nego­ti­a­tions with the author­i­ties in Baku.

[Read more…]

Georgian autopsy says Tatunashvili sustained over 100 injuries before dying

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Archil Tatu­nashvili (RFL/RL)

An autopsy on the remains of Archil Tatu­nashvili, a Georgian citizen who died in South Ossetian custody in February, says that he suffered over 100 separate injuries before dying. South Ossetia claims that Tatu­nashvili, whose remains were trans­ferred to Tbilisi almost three months ago, died after falling down a flight of stairs while trying to escape. [Read more…]

The EaP Summit promised no ‘golden carrot’ — what should Georgia do?

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The European Par­lia­ment (Dato Parulava /OC Media)

The latest Eastern Part­ner­ship summit offered little to Georgia, raising questions as to what to do next. While officials in Brussels mostly advise patience, dis­cus­sion in Georgia abound on the best way to attract the EU’s attention further. [Read more…]

Analysis | As many Georgians think the West spreads propaganda as Russia

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(Mari Nikuradze/OC Media)

On 13 February, the United States released its Worldwide Threat Assess­ment of the US Intel­li­gence Community. In it, the sig­nif­i­cance of Russian influence oper­a­tions in Georgia were high­light­ed. Just eight days earlier, on 5 February, a coalition of Georgia’s leading non-gov­ern­men­tal organ­i­sa­tions made an official offer to support the Gov­ern­ment of Georgia, the EU, and NATO in their efforts to counter anti-Western pro­pa­gan­da. [Read more…]

Azerbaijan under fire over sentencing of abducted journalist Mukhtarli

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Afgan Mukhtarli (Facebook)

The EU, US, OSCE, and local and inter­na­tion­al rights groups have urged Azer­bai­jani author­i­ties to release Azer­bai­jani jour­nal­ist Afgan Mukhtarli, who was sentenced on 12 January to 6 years in prison. Georgian author­i­ties have also faced criticism for a the slow pace of the inves­ti­ga­tion into his abduction from Tbilisi. [Read more…]

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