16:45
Georgia gained two Olympic gold medals on August 13 – in wrestling and judo.
Manuchar Kirkvelia gave Georgia its first golden medal in Beijing Olympic Games, after defeating China’s Chong Yongxiang in the men's 74 kg Greco-Roman wrestling.
Shortly after that success, Irakli Tsirekidze won the gold medal in men’s 90kg Judo after defeating Algeria’s Amar Benikhlef.
“It means very much for our country because of the conflict now. Thank you to my country, thank you to my people,” he said.
Tsirekidze made his way to the finals after defeating Russia’s Ivan Pershin. Jubilant Tsirekidze appeared to point to the name of his country after defeating the Russian opponent.
For now Georgia has two gold and one bronze medal. Nino Salukvadze took bronze for Georgia in the women's 10m air pistol. She shared the podium with Russia's Natalia Paderina, who won the silver.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Baltic, Polish Leaders Call for Stronger Western Support for Georgia
13:27
Leaders of Baltic states and Poland have strongly called on EU and U.S. to make a proper assessment of Russia’s aggression against Georgia.
President of Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland, as well as PM of Latvia arrived in Tbilisi on August 12 in a show of strong support to Georgia.
Speaking at a joint news conference on August 13, Valdas Adamkus, the President of Lithuania, invoked developments ahead of WWII and the devastating results of, as he said, policy of appeasement of Hitler. He said everyone should remember what followed this policy of appeasement.
President Adamkus also said he hoped the EU foreign ministers due to meet in Brussels on August 13 would make “a proper assessment of the aggression against Georgia.” He also added that the west should not leave Georgia alone.
Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, told the same press conference that Georgia was the very country where “our biggest ally [the United States] has to confirm its strong support.”
In a statement on August 12 Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, has warned that “the Russian-Georgian war is a touchstone for the European Union for shaping European security policies in the future.”
“Europe must re-evaluate its entire current security and foreign policy and bring it into conformity with the new reality,” he said.
Latvian Prime Minister, Ivars Godmanis, said that no solution can be achieve at the expense of Georgia’s territorial integrity.
Leaders of Baltic states and Poland have strongly called on EU and U.S. to make a proper assessment of Russia’s aggression against Georgia.
President of Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Poland, as well as PM of Latvia arrived in Tbilisi on August 12 in a show of strong support to Georgia.
Speaking at a joint news conference on August 13, Valdas Adamkus, the President of Lithuania, invoked developments ahead of WWII and the devastating results of, as he said, policy of appeasement of Hitler. He said everyone should remember what followed this policy of appeasement.
President Adamkus also said he hoped the EU foreign ministers due to meet in Brussels on August 13 would make “a proper assessment of the aggression against Georgia.” He also added that the west should not leave Georgia alone.
Polish President, Lech Kaczynski, told the same press conference that Georgia was the very country where “our biggest ally [the United States] has to confirm its strong support.”
In a statement on August 12 Estonian President, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, has warned that “the Russian-Georgian war is a touchstone for the European Union for shaping European security policies in the future.”
“Europe must re-evaluate its entire current security and foreign policy and bring it into conformity with the new reality,” he said.
Latvian Prime Minister, Ivars Godmanis, said that no solution can be achieve at the expense of Georgia’s territorial integrity.
Georgia Files Lawsuit against Russia in ICG
11:15
Georgia filed a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming Russia, through the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, violated a convention meant to eliminate racism, the Hague-based court said on August 12.
It said in a press release that Georgia claims Russia violated its obligations under the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) “during three distinct phases of its interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia” in the period from 1990 to August 2008.
“Russian Federation, through its State organs, State agents, and other persons and entities exercising governmental authority, and through the South Ossetian and Abkhaz separatist forces and other agents acting on the instructions of, and under the direction and control of the Russian Federation, is responsible for serious violations of its fundamental obligations under [the] CERD, including Articles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6,” Georgia claims in its lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Russia is further stepping up its efforts to push internationally its allegations against Georgia that the latter’s actions undertaken in recent days in South Ossetia amounted to “genocide” of the Ossetian people. Russia has claimed that about 2,000 Ossetians have been killed after, as it says, Georgia launched a military assault on the breakaway region.
The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO) did not rule out taking legal actions against President Saakashvili.
“The evidence collected could be used both for appealing to international courts and for considering crimes against Russian citizens living in South Ossetia by Russian judicial bodies," Interfax news agency reported quoting GPO spokeswoman Marina Gridneva.
Georgia filed a lawsuit against Russia in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming Russia, through the separatist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, violated a convention meant to eliminate racism, the Hague-based court said on August 12.
It said in a press release that Georgia claims Russia violated its obligations under the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) “during three distinct phases of its interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia” in the period from 1990 to August 2008.
“Russian Federation, through its State organs, State agents, and other persons and entities exercising governmental authority, and through the South Ossetian and Abkhaz separatist forces and other agents acting on the instructions of, and under the direction and control of the Russian Federation, is responsible for serious violations of its fundamental obligations under [the] CERD, including Articles 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6,” Georgia claims in its lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Russia is further stepping up its efforts to push internationally its allegations against Georgia that the latter’s actions undertaken in recent days in South Ossetia amounted to “genocide” of the Ossetian people. Russia has claimed that about 2,000 Ossetians have been killed after, as it says, Georgia launched a military assault on the breakaway region.
The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office (GPO) did not rule out taking legal actions against President Saakashvili.
“The evidence collected could be used both for appealing to international courts and for considering crimes against Russian citizens living in South Ossetia by Russian judicial bodies," Interfax news agency reported quoting GPO spokeswoman Marina Gridneva.
Reports: Russian Troops Quit Poti after Sinking Vessels
10:32
Russian forces withdrew from Poti late last night after sinking several vessels of the Georgian armed forces, according to a reporter of a Poti-based radio station.
She told RFE/RL Georgian service on Wednesday morning that vessels were moved away from the coast and slinked. Two vessels of the Georgian coast guard were not destroyed, according to this report.
Russian forces withdrew from Poti late last night after sinking several vessels of the Georgian armed forces, according to a reporter of a Poti-based radio station.
She told RFE/RL Georgian service on Wednesday morning that vessels were moved away from the coast and slinked. Two vessels of the Georgian coast guard were not destroyed, according to this report.
Tbilisi, Moscow Accept Ceasefire Plan
- Initial draft revised;
- EU FMs to discuss the plan;
- Resolution will be drafted for UNSC;
- Russian peacekeepers to remain;
- Internationalization possible later;
President Saakashvili said he had accepted EU-brokered principles on ceasefire plan, endorsed earlier on August 12 by Russia.
Speaking at a joint news conference after midnight with President Saakashvili after talks in Tbilisi, French President Nicola Sarkozy said that he had long and extensive discussions with the Georgian leader over the text of the agreement.
He said that some amendments have been made into the initial text of the agreement that was first unveiled in Moscow after the French President met with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev earlier on August 12.
Sarkozy, whose country holds the EU presidency, also said that because of the Georgian side’s insistence to make some amendments, he had to get in touch with President Medvedev twice during the talks and to agree those amendments with the Russian side.
The text, which is not signed by the sides, represents a political document of major principles outlining terms of ceasefire.
Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, is expected to present the agreed text to the EU foreign ministers at the meeting on August 13 and then a resolution will be drafted presented to the UN Security Council for approval, the French President said.
Most of the principles of the agreement seem to remain unchanged from its initial draft agreed in Moscow.
But the Georgian side insisted to remove from the document a provision calling for launching “international discussions on the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways of providing their stable security.”
President Saakashvili said that this provision had been removed, because of its ambiguity, leaving room for different interpretations, including the possibility to question the Georgia’s territorial integrity.
“We do not want to leave any doubt about [about the matter] - and I think President Sarkozy agrees with that; the territorial integrity of Georgia can never be put under doubt under any kind of international process. This is out of question,” Saakashvili said.
The first principle is non-use of forces and that applies, the French President said, “to all the parties – Ossetians, Abkhaz, Russia, Georgia.”
He said that the second principle was to cease hostilities. “At this point this is provisional, but the intent is to make it permanent,” Sarkozy said.
Free access to humanitarian aid and addressing the needs of displaced persons is the third point of the agreement. “Mr. Kouchner will be overlooking this,” Sarkozy said.
Under the fourth point the Georgian side undertakes commitment to return its forces to their original positions. And the Russian side will also pull its troops from the region.
But it only applies to those additional forces which Russia deployed in the region after the launch of hostilities in South Ossetia. Russian peacekeepers, which are stationed in the region for over a decade already, will remain there at least for now.
The fifth point of the agreement reads that the Russian peacekeeping forces “take additional security measures before creation of international mechanisms.”
President Saakashvili said that this provision meant undertaking of a commitment by all the sides, including by the western powers, that the peacekeeping operation in the region will be internationalized.
“Although there should be temporary arrangements for now, but later it should be replaced by international process with participation of EU, UN,” Saakashvili said. “What we have clearly obtained at this stage is cessation of hostilities and withdrawal of the occupational forces. We have temporary arrangement with the [Russian] peacekeepers – fine; but then there should be internationalization of the process and we have the commitment of all sides.”
“Of course this is a political document, but general principles are there. We need legal details; we need Security Council resolution and we need more presence international observers on the ground and more internationalization of the entire process.”
Giorgi Baramidze, the Georgian state minister for Euro-Atlantic integration issues, said that the document did not contain any specific timeframes. “It calls for ‘an immediate’ halt of hostilities and disengagement of forces,” he told Civil.Ge.
Kodori Under Abkhaz Control
00:21
Authorities in breakaway Abkhazia said their forces were in full control of upper Kodori Gorge.
Officials in Tbilisi have confirmed it.
CNN aired brief footage showing an Abkhaz militia taking down the Georgia’s national flag from the administrative building in the gorge.
However, there are conflicting reports about how the process took place.
The Abkhaz side has claimed that its troops took over the area after fighting with the Georgian forces throughout the day, on August 12.
Shota Utiashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, told Civil.Ge that the Georgian forces were withdrawn from the gorge last night.
Meanwhile, President Saakashvili told a group of foreign journalists on August 12: “Within a well-prepared plan, several hundred pieces of the Russian [military] equipment, Russian airborne troops, commanded by the airborne troops of Russia landed there [in the Kodori Gorge] and expelled and certainly killed part of the population. Whole population from that place is gone. This is classical case of ethnic cleansing.”
Upper Kodori gorge was the only part of breakaway Abkhazia under Tbilisi’s control.
Authorities in breakaway Abkhazia said their forces were in full control of upper Kodori Gorge.
Officials in Tbilisi have confirmed it.
CNN aired brief footage showing an Abkhaz militia taking down the Georgia’s national flag from the administrative building in the gorge.
However, there are conflicting reports about how the process took place.
The Abkhaz side has claimed that its troops took over the area after fighting with the Georgian forces throughout the day, on August 12.
Shota Utiashvili, the Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman, told Civil.Ge that the Georgian forces were withdrawn from the gorge last night.
Meanwhile, President Saakashvili told a group of foreign journalists on August 12: “Within a well-prepared plan, several hundred pieces of the Russian [military] equipment, Russian airborne troops, commanded by the airborne troops of Russia landed there [in the Kodori Gorge] and expelled and certainly killed part of the population. Whole population from that place is gone. This is classical case of ethnic cleansing.”
Upper Kodori gorge was the only part of breakaway Abkhazia under Tbilisi’s control.
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