Judicial System Reform, Presidential Elections and Current Situation on Occupied Territories - These issues will be discussed by Georgian and European lawmakers in Strasbourg at the session of the Parliamentary Association Committee .
The meeting will be held on March 28, and a preparatory meeting was held yesterday in Brussels. The focus was on the kidnapping of Irakli Kvaratskhelia, the frequency of human rights violations in the occupied regions and the importance of Geneva format.
As OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, Miroslav Lajčák stated, the format of the Geneva talks should be used as much as possible. He hopes that there will be no escalation of the situation.
"We need to use mechanisms to solve such problems - this is the Geneva Discussion, as well as the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. It is important that all participants have a constructive contribution to the negotiating process, since everything they say here is ultimately connected with people. I hope we will be able to maintain a calm situation, prevent any escalation and first we will think about people. As for NATO, Georgia must demonstrate with particular actions that it can contribute to NATO. Georgia has already achieved success in this regard, "Miroslav Laichiči said.
The topic of discussion of European MPs at the Parliamentary Association Committee in Strasbourg will be the presidential election in Georgia.The European Parliament"s member from the Czech Republic, Jaromir Stetina, says that the role of money in the elections is a problem not only in Georgia but also in the Czech Republic. He said that if not the big money, behind which Russia stands, the Czech president could not have won.
"The main thing is not to forget that twenty percent of Georgian territory is occupied by Russia and it needs our help. It is necessary to talk about selective justice and fair judiciary in Georgia, especially given that the trial of former government officials does not contribute to Georgia"s European integration. As for the presidential elections, the role of money in the elections is important not only in Georgia but also in the Czech Republic. If not for the big money, the Czech president could not win the elections. I think Russia is behind that. The Kremlin is trying to weaken the EU. Besides, Russia"s aim is to wreck the relations between the EU and Georgia and interfere with Georgia"s European integration. We should not allow this, "said Jaromir Stetina.