Page 5 - GEORptApr19

to operations carried out by the lender in 2007-2008, which allegedly involved conflicts of interest.
2.0 Politics
2.1 Georgia tapped to take over Council of Europe’s
rotating chairmanship from November
Georgia will take over the rotating chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s (CoE’s) Committee of Ministers for a six-month term from November 2019 to May 2020, agenda.ge h as reported .
Georgia joined the CoE in 1999 under the presidency of Eduard Shevardnadze.
The chairmanship will pass from France to Georgia at a meeting in mid-November at the CoE’s Strasbourg headquarters, attended by representatives of its 47 member states.
The CoE is an international organisation, the stated aim of which is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. It was founded in 1949,
According to the CoE, the chair "acts in a neutral way and ensures that the rules and guidelines are respected”. It further “guides the discussions, puts proposals to the vote and announces decisions”.
Separately, the European Court of Human Rights (the ECHR is a body that functions within the CoE’s structures) stated on March 26 that Russia must pay from €2,000 to €15,000 each to Georgian nationals mistreated by the Russian government in the autumn of 2006, when hundreds of Georgian citizens were illegally detained and then deported from Russia.
Earlier this year on January 31, the court announced its judgment in the case of Georgia v. Russia, regarding the arrest, detention and collective expulsion of Georgian nationals from Russia in the autumn of 2006.
The ECHR held by 16 votes to one that Russia has to pay Georgia €10mn euros for non-pecuniary damage suffered by a group of at least 1,500 Georgian nationals .
2.2 Russia cannot prevent Georgia joining Nato says Stoltenberg
Georgia has made a lot of progress with important reforms and will eventually join Nato “despite the Kremlin's fierce opposition”, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference held together with Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, as quoted by InterPressNews.
“I encourage you to continue making full use of all the opportunities for coming closer to the alliance”, Stoltenberg reportedly said, adding: “We do not accept
5 GEORGIA Country Report April 2019 www.intellinews.com