Page 9 - GEORptFeb21

2.4​ ​Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova discuss ways to strengthen cooperation on path to EU integration
The Georgian, Ukrainian and Moldovan foreign ministers—David Zalkaliani, Dmytro Kuleba and Aureliu Ciocoi, respectively—pledged to strengthen cooperation on the path to EU integration, at a virtual meeting on January 14, held ahead of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit planned for the first half of 2021.
All three top diplomats agreed on “the need to step up efforts to promote common positions and approaches” through dialogue with the European institutions and EU member states, the Moldovan foreign ministry reported. The EaP is a joint initiative involving the EU, its member states and six Eastern European partners: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.
Last March, before the coronavirus crisis took hold, the European Commission put forward a proposal for the long-term policy objectives of the EaP beyond 2020 to increase trade, strengthen connectivity and deepen economic integration with the EaP countries.
An EU Joint Communication on Eastern Partnership Policy beyond 2020 was published in Brussels on March 18 last year​.
2.5​ ​Georgia Dream close to getting some opposition in parliament
Four MPs from the opposition Alliance of Patriots (AoP) in Georgia have said that they are willing to take up legislative mandates, a move that would break the general opposition boycott of the legislature.
However, this would not likely fully alleviate the totalitarian air of the single-party parliament.
The four AoP members (or rather, now former AoP members) have had to quit their party to enter the parliament, since AoP is maintaining its boycott against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
On January 5, the parliament approved the mandates of three MPs from the proportional voting party list of the AoP. Zaza Mikadze (number 5 on the list), Pridon Injia (7th ) and David Zilpimiani (8th) will replace the party’s top three, namely Irma Inashvili, Giorgi Lomia and Gocha Tevdoradze, respectively, whose requests to annul their MP mandates were granted by the parliament the day before.
Earlier, Avtandil Enukidze, number four on the party list, stated that he will keep his parliamentary mandate.
AoP won four seats in Georgia’s 150-seat parliament, but the party, in common with all the other opposition parties, claimed that the general election was rigged and refused their seats while also invalidating their candidate lists.
The candidates willing to accept their seats are from the “financial part of the party” as described by the leaders of the party who decided to back the boycott. More specifically, they financially contributed to the electoral campaign in exchange for seats on the electoral list.
9​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2021 ​ ​www.intellinews.com