Page 13 - bne IntelliNews George country report Sept 2017

countries in the last decade, allegedly to protect the rights of ethnic minorities. Both administrations have signed deep and comprehensive agreements with the EU, but outright accession to the bloc is unlikely in both cases. Not only has Brussels been struggling to keep the bloc together in its current form in light of the rise in nationalism and particularly after the Brexit referendum, but both Ukraine and Georgia share borders with Russia, which has prevented the EU from embracing their candidature for membership even when it was in a more expansionary mood.
2.7 Politics - misc
Georgian opposition party United National Movement (UNM) has urged the government to investigate an audio recording published on the strana.ua website by Russian pranksters Vovan and Lexus, Georgiatoday reported on August 14. In the recording, Lexus impersonates Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov in order to have a conversation with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Mghebrishvili about the fate of Georgia's stateless former president Mikheil Saakashvili. During the hoax conversation, Mghebrishvili turns down Avakov's offer to extradite Saakashvili to Georgia to be prosecuted, claiming that "we do not want to create a hero out of him. The situation has been stable here and we are coping fine without him. If he arrives, there will be unrest". The press office of the Georgian interior ministry denied that the conversation had ever taken place, claiming in a statement that "it is not feasible to think that the ministers of two countries would discuss national topics through non-protected telephone communication". The Russian pranksters, however, claim that the recording is authentic and that they are open to sending it to Georgia for analysis.
Around 500 protesters representing non-government organisations (NGOs), opposition parties and civil society groups gathered at the border between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia on July 14 to protest against the Russian occupation of the South Ossetia region, according to online news site Caucasus Knot. O n July 4, Georgia's security services accused South Ossetian forces of relocating the banners that mark the border some half a kilometre into Georgian territory, leading to the loss of 10 hectares of land for Georgia. South Ossetia is internationally recognised as part of Georgia, but functions as an autonomous region that benefits from Russian military and financial support. Meanwhile, on the same day in Georgia's capital city Tbilisi, a number of ultranationalist groups organised a "March of the Georgians" rally calling for the deportation of illegal immigrants, a toughening of immigration laws, imposing restrictions on the granting of residency permits to foreigners and banning foreign funding for civil society organisations, according to civil.ge.
The Georgian government has hired Boston-based PR company Rasky Partners to lobby for its interests with the US Congress and Trump administration, civil.ge reported on June 27. Georgia is the US's closest ally in the South Caucasus region thanks to its Western orientation and sustained cooperation with Nato, including on missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, regional leaders fear that, under President Donald Trump, the US will scale back its already modest involvement in the region. The Georgian government and Rasky Partners signed a four-month contract that commenced in May. The Boston-based firm is to work to "strengthen bilateral relations by supporting the government's outreach efforts to the US
13 GEORGIA Country Report September 2017 www.intellinews.com