Justice Minister continues role, optimistic about Georgia’s European future
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Justice Minister continues role, optimistic about Georgia’s European future "There is no bright future for Georgia apart from its European path,” said Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani at a special briefing, where she stressed she will keep working in her current position within the Ministry team.
"Me and my ministry never have any drawback to follow the European way with the Government; never. Not from ex-Prime Minister [Bidzina Ivanishvili] or from the current PM. There were no opposite opinions while discussing the issue with acting or already ex-ministers. The political team came to the power in 2012 was and is still now devoted to [pursuing] its European path.”
She added: "I am lucky to be from 2010 in the team of people who fully shares my values, Western values.” "Since 2012 I have led the Ministry [and] each employee was working for progress. This work finished with the successful completing of the first phase of the EU-Georgia Visa Liberalisation Action Plan. The European Union (EU) assessed this collective success of our Government as "a step closer to Europe”.
Tsulukiani future with the Justice Ministry was immediately unclear following the dismissal of Alasania and resignation of Panjikidze and Petriashvili, as she too was affiliated with the Free Democrats party. She was a member of the Free Democrats before she became Minister of Justice in 2012.
When she became Justice Minister she quit the Free Democrats and said: "I would like to be the Minister of the whole country and not one political party’s."
However, she also assessed in her statement that the dismissal and resigning of her ministerial colleagues as "very sad” and expressed regret that Georgia’s big international success had been overshadowed by this internal affair.
Tsulukiani underlined the main reason why she put aside her "comfortable” career and private life in France in 2010 was because she wanted to fight for and participate in Georgia’s European choice and future.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili believes allegations made by recently dismissed Defence Minister Irakli Alasania and former Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze that the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic policy threats are "ridiculous and naïve.”
Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze resigned a day after Prime Minister sacked Defense Minister Irakli Alasania after he criticized the arrests of several Defence Ministry officials as politically motivated and an "attack on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic choice”.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has introduced the country's new Defence Minister today.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili made a special statement at a briefing after his meeting with the coalition majority at the Georgian Dream coalition office this evening, where he announced he had dismissed the country’s Defence Minister Irakli Alasania.
Georgia’s Defence Minister Irakli Alasania believes two criminal investigations related to the Ministry of Defense and general staff of the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) was "obviously politically motivated”.
State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili announced his resignation during a live interview with the Georgian Maestro TV after receiving news of the dismissal of his political ally Defence Minister Irakli Alasania. Alasania was fired by the Prime Minister last evening.
Georgia’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) has once again been brought into the public spotlight after the Chief Prosecutors Office announced negligence charges against several Ministry officials today.
Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili says he is confident Georgia’s domestic and foreign policy was clearly defined and any suggestion that there is a threat to the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration are unreasonable.
European Union (EU) Ambassador to Georgia Janos Herman is responding to the political developments in Georgia and says he is confident in Georgia’s European integration.