Clergy to be required to undergo compulsory military service in closure of loophole
Deputy Defence Minister of Georgia Grigol Giorgadze on Thursday met with the representatives of the State Agency for Religious Affairs and various religious organisations in the country. Photo: Defence Ministry press office
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Grigol Giorgadze, the Georgian Deputy Defence Minister, on Thursday told representatives of religious organisations in the country the new Defence Code was addressing a legal loophole that had allowed individuals to “evade” compulsory military service with the use of a “clergyman's certificate”, the Defence Ministry said.
Giorgadze said the new legislation - proposed by the Ministry last year and expected to be approved by the Parliament in the spring - would see clergy from all religious organisations required to undergo the compulsory service, and condemned a scheme advanced by the Girchi opposition party in 2017 that enabled those called to the service to evade it by obtaining a religious title from an organisation launched by the party.
The Minister stressed “no denomination” in the country would have the opportunity to use the new Code for facilitating evasion of service, but added the Ministry would enable the clergy to complete the required term in non-military, alternative labour conditions set out by the new law.
In the meeting, the religious figures presented their feedback they said could help further refine circumstances related to the matter in the new Code.
The new Defence Code also designates the Defence Ministry as the only body ensuring compulsory military service from 2025 - a task currently split between different state institutions - with the office offering six-, eight- and 11-month training programmes for recruits in accordance with their “career decisions”.
To make the service more flexible, students under the age of 23 will be able to apply for military training during their student years by joining a four-year programme with intensive training courses taking up only one month of their time annually.
The new regulations also address questions related to servicemembers, with the Government formally required to provide accommodation for those in service and increase compensation for those injured on duty.
Five servicemembers of the Georgian Defence Forces were on Tuesday awarded for their service as part of a Defence Ministry project aimed at raising motivation and combat readiness of the country’s military personnel, the state body said.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday announced “major changes” to the country’s defence system as part of the new defence code, which includes full transition of the compulsory military service to the Ministry of Defence mandate, requirement for the state to provide accommodation for servicemembers and their families, a “more flexible” military reserve system for students and moves to prevent evasion of service.
Georgian defence minister Juansher Burchuladze on Friday said his government was working on the purchase of anti-aircraft and anti-armor equipment.
Georgian defence minister Juansher Burchuladze on Friday thanked the country’s prime minister Irakli Garibashvili for his recent announcement on the increase in salaries for servicemembers and law enforcement officers by 20 percent starting in January, calling the move - “very important.”
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Sunday called Girchi opposition party an “anti-national movement” and said it was a disaster that they have been telling young individuals to become “false priests” in order to escape from the army.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the inaugural edition of Army Camp, a project at the Academy of Sergeants in Kojori near Tbilisi, would encourage “healthy lifestyle and correct values” in the country’s youth, in comments at the opening of the initiative that will host 800 schoolchildren through August.
Grigol Giorgadze, the Georgian Deputy Defence Minister, on Tuesday told the Parliament the country’s new Defence Code had been developed with an “active engagement” of foreign partners, and said the document was expected to increase Georgia’s interoperability with NATO.