Gov’t Administration says foreign policy “falls under Gov’t authority” after rejecting Presidential visits
Noting her office had asked the Government to approve the visit on July 12, the Government Administration added it had “officially” rejected the request on August 3 “in writing, according to a relevant article of the constitution”. Photo: Government Administration
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The Georgian Government Administration on Wednesday highlighted the country’s constitution designated its foreign policy conduct to the Government, after it rejected requests by the office of President Salome Zourabichvili for approving her visits to a number of countries.
The Administration said the President exercised “representative powers in foreign relations only with the consent of the Government”, in a comment that followed the Presidential office’s release on Wednesday of information about Zourabichvili’s upcoming visit to Germany.
Noting her office had asked the Government to approve the visit on July 12, the Government Administration added it had “officially” rejected the request on August 3 “in writing, according to a relevant article of the constitution”.
It also said it had denied requests from Zourabichvili for official visits to Ukraine, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Israel.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced plans to put Georgia and Moldova on the list of safe countries, Georgian media outlet IPN reported on Wednesday.
“Main directions” of the strategic partnership between Georgia and the United Kingdom, and prospects for future cooperation were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and a British Parliamentary delegation led by Jonathan Djanogly, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia in the British legislative body.
Relations between Georgia and the Netherlands, as well as the process of the former’s European integration were discussed on Friday in a meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and the newly appointed Dutch Ambassador Meline Arakelian.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Wednesday said he was certain that Belgium would be one of those countries that would support Georgia’s European integration “very openly and strongly”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday accused the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili of “gross violation” of the constitution through her departure on an official visit abroad without Government authorisation.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said the Political Council of the party had decided to initiate an impeachment procedure against President Salome Zourabichvili over her “gross violation” of the constitution through her departure on an official visit abroad without the Government’s authorisation.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday highlighted “the need to respect” the country’s constitution in what he called its “clear violation” by President Salome Zourabichvili through her departure on an official visit abroad without the Government’s authorisation.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Saturday said violation of the Georgian constitution by the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili, the “person who should be the main guarantor of the constitution”, could not be left without a reaction.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Monday accused the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili of having “deliberately violated” the constitution through her departure on official visits abroad without the Government's consent, and said the impeachment procedure initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party against her should be viewed “more rationally and with less emotion”.