The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili will pay a visit to Batumi and attend the Conference of European Constitutional Courts’ XVII Congress on the topic of the "Role of Constitutional Courts in upholding and applying Constitutional Principles".
President Margvelashvili will deliver a speech at the conference and address chairmen of more than 40 European countries’ constitutional courts.
Official reception will be held for the participants of the conference, on behalf of President Margvelashvili.
Aside the member states of the European constitutional courts, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, Mr. Gianni Buquicchio will also take part in the conference. Mr. Buquicchio will hold a meeting with President Margvelashvili on June 29 and discuss issues related to the constitutional reform of Georgia.

The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has not considered the request of the Chairman of the Parliament, Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze to convene the special session and called on the Parliament not to adopt uncoordinated constitutional amendments in the accelerated manner.
"My refusal has a political content. I call on the Parliament not to adopt uncoordinated amendments in the accelerated manner. I encourage the Parliament to return to the recommendations and remarks suggested by the Venice Commission and propose the improved version of the Constitution. Let us create a document of agreement; the document that will be based on consensus and the fundamental principles proposed by the Venice Commission. We should not cause problems for the development of the Georgian democracy.
I hope that in this difficult period, respected deputies, the Parliamentary majority will not get involved in this extremely accelerated regime and continue to discuss the Constitution according to the principles that I have proposed", - stated President Margvelashvili.
The President has also assessed yesterday's decision of the parliamentary majority regarding the constitutional reform as an amendment that aims at reducing the power of the President’s Institute.
"Refusal of a transition to the proportional system - this amendment entirely changes the proposed project of the constitutional reform, which has been discussed by the Georgian society and the Venice Commission.
The name itself - fundamental amendments to the Constitution - and our expectation imply that the Georgian society would have taken another step in improving the Constitution; however, the only fundamental change which was made, was reducing the power of the President’s Institute. This concerns to the indirect presidential election system, functions and rights of a commander-in-chief and abolition of the National Security Council, all included in the draft; overall, all issues that we have been discussing from the very beginning when the Constitutional Commission was formed. This is a version of the Constitution, which has been adopted as a result of the attitude, directed against the President’s Institute”, - pointed out the President.

The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has held a meeting with the Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Mr. Stepan Poltorak, as a part of his two-day official visit to Georgia.
The parties have discussed Georgia-Ukraine bilateral cooperation in the area of defense and the prospects of further strengthening these relations.
President Margvelashvili has reaffirmed his strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and pointed out that Georgia and Ukraine face similar threats and aggression from Russia and share common goals in the foreign policy.
According to the President, Georgia condemns aggressive and illegal actions taken by the Russian Federation in Ukraine and will continue to support Ukraine in all formats.
On behalf of the President of Ukraine, Mr. Poltorak has thanked President Margvelashvili for his personal contribution in supporting Ukraine at the international arena.
The conversation has also touched upon the preparation for the prospective visit of the President of Ukraine to Georgia, which will be held in the nearest future.
The meeting has also been attended by the Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia Mr. Giorgi Abashishvili, the Secretary of the National Security Council of Georgia Mr. Davit Rakviashvili, the Minister of Defence of Georgia Mr. Levan Izoria, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Mr. Vladimer Chachibaia and the Secretary of the President of Georgia for Foreign Affairs Mr. Tengiz Pkhaladze.

South Koreans are voting in a presidential election, called early after a huge corruption scandal brought down their former leader. Liberal Moon Jae-in is the clear front-runner with centrist Ahn Cheol-soo his nearest challenger. The election is being closely watched at a time of economic uncertainty and heightened tensions with North Korea. Mr Moon wants to increase contact with the North in contrast to ex-leader Park Geun-hye who cut almost all ties.
Observers are expecting a high turnout at the ballot boxes, with numbers boosted by younger voters, as South Koreans choose from 13 candidates.
Polls close at 20:00 local time (11:00 GMT), with the winner expected to be announced soon after.
source:BBC.com

The Belt and Road cooperative initiative, proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims at promoting multi-beneficial development via enhancing international cooperation, docking development strategies and utilizing complimentary advantages. The Belt and Road Initiative has progressed successfully for more than 3 years. It has become an important international public goods, with broad international cooperative consensus reached, a number of important early outcomes harvested.
To further strengthen the docking of development strategies of countries, and to deepen pragmatic cooperation, the Chinese side will host the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14th and 15th, 2017 in Beijing. It will be an important cooperative platform for each side to jointly discuss and construct the Belt and Road as well as to share mutual beneficial cooperation outcomes, thus is highly concerned by international community.
The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, with openness, inclusiveness and mutual beneficial being its notion, welcomes friends from all over the world. There are more than 100 countries and international organizations, which support and actively participate in the Belt and Road initiative. It is far beyond the traditional understanding of regions along the road. It was extednded westward to the western part of European and Africa, southward to Australia and New Zealand, eastward to South Pacific and Latin America. As a matter of fact, any country agrees the Silkroad spirit of peaceful cooperation, openness, inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual beneficial, is welcome to be a partner.
On the invitation of the Chinese government, 28 Heads of States and Governments, as well as officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, financiers, journalists from 110 countries have confirmed their participation, including 9 Vice Prime-Ministers, 7 Foreign Minister, 190 Minister-level officials from 92 countries. In addition, 89 leaders and representatives of 61 international organizations will take part as well. Altogether, participants will exceed 1200.
The Belt and Road cooperation between China and Georgia had a good start. Georgia is an important partner of the Belt and Road Initiative, who made great contribution to cooperation in associated areas. H.E. Mr. Kumisishvili, First Vice Prime-Minister and Finance Minister of Georgia, and H.E. Mr. Gakharia, Economy Minister of Georgia will join the high-level meeting of the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation this time. The high-level meeting is an important part of the forum, which aims at enhancing exchanges among government, industry and academia, so as to promote pragmatic cooperation in related fields. The Chinese side believes and hopes that First Vice Prime-Minister Kumsishvili and Minister Gakharia, will discuss issues of common interests and cooperation potential with parties, to achieve more pragmatic cooperation outcomes.

The Chairman of Parliament, Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze held the meeting with the President of the Senate of Philippines, Aquilino Pimentel III. The parties discussed bilateral relations. Mr. Kobakhidze offered set up of Friendship Group for intensification of inter-Parliamentary cooperation.
The parties noted importance of Friendship group cooperation, exchange visits and sharing experience. Mr. Kobakhidze introduced the ongoing reforms in Georgia and expressed commitment for sharing experience.
The parties discussed cooperation in various spheres, including tourism. Mr. Irakli Kobakhidze participates in the IPU 136th Assembly in Bangladesh. Simultaneously, he holds the bilateral high rank meetings.

The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has vetoed the so-called draft law on wiretapping and sent it, together with motivated remarks, back to the Parliament. As the President pointed out at the press conference, held today at the Presidential Palace, the time has come all to realize that Presidential vetoes are not difficult to override and work to develop a better legislation. “I am sending back the so-called draft law on wiretapping with my motivated remarks to the Parliament. This legislative package includes a number of controversial issues, but as a result of our consultations and cooperation, we have identified its two major shortcomings: firstly, independence of the Agency, according to the draft law, is not ensured; therefore, it contradicts the decision of the Constitutional Court, made on this issue. Secondly, this draft law imposes unnecessary and unpredictable costs to the communication companies. I would like to remind everyone that this legislation has a history. On November 29, 2014, I vetoed the same draft law. The Parliamentary majority overrode my veto and informed public about it, as if it was a great triumph. But soon the Constitutional Court suspended the law and today we work within the given deadline of the Constitutional Court, which ordered the Parliament to develop a new law until March 31, 2017. I would like to remind the public about the history of vetoes, as we are once again discussing this topic. I vetoed the draft law on the National Bank and in couple of days I received a new draft law on the same issue. I would like to remind you that the Parliamentary majority, then too, informed public about overriding this veto with a great success, but soon the Constitutional Court suspended the law. Now we see another draft law, which literally repeats the points that I have written in the veto and which were overridden with such a great triumph by the majority. On January 25, I vetoed the draft law on courts of general jurisdiction. Then, too, the Parliamentary majority informed public that the veto was overridden and it was a step taken forward; however, very soon, on February 15, the Constitutional Court suspended one of the points of the draft law, considered in my veto. Society can observe the history of vetoes and the outcomes that not only the Parliamentary majority, but the entire country receive once they are overridden. Now, I would like to address the Parliamentary majority, the Constitutional majority, as I have often heard statements that this veto will also be overridden. Dear members of the majority, I know that you have a Constitutional majority and the entire Georgian society is aware of this. Everyone knows that this veto can be overridden, but in the process of writing the veto, before adopting the draft law, we were holding consultations with non-governmental organizations, political parties, as well as companies involved in this field. During the process of writing the veto, we were calling on the majority to hold consultations with us; therefore, we know that the “Georgian Dream” can override this veto; the time has come all to realize that Presidential vetoes are not difficult to override and work to develop a better legislation. The time has come to examine this draft law and our motivated remarks in details and instead of demonstrating how this veto is overridden, develop a better legislation for Georgia”, - stated the President.

The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has begun to hold consultations with parliamentary factions on the draft law on wiretapping. The Administration of the President of Georgia has invited all parliamentary factions; however, the ruling party has not yet responded to the proposal. The President has held a meeting with the representatives of the “European Georgia”, heard their views and shared own perspectives on the draft law on wiretapping. The President will also hold a meeting with the members of the “United National Movement” today, while with the representatives of the “Alliance of Patriots of Georgia” tomorrow.

It is the deliberate attempt to mislead the society and discredit the State Constitutional Commission. I cannot give any other estimation but this, which is grave for me – to the statement of the President, as the Chairman stated at the joint sitting of the SCC. He noted that the position declared in the SCC regarding the election of the President was based on prevention of any of the decisions to be based on the subjective opinions. “According to our position, the next Presidential elections should be held in direct manner followed with transition to the indirect elections”, - he stated. The Commission practically omits the status of the President and the respective agreement has been achieved. In the statements concerning the authorities of the President, the Chairman noted that the changes are minimal. “The authorities of the President are restricted at the extent on the basis of the changes of 2010 that even we had this intention we would not be able to adopt any essential changes in view of restriction of the Presidential authorities”. Deriving, the statement that the only objective of the Commission allegedly is to restrict authority of one particular politician is a deliberate misleading of the society. “We deal with the deliberate attempt to discredit the Commission. No one shall mislead the society in such form. I cannot give any other estimation to this fact”. The statement of the President that “with support of the President we were forced by the society to transit to the indirect elections only after conduct of the direct elections next year”, was incorrect. The Chairman noted that if the President further makes incorrect statements, the position might be revised and the direct Presidential elections might not be held next year. “We took lots of things into account. Deriving from the systemic approach, we presume that it would be preferable to transit to the indirect elections of the President and this opinion is based on the common approach. One of the reasons we introduced this position - direct elections followed with indirect elections – was that we took the position of the President into account and thus made our choice for the two-stage reform. If the President continues making incorrect statements and if tries to mislead the society, we might think of revision of the position to omit the direct elections next year and transit to the indirect elections”.

As a part of the official visit to the Republic of Belarus, the President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has held a tete-a-tete meeting with the President of the Republic of Belarus, H.E. Aleksandr Lukashenko. The meeting was mainly focused on the prospects of further strengthening cooperation in political, trade-economic, and cultural areas. One of the main talking points was the issues of regional security. The parties have also discussed the situation in the occupied territories of Georgia. President Margvelashvili has thanked President Lukashenko for his support of Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and non-recognition policy. According to President Margvelashvili, by signing the so-called Treaty on Alliance and Integration, the Russian Federation has begun annexation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region. If conducted, the announced referendum on integrating Tskhinvali to the Russian Federation will have extremely negative outcomes for the security of Georgia and the entire region. President Margvelashvili has underscored the extreme importance of the international community’s firm position in regard to illegal actions taken by the Russian Federation, in order to avoid annexation of the occupied territories of Georgia. The President of Georgia has expressed concern on the fact that Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region are still inaccessible for the international community and the European Union Monitoring Mission is the only international mechanism on site, which, despite the mandate, is not allowed to enter the occupied territories of Georgia. This further worsens the situation of human rights. The conversation has also touched upon the incident that took place on May 19, 2016 in the village Khurcha. The parties have also discussed the growing dynamics of economic and trade relations between Georgia and the Republic of Belarus and the importance of further strengthening this cooperation. According to President Margvelashvili, Georgian side expresses readiness to share its experience in regard to economic reforms, e-governance, and fight against corruption with Belarusian colleagues. As noted at the meeting, the Republic of Belarus is interested in those opportunities, which Georgia opens up for its partners through the Free Trade Area Agreement (DCFTA) and active cooperation with other regions. The two presidents have also expressed their readiness to strengthen cooperation in the areas of education and innovation. As highlighted at the meeting, opening of the Embassy of the Republic of Belarus to Georgia, announced in April, 2015 during President Lukashenko's visit to Georgia, significantly contributes to the further development of bilateral relations between the two countries. The parties have expressed hope that this visit will further strengthen the existing relationship between Georgia and the Republic of Belarus.