Georgia's NATO aspirations didn't exactly get a ringing endorsement from a State Department official at a Congressional hearing Thursday previewing next month's alliance summit in Chicago. U.S. officials have been hinting that Georgia would get some sort of reward at the summit for their recent constructive steps, like compromising with the Kremlin on Russia's bid for the World Trade Organization. As the U.S.'s next ambassador to Tbilbisi, Richard Norland, said at his confirmation hearing last month:
"Serious efforts” were being undertaken by the U.S. administration to use upcoming NATO summit in Chicago “to signal acknowledgment for Georgia’s progress in these areas and to work with the Allies to develop a consensus on the next steps forward.”
That reward won't be a NATO Membership Action Plan, the holy grail for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and a virtual guarantee of future membership. But Washington still wants to signal to Georgia that they are valued -- they are, after all, the highest per-capita troop contributor to the coalition in Afghanistan -- while continuing to press them on political reforms. Norland said that the conduct of upcoming elections would be a "litmus test" for Georgia's NATO aspirations: parliamentary elections will be held this year and presidential elections next year, and Saakashvili appears determined to throw up as many obstacles as he can to his main opponent.
“So, this is a family situation,” the police officers commented, mockingly, after realizing that the fight they had come to break up was between a female couple. “So, which one of you is a guy and which one is a girl?” they asked, according to a report on Georgian lesbian, bisexual and transgender women.
The report, prepared by the Women’s Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG), describes the lives of LBT women as mostly closeted, lived in the shadow of the social mainstream, and surrounded by discrimination and various phobias.
The problems start inside families, which, in Georgia, often means an extended network of relatives actively monitoring younger members’ personal lives. One young lesbian respondent told WISG that, after finding out about her sexual orientation, her family placed her under tight control.
“I don’t have a job and I cannot live on my own,” she said. “The only way out that I see is to get married… I want to marry some gay man, so he can do his thing and I will do mine.”
Opinion polls have shown that 90 percent of Georgians persistently disapprove of homosexuality. But while issues related to gay men do make it into public discourse occasionally (though the national media mostly explore the topics for their scandal value), fear of ostracism, ridicule and/or violence means the LBT community maintains a much lower profile.
The Estonian Swan drone, above, and its Georgian younger brother, below.
Georgia made a splash last week when it rolled out what it said was its first domestically produced drone aircraft. “No one will share this [pointing to the Georgian-made drone] with others; it’s ours," said President Mikheil Saakashvili, at its unveiling. "We no longer depend on others.”
But now it's emerged that the drone may not be quite as homegrown as was originally presented. A variety of observers have noticed a strong similarity between the Georgian drone and the Swan, a UAV produced by Estonian company ELI. (See here for some more photos of both.) Even the digital camouflage pattern on the ground control system (visible at about 0:41 of the video in the original post) seems to be the same pattern used by Estonian armed forces.
Irakli Aladashvili, the editor of a Georgian military magazine, says the drone does in fact appear to be a close relative of the Estonian. Writing in the newspaper Kviris Palitra (below translation from BBC Monitoring), he says:
A detailed study showed that the Georgian unmanned aircraft presented last week looks very similar to the Estonian one, which makes us think that the unmanned aircraft christened as Georgian, might be made under the license of Estonian ELI. Suspicion is deepened by the camouflage cover of the computer of the land complex for the control of the pilotless aircraft. This kind of camouflage is typical only of the Estonian Army.
Saakashvili examines the fruits of Georgia's defense industry in a visit to the "Delta" defense plant in Tbilisi.
Georgia showed off its new domestically produced drone last week, a symbolic step in the development of the country's nascent defense industry. But President Mikheil Saakashvili has much bigger plans for the country's military-industrial complex, he has revealed, including an armed drone -- by next year -- and air defense systems.
Saakashvili laid out the plans in a speech at a state-run defense factory in Tbilisi, as reported by Civil.ge:
“I am sure that if we work well we will make air defense system too,” he continued. “Yesterday when we tested unmanned [aerial vehicle], some thought it was a toy… Go and buy if you can such a ‘toy’, which can fly for eight hours, equipped with cameras capable to capture images at night,”
“From next year we will have similar [drone], but capable to carry arms… and it will be much more efficient then old Russian [ground] attack aircraft,” Saakashvili said.
Saakashvili, who invoked Singapore as a model for Georgia's defense industry to follow, also said that the country was in "serious talks" about exporting its Didgori and Lazika armored vehicles.
At the same speech, though, Saakashvili said Georgia would also be relying on a lower-tech means of defense: a volunteer reserve force, which will grow from about 70,000 members this summer to 150,000 next year. Again, from Civil.ge:
President Mikheil Saakashvili has unveiled Georgia's first domestically produced drone aircraft. The drone is designed for reconnaissance and surveillance, with a photo and infrared camera, and Saakashvili said that it being homegrown means that "no one will share this with others," apparently referring to an embarrassing episode with previous UAVs that Georgia bought from Israel. After selling the drones to Georgia, Israel reportedly gave Russia data link codes that allowed the Russians to hack into the Georgian drones. The Georgian government hasn't publicly confirmed those reports, but Saakashvili surely had them in mind when speaking at the drone's launch, reports Civil.ge:
“When you make procurement from abroad a seller may not give you a full technology or may share technology [bought] by you to your adversary,” Saakashvili said at a presentation of the drone. “No one will share this [pointing to the Georgian-made drone] with others; it’s ours… We no longer depend on others.”
The drone can fly for eight hours, reach an altitude of 3,000 meters and reach a top speed of 160 km/hour, Georgia says. The Georgian Ministry of Defense has video of the demonstration here (and which you can see below). I asked a UAV expert, who asked not to be named, what he thought. He was impressed, but doubted that it was as homegrown as was being portrayed:
Georgians have long laid claim to being the first winemakers in the world, but could they also be pioneer beekeepers? After a thorough examination of some five-millennia-plus-old jars unearthed in Georgia, archeologists have declared that the artifacts contain the world’s oldest honey.
The honey stains found in the ceramic vessels, found 170 kilometers west of Tbilisi, are believed to be made by bees that buzzed around in Georgia 5,500 years ago -- some 2,000 years older than the honey found in Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s tomb, which had been considered the oldest before, Rustavi2 proudly pointed out.
As in ancient Egypt, in ancient Georgia, honey was apparently packed for people's journeys into the afterlife. And more than one type, too -- along for the trip were linden, berry, and a meadow-flower variety.
The honey vessels, two human teeth and other artifacts were found in the tomb of an apparent female noblewoman, which was discovered in 2003 during the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
Georgian opposition politician Bidzina Ivanishvili is paying tens of thousands of dollars a month to Washington lobbyists, and it looks like it's already paying off. On Monday, Jim McDermott, a Democratic congressman from Washington state, introduced the "Republic of Georgia Democracy Act of 2012," which would require the U.S. to cut off all aid (military and otherwise) to Georgia unless the Secretary of State can certify that parliamentary elections scheduled in October are carried out in a free, fair and competitive manner. That fits with a recent rhetorical push by U.S. officials to impress upon Georgia's government the extent to which Washington is watching the conduct of its elections. The penalty may seem a bit harsh, though: when was the last time Bahrain -- to pick another prominent U.S. military aid recipient -- had a free election?
But what's most striking about the bill is its emphasis on Ivanishvili. The bill mentions the billionaire businessman no fewer than 13 times in its nine pages, without mentioning any other politician (other than President MIkheil Saakashvili, referring to his "increasingly dictatorial control over Georgia's government" and several times to the "Saakashvili regime"). It details the revocation of Ivanishvili's citizenship, the financial harassment of Ivanishvili and the suspicious death of an Ivanishvili supporter while in jail. Unsurprisingly, the bill's text was sent to The Bug Pit by a PR firm working for Ivanishvili. (The bill, introduced only Monday, does not appear to be online yet, I'll update with a link when it is.)
The U.S. sees Georgia's upcoming elections as a "litmus test" for its entry into NATO, the presumed next ambassador to Tbilisi said. The nominee for ambassador, Richard Norland, testified at his confirmation hearing in the Senate on Wednesday, and used the phrase "litmus test" twice, according to a report by Civil.ge:
“Given Georgia’s interests and Georgia’s aspirations to NATO membership and our support for those aspirations, how these elections are conducted is a very important litmus test and we’ll be watching carefully to make sure that the way these elections unfold are in keeping in NATO standards.”
“The Europe and the United States are closely watching the conduct of these elections to determine whether they meet the criteria that are expected of a NATO-member country,” Norland said...
“I think Georgian officials are beginning to understand, that in fact they are being watched, that this is being monitored closely and that it is a litmus test for their membership to NATO. We hope that they will take the right steps,” Norland said.
He had pretty strong words on the current state of political freedom in Tbilisi:
“There are reports of harassment of opposition candidates that trouble us deeply,” Norland said.
He said that the role of the Georgian state audit agency “Chamber of Control in party financing is drawing a lot of concern in Georgia and in the international community.”
President Mikheil Saakashvilii watches the Agile Spirit exercises with Lt Col. Richard Coates, commanding officer of the U.S. Marine contingent at the exercise.
U.S. Marines and Georgian soldiers are conducting joint military exercises and, in a development that everyone saw coming, it's become controversial, with Russia calling it a "provocation."
The exercises include 350 Marines and 400 Georgian troops and are scheduled to end Wednesday after nine days of drills. The U.S. contingent is part of the Romania-based Black Sea Rotational Force. Their goal is to build military-military relations with the Georgians, while the Georgians are training to go to Afghanistan. From a Marine Corps press release:
"We have a little different way of doing things but we all learn by training and experience, so it’s good for us to share," said Sgt. Besiki Gabeshuili, 26, Company Sergeant, Company A, 42nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade. "This is my third time doing this type of training with the Marines and we are very excited because the experience helps prepare us to work together in the future."
The Marines and soldiers took a break from the ranges on the fourth day for weapons maintenance, hygiene and to prepare for the second half of the training. During the next three days Marines and Georgian soldiers participated in specialized classes consisting of cordon and search techniques, convoy tactics, counter improvised explosive device tactics, convoy operations and the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.
Sounds routine enough, but not to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, via Civil.ge:
Anyone who’s visited Istanbul knows the city is full of delicious food. But sometimes finding fare that’s not Turkish can be a challenge. Those longing for the delectable tastes of perfectly spiced khinkali, melt-in-your-mouth khachapuri, and the fresh-grape goodness of a genuine chacha shot, won’t regret going a little off the beaten path to a neighborhood bustling with visitors, traders, and émigrés from the former Soviet Union.
Café Euro, opened six years ago, serves up Georgian cuisine, one of the tastiest culinary traditions known in the Russian-speaking world. There is no menu per se. Proprietor Eka Pruidze will tell you what’s available, and whatever you order, she’ll say it won’t possibly be enough to sate you.
One specialty you’re likely to find is khachapuri, a flat bread baked with fresh, slightly salty Georgian cheese and brought to your table piping hot. Khachapuri comes in different varieties. The default at Café Euro is imeruli, hailing from Eka’s native region of Imeretia. It is round and sliced into wedges that can easily be folded around fresh parsley or scallions. But you can also order the canoe-shaped adjaruli variety, which comes with an egg (or several, Eka will offer) cooked sunny-side-up atop the cheese filling. Few eating experiences are as gratifying as breaking off a dangerously hot piece of the crisp, doughy crust and dipping it into the khachapuri’s steaming, golden middle.
