Tbilisi, DFWatch – Lithuanian President, President of Federal Council of Austria, Vice Speaker of Parliament of Czech Republic, also Secretary General of OSCE and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative in South Caucasus and Central Asia are among the guests who will arrive to Georgia to attend inauguration ceremony of the newly elected president which will be held on Sunday in Tbilisi.
However, it is still unknown whether outgoing president, Mikheil Saakashvili, will attend the ceremony. Recently the chief of his administration said to journalists that Saakashvili’s attendance might be dependant on some preconditions.
According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, among the guests there are also Foreign Affair Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and Armenia , State Secretary of European Affairs of Portugal , Minster of Labor and Social Security of Turkey, Vice Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Economy Minister of Turkmenistan, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Moldova, Culture Minister of Qatar, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran and Deputy Interior Minister of Israel.
The list of guest from the partner countries may increase before the inauguration.
In an interview with the Russian media Grigory Karasin, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, confirmed that Russia’s official representatives won’t attend the ceremony.
He said it is impossible to participate in this ceremony without having diplomatic relations with Georgia.
“However I can tell that I will follow with great interest to the first statements of the Georgian President,” Karasin said.
President Mikheil Saakashvili and former president Eduard Shevardnadze are also invited. The latest may not attend the ceremony due to health issues.
Mikheil Saakashvili said he will attend the inauguration ceremony if the Georgian Dream coalition ‘will respect the state institutes.’
Few days ago he told journalists he would attend the ceremony in this case, but didn’t specify the details. On Wednesday head of his administration Andro Barnovi said that outgoing president had received invitation letter, but he didn’t know whether Mikheil Saakashvili plans to attend.
“If Giorgi Margvelashvili publicly reaffirms that Russia is an occupant, that they will pursue pro-Western course, that Georgia didn’t started the war, that Mikheil Saakashvili is not a man-eater… all these will have adequate response from Mikheil Saakashvili,” said Barnovi, according to IPN news agency.
Giorgi Margvelashvili, Georgian Dream coalition candidate, was elected as Georgia’s fourth president on election of October 27.
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