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November 5, 2014
By Elmira Tariverdiyeva
The developments in Georgia are yet another step to eliminate a pro-Western, pro-American prominent politician, according to Ariel Cohen, the Director of the Center for Energy, Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, and Principal of the International Market Analysis Ltd.
“Irakli Alasania has tremendous experience in the government and in the international arena. He did a lot for integration of Georgia in the Euro-Atlantic environment,” Cohen told Trend on Nov. 5.
The expert said many in Washington believe that prosecuting former senior officials of Georgia, starting with President Mikheil Saakashvili and now, Alasania, is wrong, as it turns a democracy into a vendetta.
Cohen added that Tbilisi was repeatedly warned not to engage in gratuitous prosecutions.
“The question is, whether Georgia is going to drift towards the membership in the Eurasian Union, possibly not even recouping the secessionist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or still find resources to proceed towards the Euro-Atlantic integration,” Cohen added.
Earlier, following a meeting of the political council of the ‘Georgian Dream’ bloc, the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili said he dismissed the Defense Minister Irakli Alasania.
After Alasania, his associates – the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili and Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze resigned as well.
Ariel Cohen is director of the Center for Energy Natural Resources and Geopolitics at the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security and principal at International Market Analysis, a political risk advisory firm in Washington, D.C.
http://en.trend.az/scaucasus/georgia/2330114.html