it is 4.30 in the morning, time now for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in france and havi
welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, salome zourabichvili. does georgia currently have more in common with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in
welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. not so long ago, western powers viewed georgia as a trailblazer for political and economic freedom in the troubled caucasus region. there was talk of the possibility of eventual eu membership or maybe nato. now, well, the talk is of darker trends authoritarianism, repression of opposition and nagging questions about russia s influence. my guest is georgia s president, salome zourabichvili. does georgia currently have more in common with belarus than belgium? president salome zourabichvili in tbilisi. thank you for having me on hardtalk. it is a great pleasure having you on the show. let me ask you a question about your own past. not so long ago, you were the french ambassador in tbilisi, representing france. in that position, what do you think you would have made of the politics of georgia today? first of all, it was 15 years ago that i was the french ambassador to georgia, after having been a daughter of a georgian emigre family in
Issue that weighs on them is this something that theyre thinking about you know they think about pensions they think about education they think about digitization in germany where behind on that they think. About the International Situation with lydia putin and mr elder one and mr trump thats what varies them bricks it is very far from my constituents minds in the west of germany so in terms of a no deal brags that it will have no effect on germany feel it will have an effect on our businesses because britain is an important Business Partner it will have an effect on people students who attend British Universities for example ive come from a University Town these are the ones who are going to be affected but by and large generally speaking the broader public in germany i feel will not you know feel a dramatic difference how do you see things evolve well im an optimist by nature and so i believe and having spent a couple of years in the e. U. Indeed i know that deals always reached at t
of the state coaches. it was built in 2014. it was tied to queen elizabeth s diamond jubilee. it has heating and air conditioning and a suspension system and electric windows so, as far as coaches go, that one actually should be a much more comfortable ride than the very ornate gold state coach that was built in 1760. thousands of opposition supporters have rallied outside the parliament in tbilisi, waving georgian, ukrainian and european union flags. the rally was organised by the party of the jailed ex president mikheil saakashvili. their demands include freeing political prisoners and implementing reforms brussels says are needed for georgia to get a formal eu candidate status. the government s been accused ofjailing political opponents, silencing independent media and taking orders from the kremlin. now to yemen, where delegations from saudi arabia and 0man are holding peace talks with yemen s houthi rebels, aimed at reaching a ceasefire there. this isn t the first attempt but it s