Salome zourabichvili, welcome to hardtalk. Thank you for having me for the third time. Do you think that russia wants control of georgia . Russia wants control of not only georgia, but probably parts of europe. It has its. Old ambitions and old aspirations of remaining as an imperialist state. But should we be thinking about what russia wants or what we want . Well, the last time that you came on hardtalk, which was at a time when russia was on the back foot in ukraine, it was the end of 2022. You said you didnt think russia would invade georgia. The situation in ukraine looks very different now. And i wonder if you fear for georgia, particularly if President Putin is successful in ukraine . Well, i think that we should, again, all fear if President Putin is successful in ukraine. But i dont think that he is successful in ukraine. He has been losing in ukraine all his first ambitions, Strategic Ambitions taking kyiv, dividing the government and the population, dividing ukraine from eur
Thank you for having me for the third time. Do you think that russia wants control of georgia . Russia wants control of not only georgia, but probably parts of europe. It has its. Old ambitions and old aspirations of remaining as an imperialist state. But should we be thinking about what russia wants or what we want . Well, the last time that you came on hardtalk, which was at a time when russia was on the back foot in ukraine, it was the end of 2022. You said you didnt think russia would invade georgia. The situation in ukraine looks very different now. And i wonder if you fear for georgia, particularly if President Putin is successful in ukraine . Well, i think that we should, again, all fear if President Putin is successful in ukraine. But i dont think that he is successful in ukraine. He has been losing in ukraine all his first ambitions, Strategic Ambitions taking kyiv, dividing the government and the population, dividing ukraine from europe, Dividing European between themselves,
Spending around ten or 20 lower in real terms than it was in 2010. Other parts of the Public Sector are spending more. Finally we need to note that demand for services are going up with the population getting older and growing. Many people have needs they have to have where councils have to provide services. In a sense it has reduced resources and greater demand. And in the end some way will have to be found in National Politics to change the Local Government funding model or get Local Government doing less. To Local Government funding model is very different in other countries. It certainly is. In other countries you have a local income taxes. In scandinavia, famously, norway, sweden and denmark, local income taxes. Even in the united states, more local taxes are available so local decisions are made. Thats another issue. What Local Governments spend is heavily constrained by Central Government, and Central Government has wanted Local Government to cut its spending over time and that
Cases, he could face a fourth before the month is out. Were following Economic News this morning, with the latest jobs report telling us about the economy, three days after the u. S. Had its Credit Rating downgraded. At the southern border, the humanitarian crisis intensifies after a body was found inside the floating barrier in the rio grande meant to keep migrants from crossing into the u. S. Plus, two american sailors facing serious charges this morning, accused of spying on the u. S. For china in exchange for thousands of dollars. And taylor swifts monster sold out concert tour has more dates and what is predicted to be the most successful tour of all time. This morning, former President Trump back at his new jersey home in bedminster after spending an historic day in a washington, d. C. Courtroom. Trump pleaded not guilty to four felony counts related to efforts to thwart the transfer of power after the 2020 election. In brief remarks to the press, the former president called his
Brazen theft sweeping the country. Snne are the days wheny. Ne are shoplifting meant putting a snickers in your pocket, tellr youre justet then glad to see them ill. Now, shoplifting means shopl lifting the whole shop at oncee and humiliating you in the process. Roll itce and. We want to go over to the wizard of cabinets. Hey, can i get solution . Let me get this. Most brothers and brother back, please. That is what im going. Oh, this is me. You know you can do that, but its not going to do it. Theyre not going to do nothing. You just have to do your plan yourselves. Common. E so what . Do you have access . Yeah. You got to know that hurts you have some money. And now you could do thatin with an Antique Applg you e appliance. Oh, no, no, no, no. I know you could do an answer for this. Tch, come on. No, no, i don t. I know you do now. Its infuriating to watch, right . Yeah. Yeah. Even worse, it got me in the mood for a smoke [laual the but we all feel how the peoplett in that store must