Hurriyet Daily has published an article headlined “US official warns of Russia in breakaway Georgian regions”, concerning the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The article quotes a top U.S. State Department as saying that the lack of Moscow’s full transparency about its military presence in the region is a problem. The article also tells that, according to Civil Georgia news outlet, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Gordon has raised concerns that international monitoring in the region, including the EU Monitoring Mission, or EUMM, was limited to the “undisputed” part of Georgia, leaving observers with “little idea” about developments in the breakaway regions.
The Hurriyet Daily has also published an article headlined “The US 'seizing our freedom,' says Georgia's opposition”, dealing with the oppositionists’ opinions on Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The article quotes Erosi Kitsmarishvili, one of the founders of the opposition Georgian Party, referring to Civil Georgia:
“We believe that Russia has seized our territories, but by this support [for Saakashvili], the U.S. administration is seizing our freedom, our sovereign right of free choice in our internal political affairs”.
Reuters quotes Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek:" Europe appoints the head of the IMF. This must change. The centre of gravity of the world is moving from west to eas.t.
Reuters also says that, according to a EU diplomat, the European Union is expected to significantly expand its sanctions against Iran on Monday, adding about 100 companies to its embargo list. The news agency also mentions that another diplomat said: "Among those companies is the European Iranian Bank. There would now be enough evidence that the bank financed companies involved in Iran's nuclear programme."
