live UNGA: Kavelashvili says Georgia is open to 'any dialogue' amidst rising tensions with EU

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili has reiterated that they are open to any dialogue as tensions grow between Tbilisi and Brussels ahead of 4th October.

President  Mikheil Kavelashvili of Georgia addressed the United Nations assembly on Thursday highlighting continued support for the UN on the global stage and called on it to maintain international order 

Kavelasvili expressed solidarity for the people of Ukraine, citing the 2008 Russo-Georgian war. 

“Drawing on the bitter experience of the 2008 War, whose wounds have not yet healed for the Georgian people, we understand better than many the pain that the Ukrainian nation endures today. 

Now, as before, Georgia expresses its firm and unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.” he said.

He hailed President Donald Trump’s peace initiative between Armenia and Azerbaijan, as well as his efforts to end the Russia and Ukraine war. 

Kavelasvili expressed a need to deepen cooperation with major economies like the U.S., China and the EU stressing that Georgia “is open to any dialogue”. 

This comes against the backdrop of mounting tensions with the European Union ahead of the October 4 elections. 

YEMEN

Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi has called on the United Nations to 'prove to its members that international law is not a myth', in reference to the situation in both his country and in Gaza.

In his address, Al-Alimi echoed the Palestinian President saying, “The Palestinian cause lies at the heart of this issue as a wound that continues to bleed and the central cause of the Arab people.”

“We are here today not simply to speak of the epic confrontation of the Yemeni people against the violent and the most violent and arrogant of terrorist organisations,” al-Alimi said, referring to the Houthis.

“Yemen today is not simply a domestic crisis. Rather, it is a test of the credibility of the international organisation,” he said.

He added that people in Yemen “are living one of the greatest humanitarian crises, facing security threats that transcend our borders and spread to the region and the entire world”.

He condemned the actions of what he called 'Iran backed' Houthis and accused them of being armed with internationally banned weapons. Iran has denied arming the Houthis.

"The Yemeni economy has been facing complex challenges for years, but the Houthi terrorist attacks on oil facilities have deepened the financial crisis in an unprecedented manner, depriving the Yemeni people and their government of the main revenues directed to paying salaries and providing services.

The economic war waged by the militias is part of a broader hostile strategy aimed at weakening the government’s ability to provide basic services and pay public sector salaries, which further exacerbates the humanitarian crisis for more than 14 million Yemenis." he said.

The Yemeni government have battled militants from the Houthi group since 2014.

PALESTINE

Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine addressed the UNGA on Thursday, condemning the actions of Hamas and expressing gratitude for global support so far.

Abbas who gave his address via video link began by expresing gratitude to countries who have recognized the state of Palestine and urged other countries to do the same. He also said that Palestine was in the process of obtaining full membership of the United Nations. 

Speaking on the Thanked all brotherly states who have been sending in aides to Gaza and those who protested in support of Palestinian interest while rejecting the idea that solidarity with the Palestinian cause amounts to anti-semitism.

“Despite all what our people have suffered, we reject what Hamas carried out on the seventh of October,” Abbas has said during his address.

He said the targeting of Israeli citizens and hostage-taking does “not represent the Palestinian people, nor do they represent their just struggle for freedom and independence.

“We have affirmed, and we will continue to affirm, that the Gaza Strip is an integral part of the state of Palestine, and that we are ready to bear full responsibility for governance and security there.”

Abbas insisted that “Hamas will not have a role to play in governance,” saying that Hamas and other factions will have to hand over their weapons as part of the state-building process.

He listed what he termed the position of the Palestinian Authority as follows:

• End the war in Gaza
• Entry of Humanitarian aide through the United Nations organizations - to stop using starvation as a weapon 
• Release of all hostages and prisoners on both sides
• Complete withdrawal of Israel from the Gaza strip and rejection of plans for displacement and theft of Palestinian lands.- these are all unilateral actions that undermine the two state solution in the region
• The state of Palestine taking full responsibility for administering Gaza
• Guarantee that civillians in Gaza remain in ytheir land 
• Return of Palestinian tax money held unjustly by Israel.
• Lifting economic seige from Palestinian villages and refugee camps.

In his cosing remarks, he encouraged all Palestinians at home and those scattered abroad that "The dawn of freedom will emerge and the flag of Palestine will fly high in the skies. 

Jerusalem is our eternal capital; we will not leave our lands" He said.

MONTENEGRO

President Jakov Milatović of Montenegro has called for a ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza. He decried what he called the "unfolding humanitarian crises in Gaza".

At the same time, he condemned the october 7 actions of Hamas while also demanding the release of all hostages still held by the group. 

He called on the UN to be more agile in the future saying that it must maintain international rule of law over force.

Milatović also called on the UN to maintain its 3 key pillars namely peace and security, sustainable development and Human rights in order to increase trust in the institution's capability.

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