GEORGIA TO HOLD MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
Georgia will hold mayoral and legislative elections in 64 cities and regions on Saturday. Voting will take place amid growing controversy between the ruling Georgian Dream party (GD) and the largest opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), over the EU-brokered April 19 agreement, which committed the GD to holding snap parliamentary elections next year if it does not garner 45% of the vote now.
In July, the GD withdrew from the deal and ruled out any possibility of holding snap elections, while the UNM signed the deal on September 2 and denounced the GD’s withdrawal as an open rejection by the ruling party of pro-Western foreign policy.
The ruling party was further tested on Friday by the return of ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, with strong pro-Western stances, after eight years of absence. Saakashvili was arrested, as he had been wanted by the Georgian government on abuse of office charges, which he said were politically motivated.
CULTURAL FESTIVAL ‘RUSSIAN SEASONS – 2021’ TO START IN SOUTH KOREA
The opening ceremony of the international cultural project “Russian seasons – 2021” will take place in Seoul on Saturday. The festival, scheduled to continue from October 2-8 in five cities of South Korea, will include the concerts of the Moscow Soloists chamber ensemble under the baton of Yuri Bashmet and the South Korean pianist and organist Jo Jae-hyuk.
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ATTEND ASSEMBLY OF COUNCIL OF FOREIGN, DEFENSE POLICY
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will take part in the 19th edition of the annual Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy. The summit will take place from October 2-3 and discuss Russia’s affairs in the context of most topical international developments. Participants are expected to include prominent academia members, diplomats, military officials, entrepreneurs and media.
EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER TO ARRIVE IN MOSCOW ON WORKING VISIT
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry will arrive in Moscow on a three-day working visit on Sunday.
On Monday, Shoukry is scheduled to hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
MOLDOVAN AUTONOMUS REGION OF GAGAUZIA TO HOLD SECOND ROUND OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
The southern Moldovan autonomous region of Gagauzia will hold the second round of elections to the regional parliament, the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia, on Sunday.
Voters will elect 17 more members of parliament, in addition to the 18 already elected in the first round, which took place on September 19.
ITALY TO HOLD FIRST ROUND OF MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS
Italy will hold the first round of municipal elections from October 3-4, with 1,293 out of 7,903 Italian municipalities holding elections for mayors and city councils this year, including such major cities as Rome, Milan, Naples, Turin, Trieste and Bologna.
The elections were originally scheduled for the spring this year, but were postponed by the national government due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
PAKISTAN TO HOST ANTI-TERROR EXERCISE OF SCO MEMBERS, INDIA INCLUDED
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states will start a joint exercise dubbed Pabbi-Antiterror-2021 in Pabbi, northern Pakistan, from October 3, with India’s military expected to join the exercise on the Pakistani territory for the first time,
The joint counterterrorist exercise is aimed at promoting cooperation between SCO member states, comprising China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
