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Georgia's PM says Democracy Coming to Former Soviet Countries
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=11876AC:3919ACA Zurab Noghaideli
addressed an executive meeting of the Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe Georgia's prime minister says his country is
forging ahead with political and economic reforms, but the United
States is calling for an acceleration of democratization in the former
soviet republic. Zurab Noghaideli addressed an executive meeting of
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Zurab Noghaideli told reporters that since the so-called Rose
Revolution of 2004, Georgia has gone a long way in combating
corruption and has introduced reforms that have been painful.

The Prime Minister said his country was firmly committed to European
democracy and added this would come to countries like Belarus too.

"I would think that the democratic development in Belarus is not
dependent on anybody outside. For instance Georgians have been
presented as the importers of revolution, but they just suddenly did
the rights thing, you cant import democracy and revolution from
abroad," he said. "But democratic development in Belarus is a matter
of time."

Belarus refused visas to OSCE election observers nominated by Georgia,
and two Georgian journalists are in detention in Minsk.

Prime Minister Noghaideli says elections are not enough on their own
and the democratic process underway in Georgia amounts to a second
revolution.

"Elections are only one and maybe not even the major part of
democratic process and democratic transformation," he added. "This is
the necessary precondition, but then you need sustainable and viable
institutions in place and that's what we are working on right now."

The prime minister cited progress in judicial reform and efforts to
abolish old soviet practices.

Ambassador Julie Finley, head of the U.S. delegation to the OSCE,
praised Georgia's progress in education and police reform, but called
for an acceleration of the work on judicial reform.

The OSCE has 55 participating states including the United States,
Belarus, and the Caucasus and Central Asian countries.