The European Union (EU) welcomes the Georgian authorities? decision to allow Imedi to resume broadcasting, Peter Semneby, the EU special representative for the South Caucasus, said on December 3.
?We very much welcome the statement by the acting president [Nino Burjanadze] today which we believe by the end of the week will remove question marks that we have had regarding media issues in run up to the presidential campaign,? he said.
The EU diplomat, who has been mediating to help resolve the Imedi impasse, did, however, sound a note of caution. He said the official decision to allow the station to resume broadcasting didn’t necessarily mean that Imedi would actually be on the air by Friday.
?I am not in the position to judge whether it will be technically possible for Imedi to start broadcasting on Friday. That is something that we have to determine after technicians inspect the premises on Wednesday,? Semneby said.
He suggested that legal proceedings were a possibility as a result of the police raid on the Imedi studios on November 7. As well as closing the station, there was allegedly extensive damage caused by the police.
?I do expect there will be questions raised related to compensation for material damage,” Semneby said. “But this is a secondary concern. What we have focused on in our talks with the government was measures to be taken in order to make it possible to get Imedi back on air.?
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