On May 10, Vladimir Putin signed decrees removing the need for Georgians to obtain visas to enter Russia, as well as allowing Russian airlines to operate flights to Georgia. What is behind the president’s decision and whether it is worth waiting for a thaw in relations between Moscow and Tbilisi, Russian media has figured out.
What is said in Putin’s decrees
On Wednesday May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted two decrees to lift the restrictions imposed on Georgia.
First of all decree abolishes the visa regime for citizens of Georgia – the rules for facilitated entry will come into force from May 15, 2023. Entry to Russia without a visa will now be possible on the basis of identity documents – a citizen’s passport Georgian, diplomatic passport, service passport, etc. At the same time, citizens of Georgia who wish to work, study or stay in Russia for more than 90 days will still need a visa.
The visa regime between Georgia and Russia was introduced in 2000. In 2012, the head of Tbilisi unilaterally abolished the visa regime for Russians – they can enter the country with a foreign passport and stay there for a year .
In 2015, Russia approved simplified visa rules for Georgian citizens, and in December of the same year Putin said he was ready to Cancel visa regime. In January 2016, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov underline that Russia is ready to abolish visas in the future, but “it’s a bit strange if this is discussed at a time when we don’t have diplomatic relations”. The official city of Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations with Russia in September 2008 after the military conflict in South Ossetia.
By another decree of May 10, the President of Russia bare a ban on Russian airline flights to Georgia. To forbid has been presented in July 2019, then started playing moratorium on flights of Georgian airlines to Russia. The restrictions were to remain in place until the situation in Georgia returns to normal and “any threat to the safety of our citizens” disappears, said in the summer of 2019, the Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov.
The Kremlin imposed restrictions on Georgia after protests over the behavior of Communist Party State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov. Then, during the opening of a meeting of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, which was held in the Georgian parliament, a Russian sat in the chair of the president, which outraged the parties of opposition – the United National Movement and European Georgia. Demonstrations began and demonstrators demanded the resignation of President Irakli Kobakhidze and the holding of early legislative elections. As a result, Kobakhidze resigned. In the Kremlin called the demonstrations in Tbilisi are “a Russophobic provocation which worries Moscow”.
Why Russia is canceling visas and restoring air traffic
The decision to relax entry rules has been prepared for a long time and was probably taken on a principled basis several years ago, said Nikolai Silaev, senior researcher at the Center for Caucasian Problems and Regional Security at MGIMO. “We were just waiting for a favorable news context, if I may say so,” the expert told Russian media.
First, the scandal with the “attack on a parliamentary delegation from Russia” in Tbilisi in 2019 prevented the decision, then the coronavirus pandemic occurred, followed by hostilities in Ukraine, notes Silaev. “I thought visas would be canceled after SVO ended, but we decided not to wait, and I think that’s fair, because you can postpone it indefinitely,” the analyst said.
How did Georgia react to the Russian move?
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called Moscow’s move a “provocation”. “Another Russian provocation! The resumption of direct flights and the abolition of the visa regime with Georgia are unacceptable as long as Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine and occupies our territory,” she wrote on Twitter.
Russian media sent a request to the Georgian Foreign Ministry with a request for comments on Russian measures to resume air traffic and abolish visas for Georgians.
In accordance with the Georgian Constitution, the president has no significant powers of authority and Zurabishvili “is trying to curry favor with the West”, explains Nikolai Silaev. “She is a French citizen herself, she is completely turned towards the West, towards the United States and the European Union, and she wants to show her loyalty to them. There is no longer any meaning in his statement, ”confides the analyst.
Despite Zurabishvili’s harsh statements about Russia, there are reasons to improve Russian-Georgian relations, admits Silaev. At the same time, it is important to avoid illusions about Georgian foreign policy, since Tbilisi is still oriented towards NATO membership and participation in the European Union, the analyst added. “No one has taken these goals off the agenda in Georgia, but the Georgian leadership is acting very reasonably and practically in the international situation that is currently developing in relation to the special military operation in Ukraine. Georgia says reasonably to its Western partners that if it fully adheres to the sanctions against Russia, it will simply go bankrupt, even if Georgia’s adherence to the sanctions will not significantly strengthen them, that is, it this is a pointless act,” Silaev explained.
The expert noted that such a position of Georgia on sanctions is “very reasonable and practical”, and from the Russian side “a reasonable and practical position is to cancel visas for Georgian citizens”.
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