There is no need to worry – this is how the ruling party in Georgia (Georgian Dream) reacted to the statement of the US State Department regarding the resumption of air traffic between Russia and Georgia .
“I want to assure our partners that there is no real reason for concern, because at one time this decision to sanction our citizens was taken unilaterally by Russia and now, also unilaterally, without our participation, they canceled this decision. In reality, it is only about the free movement of people,†one of the leaders of the Georgian Dream, Archil Talakvadze, told the media on May 23.
The day before, at a briefing in Washington, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller expressed concern about the restoration of direct flights between Russia and Georgia and warned that service companies in the Georgian airports could be subject to sanctions.
“Many Western countries, including the United States, prohibit Russian planes from entering their airspace. We are concerned about the restoration of direct flights between Russia and Georgia. This could mean that companies at Georgian airports could be exposed to sanctions. We, the entire Western community, have distanced ourselves from this regime, and now is not the time to engage in relations with Russia,†a State Department spokesperson said May 22.
Georgian authorities say the only airlines that fly between the countries are those that are not subject to international sanctions imposed on Russia in response to a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine . Thus, Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, said in his commentary on the State Department statement that “if such assessments by the United States are motivated by something else, then they should clarify what that motivation is.”
“A year and a half ago, we declared the essence of our policy towards Russia. It is as follows: on the one hand, we do not allow the circumvention of international sanctions by the territory of Georgia, and in this regard, there is not a single fact … debatable; on the other hand, we refused to impose bilateral sanctions against Russia,†said the speaker of the Georgian parliament on May 23, who, under the “different motivation†of American statements, apparently had the narrative in mind. from the Georgian dream, according to which Washington wanted staples, I would like Georgia to join the war against Russia and open a “second front” on its territory.
The State Department and US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan have repeatedly refuted these claims of the Georgian dream. Earlier, Ambassador Degnan noted that there has been a recent campaign in Georgia to “undermine the strong partnership between Georgia and the West.”
Regret over Georgia’s decision to resume direct flights to Russia has also been expressed within the EU. As EU representative Peter Stano said on 16 May, the restoration of air links with the Russian Federation “raises concerns about the question of Georgia’s European path and its obligations to act in accordance with EU policy (Tbilisi signed the Association Agreement with the EU in 2013).
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili expressed her categorical disagreement with the restoration of air communications between the Russian Federation and Georgia. In addition, he announced a boycott of the Georgian airline Georgian Airways, which, together with the Russian airlines Azimuth and Red Wings, received permission to operate direct flights between the two countries.
In response to the president’s boycott, Tamaz Gaiashvili, chairman of the board of directors of Georgian Airways, said he would henceforth consider Zurabishvili “persona non grata” and that until she apologized “to the Georgian people” , she would not be allowed to board her airline’s plane.
Recall that by decree of May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin canceled entry visas to the Russian Federation for Georgian citizens, as well as a ban on direct air travel, initiated by him in 2019.
After that, protests by pro-Western citizens and opponents began in Georgia. Opponents of the authorities claim that the Georgian leadership is gradually moving the country away from the foreign policy chosen by its people, aimed at Euro-Atlantic integration, and “dragging” the country into the “Russian swamp”.
Let us recall that according to all the sociological studies on this question carried out in Georgia, the overwhelming majority of the country’s population is in favor of the country’s integration into the EU and NATO.
Thus, according to the results of the latest poll conducted in Georgia in March by the International Republican Institute (IRI) (an American non-governmental organization that supports the development of political parties, civil society, free and fair elections), the Georgia’s membership in the EU is supported by 89%, and in NATO – 80% % of respondents.
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