/ world today news/ Moscow’s decision to abolish visas for Georgian citizens and restore air traffic had opponents in Tbilisi. Among them is President Salome Zurabishvili, who saw in this initiative “another Russian provocation”, as well as supporters of Mikheil Saakashvili, who promised pogroms in the offices of Russian airlines. Will these politicians be able to reignite the riots in Tbilisi that led to the suspension of air traffic between Russia and Georgia four years ago?
President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on Wednesday allowing Russian airlines to resume flights to Georgia and tour operators to sell tours to the country. The decree annuls the document of 2019, which prohibits air transport, including commercial, to the territory of Georgia. Another paragraph of the 2019 decree recommends that tour operators and travel agents “refrain from selling to citizens a tourist product that provides transportation to Georgia.”
With his second new decree, the head of state canceled the visa regime for Georgian citizens from May 15. Unlike the ban on direct flights, this regime was introduced a long time ago – 23 years ago. But from now on Georgians will be able to enter without visas – on the basis of documents certifying their identity. Those who will spend more than 90 days in Russia, including for work and study, will still need to obtain a visa.
Immediately after the issuance of the decrees, the Russian Foreign Ministry canceled its recommendation to its fellow citizens to refrain from traveling to Georgia, and the Russian Union of the Tourism Industry assumed that the tourist flow to this republic after the restoration of direct flights will exceed 1 million people a year.
On the other hand, Putin’s decrees provoked an angry reaction from his Georgian colleague Salome Zurabishvili, who declared “another Russian provocation”. The resumption of direct flights, she said, was “unacceptable” while the conflict in Ukraine continued, as well as while Russia was “occupying” the territory of Georgia itself. At the same time, the president also called Putin’s decision to abolish the visa regime for Georgians “unacceptable”, although, strictly speaking, this issue does not fall within the competences of Tbilisi and belongs to the internal affairs of Russia itself.
Later, Zurabishvili probably realized that she had gotten fired up and that it would be difficult for her to present Moscow’s apparently peaceful gesture as yet another act of aggression. Then she released another statement, in a more relaxed tone. In it, the president called on the government of the republic to convene the Security Council and consider the idea of abolishing the visa-free regime for Russians. Zurabishvili said the introduction of visas was necessary amid Georgia’s “internal challenges”.
Roman Gotsiridze, an opposition lawmaker in the Georgian parliament who has worked as an adviser to President Mikheil Saakashvili, said Russia’s decision “puts Georgia on par with Belarus and North Korea.” According to the MP, Moscow has shown the whole world that Georgia is returning to its political orbit. “Georgian authorities have sold out national interests. The international reputation of the country was dealt a huge blow”, said the MP. And the leader of the radical Georgian movement “Droa” (“The time has come”) Elena Khoshtariya, by the way, a graduate of MGIMO, promised to “physically oppose” the employees of Russian airlines if they appear in Georgia: “Your foot will not step here!”
In Moscow, they did not hide their joy at Putin’s decree. “Just yesterday they were discussing that Georgia is behaving so properly now that it’s time to bring back air traffic and visa-free travel – and they brought it back. Very correct,” noted Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Rossiya Segodnya media group. “The Georgians themselves imprisoned the president who attacked our peacekeepers, they did not join the sanctions, they did not open a second front, although they were beaten quite hard in the kidneys to force them to open. So, you see, next year they will come on May 9”, adds the journalist. As Simonyan predicted, Georgian restaurants in Moscow “will be packed today” and “huge numbers of Moscow Georgians” will drink to Putin’s health.
Return to Tbilisi
The Chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, State Duma deputy Sergey Gavrilov did not hide his excitement: “We have been waiting for this for three and a half years! And as much as possible they prepared it, brought that day nearer. This is an important, balanced decision as it affects both the visa waiver and the resumption of direct flights.”
According to the deputy, Moscow’s decisions were made in the interest of both peoples, but the citizens of Georgia have the greatest interest – those who wanted to resume their personal contacts with relatives living in our country. “Now, I hope, business contacts, youth and cultural communication will also resume. The resumption of pilgrimages to both Georgia and Russia is also very important to me,” Gavrilov said.
According to Gavrilov, the current government of Georgia is generally pragmatic, it is trying to strengthen stability along the perimeter of its borders. Therefore, Putin’s decision could have a long-term geopolitical effect, the lawmaker suggests: in the future, help to thaw Tbilisi’s relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “The fact is that the development of the North-South transport corridor, the possible expansion of the road network between our countries, not only through Upper Lars, will make it possible to include all these territories in a common Belt and Road, but in a Russian-Georgian version ” – the deputy does not exclude. All the countries of the subregion are also interested in this – Turkey, Iran, the Middle East and Central Asia, even China.
“At the same time, judging by the first reaction of Georgian President Zurabishvili, it is clear that the provocateurs will not stop. So it was according to 2019, when street protests began in Tbilisi against the participation of our delegation in a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, when mass riots broke out. In fact, it was another attempted coup d’état initiated from abroad by Mikheil Saakashvili, who was then speaking live on television calling for the overthrow of the government. American foundations and non-governmental organizations based in Georgia participated in this attempt,” Gavrilov recalled. “Judging by Zurabishvili’s words, it would be better for her supporters if Georgia were completely surrounded by barbed wire around the border,” he complained.
The deputy added that at the moment he has no intention of returning to Tbilisi. “But basically, I would like to meet there with my colleagues from the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy. We didn’t agree on many things in the summer of 2019,” he complained.
It is worth recalling that the ban on direct flights to Georgia was introduced in July 2019, as the situation for Russians in the Transcaucasian republic was considered dangerous. Moscow made this decision after the so-called “Gavrilova Night” on June 20-21, 2019. The “Night” began with an attack on Russian delegates at the session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy in Tbilisi. The protocol service of the host country appointed the head of the delegation, Sergey Gavrilov, to the post of chairman of the Georgian parliament. The nationalists decided to take offense at such an arrangement of places, after which Gavrilov had to be literally saved by being urgently taken out of Georgia. This was followed by a rally, the participants of which held frankly simple anti-Russian posters, and an attempt to storm the parliament, which was brutally put down by the police.
As for the visa regime for Georgian citizens, Russia introduced it back in 2000, the first year of Vladimir Putin’s presidency. The decision was made to prevent the infiltration of Chechen fighters into the Russian Federation from the territory of Georgia. In response, Tbilisi introduced a visa regime, which, however, since 2004 has operated according to a simplified scheme. In 2012, Georgia completely abolished visas for Russians and proposed a course towards the normalization of bilateral relations, which was supported in Moscow. In 2015-2017, Russia also gradually simplified the visa regime for citizens of Georgia.
Although until now there was no direct air connection between the countries, Russia remains the absolute leader in the number of tourists coming to Georgia (for example, 1.1 million Russians visited it last year). The northern neighbor has long become the main market for Georgian wine (more than 70% of its exports from Georgia are delivered to Russia) and agro-industrial products. Moscow thus became Tbilisi’s most important foreign trade partner, with bilateral trade approaching a record $2.5 billion.
The reaction of official Tbilisi
Unlike the president of the republic, Putin’s decrees were met with approval in the Georgian government. “More than one million of our citizens live in the Russian Federation, who have very close ties with people, relatives, relatives who live in Georgia, and this decision, viewed through a humanitarian prism, is welcome for any responsible government. This will facilitate the daily life of our citizens,” explained Georgian Foreign Minister Ilya Darchiashvili.
He also considered Zurabishvili’s call for an urgent convening of the Security Council and the introduction of a visa regime for Russians unnecessary. According to the minister, when Prime Minister Iraklii Garibashvili considers it necessary, “he will definitely do it. This is the solution that we have already discussed and which at this stage is not of such a magnitude that it would require the convening of the Security Council.”
In turn, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili confirmed on Wednesday that Tbilisi “will not impose bilateral sanctions against Russia based on the national interests of our population so that relations do not escalate.” True, Papuashvili’s motivation is different – according to him, “Georgia is still at great risk of a possible military conflict with Russia.”
The former chief of staff of the president of Georgia, Petre Mamaradze, suggested that ordinary citizens of the republic would, for the most part, normally appreciate the lifting of sanctions by Moscow. “Hundreds of thousands of people from Georgia live and work in Russia, who will adequately perceive these decisions,” he commented. “And for those in Georgia who have relatives and friends in Russia, from a humanitarian point of view, this is very good.” He also recalled that the Russian market is important for Georgia, and Georgia is a popular tourist destination for Russians.
Approximately the same ideas are heard in Moscow, in the Russian parliament. “Many people live in Georgia who want to literally be with Russia: to travel around our country, work in it, do business. These people are for friendly relations between our peoples, and we cannot leave their wish unanswered,” said State Duma deputy Sergey Kolunov (“United Russia”). “Despite all the West’s attempts to ‘shake up’ the situation inside the country and the rhetoric of individual politicians in Georgia, our citizens still have more or less good neighborly relations,” he added.
Many Georgians, according to Kolunov, see the policy of double standards imposed on them by the so-called democratic world, and Russia is much closer to these people with its traditional values. “This is confirmed by the number of Georgians and Russians who annually visit both countries for the purpose of tourism, despite the lack of direct flights to Russia. Today we have taken the first step towards the friendship of our peoples”, stressed the deputy.
The presidential decree is an important step towards the normalization of relations between our peoples, MP Sergey Gavrilov recalls.
“We hope that Tbilisi will restore diplomatic relations with Moscow as a reciprocal step. When the embassies reopen in both our capitals, it will provide consular support for both Russians in Georgia and Georgians in Russia, that is, it will ensure the legal protection of citizens of our countries on the territory of the other country,” concluded Gavrilov.
Meanwhile, the Georgian opposition on Wednesday evening called a protest rally outside the Georgian Foreign Ministry building in Tbilisi, but nothing like “Gavril’s Night” was organized. Only a few dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the building, blowing whistles and holding various placards. The rally participants opposed any move to bring Georgia closer to its northern neighbor and also criticized the government for welcoming the lifting of sanctions.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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