According to the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, imposing any restrictions on Russia, including a visa policy and a ban on flights, will lead to escalation, which will create the risk of a military conflict with Russia.
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Papuashvili stated that Georgian Dream is responsible for shielding Georgian people from direct military confrontation with Russia and an economic disaster.
“In March of last year, the opposition raised the prospect of closing borders and airspace to Russia and enacting a visa policy for Russian citizens.
Any such action, like introducing visas, closing borders, or banning flights, is a sanction, which means the country is escalating relations with Russia and entering into a spiral the results of which cannot be predicted. When you are imposing sanctions, you should expect counter-sanctions, which can jeopardize the security and economic well-being of our country.
I want to remind everyone that the Russian army is stationed 30 kilometers from the capital, and 500 meters from the main highway connecting western and eastern Georgia. This is an enormous military risk facing our country. There is also a substantial threat of Russia shifting from occupation policy to annexation. So those who call on us to introduce visa policy, close borders, ban flights, restrict airspace, and so on, which essentially means imposing sanctions on Russia, are actually telling us to risk escalation and a possible military clash with Russia. It’s also noteworthy that no one who tell us to put sanctions on Russia offers any security or economic safety guarantee.
Any sanction means escalation, which implies increased risks of military conflict. We are not going to expose our citizens to such risks. Secondly, our citizens share our views, this is supported by various surveys as well as the latest midterm elections, where Georgian Dream received more votes than in 2021,” said Papuashvili.
After the restoration of direct air travel between Georgia and Russia, President Salome Zurabishvili plead with the Georgian Government to consider introducing a 3-month visa policy for Russian citizens. The EU has called on the Georgian Government to join sanctions against Russia in the aviation sector. EU representative, Peter Stano, stated that the EU nations and partner states have banned flights to, from, and above Russia because of the war in Ukraine.
The Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili welcomed the removal of the flight ban. According to him, for Georgia to comply with EU policies, it must be its member state.
Russian President issued a decree ordering the renewal of direct air travel suspended four years ago on May 10, 2023. On top of renewed flights, a visa policy for Georgian citizens, in effect since 2000, has been canceled.
