A Georgian opposition activist holds a placard during a protest against the resumption of air links with Russia as she stands behind a police line at the International Airport outside Tbilisi, Georgia, May 19, 2023. , Photo Credit: AP
Direct flights between Russia and Georgia resumed on Friday amid protests and sharp criticism from the South Caucasus country’s president, just a week after the Kremlin unexpectedly lifted a four-year-old ban despite rocky ties.
Georgian police dispersed protesters on Friday afternoon who gathered at Tbilisi airport to meet an Azimuth Airlines flight from Moscow, the first to arrive from Russia since July 2019, amid signs criticizing the Kremlin and with slogans which he described as supportive of the current Georgian government. Russian course.
Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has previously clashed with the government over ties with Moscow, also voiced her opposition in a tweet posted on Friday.
“Despite protests from Georgians, Russia landed its unwanted flight in Tbilisi. Not for flights to Russia!” Ms Zorabichvili said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly ended visas for Georgian citizens last Wednesday and lifted a flight ban unilaterally imposed in 2019 following a wave of anti-Kremlin protests in Georgia.
Mr. Putin’s decrees came a day after the leaders of several Central Asian and South Caucasus states stood with him at a military parade marking the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II in what looked like a Kremlin that Russia is now Also associate and was not completely isolated.
Following Mr Putin’s decrees, Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement removing a 2019 recommendation for Russian citizens to avoid traveling to Georgia.
Russia–Georgia relations have been complicated since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. The two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two separatist regions friendly to Russia.
Subsequently, Tbilisi broke off diplomatic relations with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a major stumbling block, even though relations have improved somewhat.
After Russia invaded Ukraine last year, Georgia joined international resolutions condemning the war, providing humanitarian aid to Kiev and taking in thousands of refugees. However, its officials stopped supplying arms to Ukraine, citing the need to maintain neutrality.
At the same time, the Black Sea nation of 3.7 million people became one of the main destinations for Russians fleeing a crackdown and partial mobilization of the military announced by Putin in September 2022.
Ms Zourabichvili responded to Putin’s decree last week with a tweet calling them “another Russian provocation”.
“Resuming direct flights and lifting the visa ban with Georgia is unacceptable as long as Russia continues its aggression on Ukraine and occupies our territory!” He said.
Opposition lawmaker Giorgi Vashadze told reporters that Georgia’s pro-Western political parties plan to hold a rally outside the parliament building on Friday evening.
“The current authorities want rapprochement with Russia, but the population is against it and remains committed to the Euro-Atlantic course,” Mr Vashadze said, referring to Tbilisi’s stalled EU membership bid and decades-old aspirations to join NATO said while doing
In contrast, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili told a media briefing on Friday that restoring direct flights from Russia was the right thing to do. Mr Garibashvili insisted that Tbilisi would not allow flights of Russian airlines sanctioned by the West, but said that halting trade and economic ties with Moscow would “harm the interests of the Georgian people.”
The Georgian aviation authority this week authorized two small Russian airlines, Azimuth Airlines and Red Wings, to start flights to Tbilisi and another Georgian city, Kutaisi.
Vaza Siradze, an official at Georgia’s interior ministry, said in a statement on Friday that six people were detained during a demonstration at the Tbilisi airport after allegedly throwing eggs and insulting police.