Russia canceled the visa regime with Georgia, as well as the ban on direct flights. The corresponding decree was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I resolve: 1. To establish that from May 15, 2023: a) Georgian citizens enter and leave the Russian Federation without issuing visas on the basis of valid documents proving their identity (passport of a Georgian citizen, diplomatic passport). passport, service passport, seaman’s book , travel document for return to Georgia), with the exception of citizens entering the Russian Federation for the purpose of carrying out professional activities or for a period of more than 90 days for temporary stay in the Russian Federation, including for the purpose of obtaining an education,” the document states.
Russia introduced a visa regime with Georgia in 2000. At the same time, in accordance with the decision of Mikheil Saakashvili, then President of Georgia, Tbilisi unilaterally canceled the visa regime for citizens of the Russian Federation in 2012. At the same time, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year and the subsequent mass resettlement of Russians in Georgia, part of the Georgian public came out in favor of rules stricter entry requirements for Russians.
Thus, according to the results of a study conducted in Georgia from December 3 to December 20, 2022 by an American non-governmental organization – the National Democratic Institute (NDI), the majority of Georgian citizens were dissatisfied with the policy of the Georgian authorities regarding concerns Russians entering the country and felt that Russia should be established visa regime.
In particular, 69% of NDI respondents were then in favor of the introduction of entry visas for citizens of the Russian Federation, 21% were against and 10% said they had no response.
Meanwhile, 57 percent of those polled by NDI in December said they disagreed with the Georgian government’s policy on migrants from Russia; 29% consider the approach of the authorities acceptable; 14% don’t know or refuse to answer.
At the same time, according to the results of a study conducted in Georgia from March 4 to 23 of this year by the International Republican Institute (IRI) (an American non-governmental organization that supports the development of political parties, civil society, freedom and fair elections), 79% (78% – fall 2022) of IRI respondents expressed a negative attitude towards the visa-free regime in Georgia for citizens of the Russian Federation, purchase real estate by Russians and business registration in Georgia.
Recall that according to official data of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia, published in October last year, 112,733 citizens of the Russian Federation settled in Georgia from January 1 to September 30, 2022, which was about 3 % of total population. of Georgia (as of January 1, 2022, the population of Georgia was 3 million 688 thousand people, not counting the occupied parts of the country – Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region).
As for the restoration of direct flights between countries, Vladimir Putin ordered to invalidate the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 21, 2019, which prohibited direct flights to Georgia.
Recall that after the start of peaceful demonstrations in Tbilisi on June 20, 2019 to protest against the chairmanship of the session of the Interparliamentary Orthodox Forum, State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov, Putin banned Russian airlines “from carrying out air transport (including commercial) citizens of the territory of the Russian Federation to the territory of Georgia” – “for their safety”.
It is noteworthy that the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov periodically recalled the need to restore air traffic, but warned that “the main thing is not to inflate the Russophobic campaign in Tbilisi.” The last time Lavrov made such a statement was on January 18.
At the time, Georgian authorities welcomed Lavrov’s announcement to restore air service, but Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili criticized the positive response from the ruling Georgian Dream party, stressing on January 20 that she personally opposes to the restoration of direct flights, which she considers unacceptable in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine, a positive dynamic in relations with the Russian Federation.
After the publication of Putin’s decrees on May 10, Zurabishvili again issued strong criticism in this regard.
“It’s another Russian provocation!” I consider the restoration of direct air traffic and the abolition of visa restrictions for Georgia to be unacceptable as long as Russia continues its aggression in Ukraine and the occupation of our territories,” Zurabishvili wrote on Twitter.
The opposition viewed Putin’s decision to scrap entry visas to the Russian Federation and ban air traffic from Georgia as a ‘reward’ given to Georgian authorities ‘for treason’, implying anti-Western rhetoric of the Georgian Dream and a deviation from the pro-Western course, which Tbilisi has repeatedly pointed out to the country’s Western partners.
In turn, the Georgian Dream says he sees nothing tragic in the decision of the President of Russia.
It should be noted that 48% of participants in the March IRI poll supported the restoration of direct flights between Georgia and the Russian Federation, while 46% were against.
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