The Georgian government does not intend to aggravate relations with Russia, even if such a policy complies with the republic, the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Friday, reporting to the deputies.
Kommersant writes that the opposition called the head of the Georgian government to parliamentary hearings as part of the so -called interpellation mechanism – deputy law to ask a question to any member of the government. Irakli Garibashvili, according to Georgian law, could not refuse.
The issue made for discussion was: “What legal and administrative measures are taken by the government to prevent violation by the Russian Federation and its representatives of the regime of sanctions using the territory of Georgia, individuals and legal entities registered in Georgia, or others?”
Irakli Garibashvili recalled that his country joined all Western resolutions condemning Moscow, voted for the expulsion of Russia from PACA, supported the initiative of the start of proceedings in the International Criminal Court, closed the VTB-GEORGIA bank, and established the strictest control on the checkpoint “of Kazbegi “At the Russian-Georgian border, so that sanctions products do not fall into the Russian Federation through Georgian territory.
“But, by imposing national sanctions against Russia, we would bring ourselves to the sanctions,” Prime Minister Garibashvili emphasized, adding that with all respect and love for Ukrainians as a “friendly people” he will always act “based on national interests Georgia “. Garibashvili also said: about a million Georgians live in the Russian Federation, and hundreds of thousands of families are dependent on the export of agricultural products to Russian markets.
According to him, the economic growth in the first quarter of 2022 amounted to 14.4% precisely due to the fact that in Georgia it was possible to preserve the world. Turning to the population of the country, the Prime Minister advised the Georgians to appreciate the efforts of the authorities, saying: “If it were not for the” Georgian Dream “, now there would be a second Mariupol.”
The prime minister’s answers were made against the backdrop of protests in connection with the arrest of the founder of the opposition television company “Chief Channel” by Nicky Gvaray and the authorities to send to Europe for the treatment of ex-president Saakashvili, who was serving a six-year term of imprisonment in the Rustavsky prison for official crimes. The opposition fears that in June, when the issue of granting Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia the status of a candidate for EU members will be discussed, Tbilisi will be denied under the pretext of violation of democratic norms and unwillingness to actively support Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. In this regard, Tbilisi draws attention to the fact that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, congratulating Georgia on Independence Day, called on the authorities of the Caucasian country to “take all possible measures to support Ukraine and in order for Russia to be responsible for war crimes”.