Russia announced on Wednesday the lifting of its visa regime with Georgia and allowed the resumption of flights to the Caucasus country, which it was opposed in a war in 2008. Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili called the Russian decisions a "provocation."
According to a Russian presidential decree, Georgian citizens will be able to enter Russia and stay without a visa from 15 May for stays of less than 90 days, with the exception of stays for professional reasons.
Facilitate exchanges and contacts
In a separate decree, the Kremlin lifted the ban, in place since 2019, on flights of Russian airlines to Georgia. These two decisions are "in line with our principled approach for a gradual facilitation of exchanges and contacts" between the citizens of the two countries, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement. The spokeswoman added that this approach was defended "despite the absence of diplomatic relations" between Tbilisi and Moscow, broken since the August 2008 war.
Moscow's announcement comes as Georgia was rocked in March by large protests in opposition to a bill deemed to be a copy of a Russian law on "foreign agents", which is used in Russia to repress critics of the Kremlin. After massive protests marked by clashes with police, the Georgian government backtracked and withdrew the project. In recent months, criticism of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has also increased, with critics describing him as too aligned with Kremlin policies.
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The Georgian president is a pro-Western critic of the government, but her powers are limited. "Another Russian provocation! Resuming direct flights and lifting the visa ban with Georgia is unacceptable as long as Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine and occupies our territory!" she protested Wednesday on Twitter.
Georgia, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, clashed with Russia in 2008 in a blitzkrieg that resulted in Moscow recognizing the independence of two pro-Russian separatist republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which seceded from Georgia in 1992.
The country officially wants to join the European Union and NATO, but NGOs and opposition activists accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of encouraging an authoritarian drift.
