Georgia changed its mind and joined Western sanctions against Russia. He hasn’t introduced his own yet
“We participate in all international financial sanctions against the Russian Federation, and this really means something for our financial sector,” Zurabishvili said.
According to her, Georgia also supports all international resolutions in support of Ukraine. However, Georgia has not yet introduced its own sanctions against Russia.
Let us recall that at the end of February, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili announced that the country’s authorities will not support the economic and financial sanctions that are being imposed on Russia against the backdrop of the military special operation that has begun in Ukraine.
According to him, sanctions “will harm Georgia’s national interests.” At the same time, Ukraine quarreled with Georgia and even recalled its ambassador from Tbilisi.
Many observers associate such a sharp change in the position of the Georgian leadership with statements made the day before from Tskhinvali about holding a referendum on the annexation of South Ossetia to Russia in April. At the same time, a number of observers point out that the statement by the head of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, is unlikely to have been initiated from Moscow, but rather is an initiative of Tskhinvali, caused by the pre-election situation in this country.
“Concerning the statement of the President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov about joining Russia, one nuance needs to be mentioned.
Bibilov has elections on April 10. The topic of the reunification of Ossetia in its southern part is really popular, therefore, most likely, it was used by the current president to strengthen his positions. And they, these positions, are not strong.
For the last two years, Bibilov has been in severe conflict with the South Ossetian parliament. It got to the point that the legislative body could not meet for months due to the blocking of its work by opposition parties (the pro-government United Ossetia party has only a relative majority there, which is not enough for a quorum). The cause of the conflict is Bibilov’s personnel policy and his inability to conduct a normal dialogue with the political forces of the country.
Since the beginning of 2021, many high-ranking emissaries from Moscow have visited Tskhinvali in order to reason with the parties. Therefore, the elections on April 10 may be problematic for Bibilov. The initiative to annex South Ossetia to Russia is only a successful propaganda move that must be considered in the context of the election struggle.
We cannot say that at this stage this idea is timely (we do not deny, however, that it is for the future). Now Russia, at the very least, has a normal dialogue with Georgia, which, by the way, did not join the anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the situation in Ukraine,” writes the author of the anonymous telegram channel “Madam Secretary.”
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