Georgia is making plans to increase influence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia with EU help
Georgia expects that obtaining a visa-free regime with the European Union will allow Tbilisi to increase its influence over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Georgian authorities still call “territories occupied by Russia.”
Georgian State Minister for European Integration Viktor Dolidze stated this in an interview with the Kommersant newspaper.
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“First of all, I want to say that we strive for equal, friendly relations with the Russian Federation. But the reality is completely different, the occupation of our country continues,” the official said.
According to him, Georgia's receipt of a visa-free regime with the EU will increase its influence on the lost provinces.
“We really hope so. The Moldovan experiment gave good results, because thousands of Moldovans who live in Transnistria took Moldovan passports. Our situations are not absolutely identical, but we also need to be more attractive to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This means that we must in every possible way support economic, trade, and personal contacts between people. And if, due to the visa-free regime with Europe, they want to officially become citizens of Georgia, that will be wonderful,” the minister said.
“Our ultimate goal is to become a full member of the European Union and NATO. So we work, and we work well, that’s why we were given a visa-free regime. We hope that the same regime will be given to Ukraine. Somewhere in June or July,” Dolidze added.
As PolitNavigator reported, the representative of the Prime Minister of Georgia for the settlement of relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said that Georgia does not intend to restore diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation before resolving the problems of the territories that Tbilisi considers occupied - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Georgia refused to sign a non-aggression pact with Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has the infrastructure for aggression. About it deputies of the Russian State Duma stated at a meeting in November.
Let us recall that the day before, Georgian Ambassador to the United States David Bakradze, speaking in the US Senate, said that his country will continue to move towards NATO.
See also: NATO will spy from Georgia beyond the Crimea and the Krasnodar Territory.
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