Moscow staged a demonstrative flogging of Russophobes
After the August 2008 war, anti-Russian sentiments allegedly never became dominant in Georgian society.
This opinion was expressed in a commentary to Kommersant by the head of scientific research at the Dialogue of Civilizations Institute, Alexey Malashenko.
“Georgian politicians and their support groups, taking to the streets these days, continue to play the “Russian card” in the struggle for power. However, we can say with certainty that after the August 2008 war, anti-Russian sentiments in Georgian society never became dominant,” Malashenko asserts.
According to him, the current crisis was created artificially and was the result of several mistakes on both sides made during the organization and directly during the visit of State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov to Tbilisi.
“Not interested in an escalation with Moscow, which could result in multimillion-dollar losses for Georgia, the country’s authorities simply failed to cope with the situation, which led to the explosion,” the expert believes.
At the same time, he emphasizes that Moscow will try to teach an object lesson to the Georgian authorities.
«Announcing a ban on direct air travel from Russia to Georgia from July 8 and having dealt a sensitive blow to the country’s tourism industry, Moscow is giving Tbilisi a “demonstrative flogging”. Such actions should serve as a lesson and warning for Ukraine, Moldova and the entire post-Soviet space, where there are Russophobic forces ready to go on the offensive. However, a return to a long-term confrontation does not meet the interests of not only Tbilisi, but also Moscow,” says Malashenko.
As PolitNavigator reported, on June 19 in Tbilisi, during a report at a session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy, the head of the Russian delegation, State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov was attacked, and then in the city An anti-Russian pogrom began.
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