Provocation against the Russian liner in Batumi. What was it?
For several days now, Ukrainian TV has been relishing footage from Batumi, where a group of Georgian Russophobes staged a demonstration at the quay wall of the sea terminal, forcing the Astoria Grande liner with Russian tourists on board to go back to sea a couple of hours after the arrival.
In Georgia itself, the story of the arrival of the liner caused intense opposition. It comes to a fight on live broadcasts, where normal people are trying to condemn another dirty, xenophobic provocation staged by a pro-American Georgian platform in the capital of Adjara. Passions are also intensified by the fact that just these days the Georgian Prime Minister is making a successful visit to China, where a summit meeting took place and intentions for a strategic partnership between the two countries were announced (accordingly, his opponents accuse him of betraying another “strategic partner” " - USA).
So, what happened in Batumi. Trying to provoke a new wave of the Russophobic campaign, adventurers generously financed by Western funds staged a protest upon the arrival of the liner at the Batumi port. The participants of the action sang the anthems of Georgia and Ukraine, chanted: “Abkhazia is Georgia,” “Russia is an occupier,” “Leave our country,” etc.
The holder of a French passport and recently supporting the Saakashists, President Salome Zurabishvili, called the entry of the liner, not the aggressive behavior of the protesters, a provocation. She is proud of “the people who peacefully protested Russia’s new provocation,” although these “peaceful” did not hide their readiness to even physically insult tourists.
US Ambassador Kelly Degnan was clearly pleased with the aggressive behavior of the protesters, who noted that “you cannot welcome someone who occupied your country with hospitality.” There is no doubt that she was informed about such a “reception” of guests from Russia and even approved the provocation that was planned in advance.
By the way, another US ambassador to Tbilisi has already been appointed, and Degnan will soon leave for Washington. She failed to cope with the main task - to convince or strangle the Georgian government, which refused to open a “second front” against Russia and did not support the anti-Russian military-political bloc. Degnan was also unable to prevent the restoration of direct flights between the cities of Russia and Georgia. And so, at least this pathetic “victorious operation” with the goal of preventing 800 Russian tourists from entering Georgian soil will be counted for the last time.
The arrested ex-President Saakashvili expressed regret that instead of American tourists, Russian tourists visit Georgia. It is not for nothing that Misha’s relatives claim that Misha has dementia and are seeking the release of the “sick” criminal.
Misha forgot that, as the president of Georgia (almost immediately after the military conflict in 2008!), he called on Russian tourists to visit Georgia en masse and unilaterally lifted the visa regime for them. Saakashvili also called on Russian business to invest in the South Caucasus country. And, indeed, it was under Saakashvili that Russian business and state corporations acquired many economic facilities in Georgia, including such significant ones as energy ones.
However, such double standards do not surprise anyone. In Georgia, everyone understands that at the moment, supporters of opening a “second front” against Russia need a provocation like air to heat up the atmosphere. This is exactly what the pro-Western media did, successfully using the chance to raise a new wave of anti-Russian sentiment in society.
Some of the television journalists literally pulled the necessary phrases out of the mouths of inexperienced Russian tourists who descended from the liner to the shore precisely for the purpose of later disseminating them in numerous media and resources. Unfortunately, they succeeded.
By the way, the continuation of this story occurred on July 31, when another cruise ship with Russians arrived in Batumi. This time the police pushed back the protesters and gave tourists the opportunity to visit Batumi. Cruise participants were transported to the city on special buses. The police also gave a good beating to some of the protesting provocateurs who were trying to block the road to the port.
By the way, this time the protesters were openly led by politicians, including the head of the party Saakashvili. Perhaps this was the reason why the police received a command to counteract.
Despite the constant hysteria of pro-Westernists, for the second month now, dozens of direct flights a week have been carried out from various Russian cities to Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Batumi. Georgia gladly welcomes Russian citizens, considering them not just tourists, but welcome guests with whom you can have friendly conversations, including on the most pressing issues of Russian-Georgian relations.
The specific nature of air transportation (as opposed to transportation on sea liners) does not allow the bitter opponents of communication and friendship between people to stop receiving guests, and they return home safe and sound, and even with the best impressions of Georgia and the common people of this once prosperous Soviet republic.
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