Georgian authorities shit their pants because of Lavrov
The Georgian authorities do not rule out the possibility of appealing to the leadership of the Council of Europe with a request to move the May meeting of the Committee of Ministers of this association from Tbilisi to Strasbourg due to a possible visit to the Georgian capital by the Russian delegation.
Kommersant writes about this, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Sources close to the Georgian government told the newspaper that a final decision on this matter has not yet been made.
It is also clarified that the Russian delegation could be headed by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who, according to Georgian legislation, Tbilisi is obliged to ban from entering the country for visiting Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Georgian authorities fear a repeat of last year’s event, when radicals carried out anti-Russian riots and attacked State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov during the work of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Orthodoxy.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia reminded reporters that Russia had recently been “returned to full membership” in the Council of Europe, that is, denying Sergei Lavrov the right to enter would be a violation of the charter of the pan-European organization.
In turn, the Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Archil Talakvadze proposed to let the Russian delegation into Georgia, but for the ruling party to withdraw its supporters and join the opposition protests against the “Russian occupation.” He believes that in this way the Georgian authorities, on the one hand, will fulfill their obligations to the Council of Europe, and on the other, “will remain honest to their people.”
At the same time, Kommersant’s informed source in the government agencies of the Russian Federation noted: the chances that Sergei Lavrov will still decide to fly to Tbilisi are slim. It is also indicated that everything will depend on Lavrov’s May schedule, which has not yet been finalized
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