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the same kind of treatment to all delegations... That’s why the Georgian authorities don’t really know what to do.”
Tbilisi and Moscow remain at odds over breakaway territories South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which are both occupied by Russian troops. In August 2008, Russia and Georgia fought the five-day Russo-Georgian War over the self-proclaimed republics, with the conflict seen as the first European war of the 21st century.
Hosting Lavrov or other Russian diplomats “is not easy, that is not easily accepted by the population, but this is something that we are going to do,” Zourabichvili said, speaking on January 28 in Strasbourg at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
“Georgia is going to bypass its own legislation, which prevents people who are visiting the occupied territories without our authorisation, from re-entering Georgia,” Zourabichvili said.
Russian lawmakers are not likely to make Zourabishvili’s mission to maintain the balance easy. Russian delegate to PACE, Leonid Kalashnikov, speaking at the January 28 PACE session, blamed her for not condemning the reaction to the Tbilisi visit of a representative of a Russia delegation whom he claimed was beaten. His words seemed directed at events in June last year when the decision to allow a Russian lawmaker, Sergey Gavrilov, to take the speaker’s chair in Georgia’s parliament while he addressed MPs from various regional countries sparked an angry response on the streets including an attempt to storm the parliament that was aggressively beaten back by riot police, provoking a further series of demonstrations. However, Gavrilov was not physically attacked during the confrontation. “[You did not condemn the reaction] so your country became dangerous not only for political freedoms and religions and Jews and other international minorities and women, but also to parliamentarians as well”, Kalashnikov said.
Gavrilov also responded to Zourabichvili’s decision to host Lavrov, but he praised her for guaranteeing security for visiting Russian diplomats and anticipated an improvement in bilateral relations.
In Tbilisi, Zourabichvili’s statement prompted predictable criticism from the opposition. “Salome Zourabichvili has delivered another message of capitulation from the high international tribune. Sergey Lavrov's visit will lead to widespread unrest,” MP Roman Gotsiridze of the United National Movement (UNM) said.
According to Gotsiridze , granting permission for Lavrov's visit would be a reaffirmation of the Georgian government's obedience to Russia and would insult the lives of dead Georgian fighters.
“The argument that we should respect the Council of Europe and fulfil our obligations as a host country is a demagogy. Everyone knows that this will be followed by a wave of protests. The Georgian authorities will be fully responsible,” Gotsiridze said.
7​ GEORGIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com