Service personnel of NATO countries are stationed in Ukraine, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, said at a briefing held on February 28, Report informs.
Day: February 28, 2024
On February 28, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament held a hearing with U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Georgia Robin L. Dunnigan, who emphasized in her speech the four top priorities of U.S.-Georgia relations: Georgia’s EU integration process, economic ties between the two countries, U.S. support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and finally, U.S. commitment to preserving Georgia’s cultural heritage.
Ambassador Dunnigan reviewed the 32 years of partnership in the relationship between the two countries. She outlined the strong U.S. support for Georgia: “Since Georgia regained its independence, I contend that no country has been a stronger supporter and friend of Georgia than the United States,” noting that the U.S. has provided Georgia with more than USD 6 billion over those years.
She spoke about her meetings with Georgians, including soldiers, coast guard officials, university professors, teachers, students, farmers, and small business owners, highlighting their stories of how U.S. assistance has helped them in their lives. “U.S. support has also contributed to helping Georgia defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” – Ambassador Dunnigan said, adding that the U.S. has provided military assistance to the country including training, equipment and education. She confirmed that this support will continue in the future.
The U.S. Ambassador spoke about her meeting with the newly appointed Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze calling it “very positive and productive”. She said outlined outlined her top priorities as U.S. Ambassador to Georgia. According to her, these priorities are:
“U.S. support for Georgia and its transition to becoming an EU member”
The U.S. Ambassador emphasized that Georgia’s attainment of EU candidate status was a “tremendous step forward” for the country, and reiterated that the U.S. wants Georgia to become a member of the EU. “I know that you will be working hard in the months and years ahead on the legislation and other work necessary to fulfill the nine steps,” – Ambassador Dunnigan stressed, adding that “the United States is now and will continue to support you in these efforts.” She expressed her hope that Georgian officials “will also work closely with civil society organizations and all segments of society to advance the process,” adding that Georgia’s path to the EU “will take consensus and unity within Georgian society.” She noted: “We are now working daily with the EU, Georgia, and others to see how our assistance can best support the work you are doing to fulfill the nine steps.” The U.S. Ambassador emphasized that the coming year will be “busy” for Georgia as it works to meet the nine conditions set by the European Commission, but also as it prepares for parliamentary elections. Regarding the elections, Ambassador Dunnigan said that the U.S. “will continue to work with all sides, all of you in Parliament, Government, civil society, opposition parties, and especially with the Central Election Commission, to ensure that Georgians know that their votes are counted fairly, their vote is secret, and the process is free and fair.”
“To increase economic ties between the United States and Georgia”
Noting that U.S.-Georgia bilateral trade reached “a historic high of USD 2 billion” last year, Ambassador Dunnigan said that more can be done. She noted that the U.S. has “a wide variety” of programs to help Georgia “in exporting to new markets,” and added that this June she will lead a delegation of Georgian companies to the United States to participate in SelectUSA, the U.S. investment and economic conference. “By the time I leave this country, I want to be able to say that there is more bilateral trade and investment in out country than ever before,” – Ambassador Dunnigan said. She also emphasized that strengthening economic ties between the countries will include supporting “Georgia’s role in the Middle Corridor.” She mentioned the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which “invested USD 50 million to construct the terminal of Poti Port on the Black Sea, which increased Georgia’s capacity as a link to connect Central Asia with Europe.” Ambassador Dunnigan affirmed that the U.S. will continue this support for Georgia “as it cements itself as a logistics hub in the Middle Corridor.”
“U.S. Committment to supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”
The underlined the U.S. support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, “including by helping Georgia defend itself and deter further aggression.” According to Ambassador Dunnigan, “our military partnership is really a pillar of the strategic partnership between the United States and Georgia.” She noted the joint trainings and participation in peace operations of the U.S. and Georgian militaries, adding “together they made Georgia’s military interoperable with NATO.” The U.S. Ambassador also emphasized that this partnership has not only strengthened the Georgian military, but also that of the U.S. “We are deeply grateful to the Georgian Defense Forces for the support you have provided us through the years,” – she said.
“U.S. Commitment to helping, celebrate and preserve Georgia’s unique and rich cultural heritage”
Regarding support for Georgian culture, the U.S. Ambassador pointed to some specific cases, including the restoration of the Dadiani Palace (in the western Georgian region of Samegrelo). She also mentioned the museum exhibits honoring Georgian writers and other Georgian cultural figures, as well as the work on excavation and conservation of Roman mosaics. “We are pleased to support this, to preserve this heritage so that future legacies will always know Georgia’s rich cultural history,” – Ambassador Dunnigan said.
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On February 26, Russian activist Maks Ivantsov reported that he had been denied re-entry into Georgia, claiming that this was because he was campaigning in Tbilisi and collecting signatures in support of Putin’s opponent Boris Nadezhdin candidacy for the 2024 presidential elections in Russia (on February 8 anti-war candidate Nadezhdin was barred by Central Election Committee of Russia from standing in Russia’s presidential elections). According to Ivantsov, he was shoved and rudely forced to leave the country, and was denied political asylum, despite repeated requests. Ivantsov is the coordinator of non-governmental educational organization “Frame” and has a record of public protest against Putin’s regime in both Russia and Georgia.
What happened?
In a live podcast on February 26, Ivantsov explained his case in detail. Although he travels extensively, he has been spending a considerable amount of time in Tbilisi, and in recent months he and his organization have been collecting signatures for Nadezhdin. Ivantsov noted that during this process, representatives of the Georgian State Security Service would visit him every few weeks and copy the signatures collected.
After his recent brief visit abroad, he returned to Georgia and landed at Kutaisi International Airport, where he went through passport control as usual, got his arrival stamp, and entered the country with virtually no problems. However, as he was leaving the airport, a woman stopped him and told him that he had to go back to the passport control because he had unpaid fines.
When he returned, he was met by three policemen and told that he had to leave the country. He was given a paper stating that he had to leave Georgia, but the paper gave no reason for this request, not even the “other reasons” that is often used when Russian activists are denied entry. Ivantsov strongly objected to leaving the country and asked to speak to his lawyer, but the policeman took away his phone and computer and wouldn’t let him make a call.
He was then put on a plane to Vilnius. He recalls, that as he stated he wanted to ask a political asylum in Georgia, the policeman began to laugh. Because of his objections, the captain of the plane began to defend him, asking the policeman to start the necessary procedure and draw up the documents required for Ivantsov’s deportation, otherwise he wouldn’t fly the plane. The cabin crew and passengers all began to support Ivantsov, and after two hours of trying, the police gave up and let the plane fly without him.
The Russian activist was then taken to a small room where he had to stay until 5 a.m. Policemen came in and out to check on him, some offered him food and water, and some, the higher-ranking law-enforcers, visited him to force him to leave. Ivantsov states that these men tried to intimidate him by saying that they would force him to go to Moscow if he didn’t comply and leave for Europe. They also threatened to use violence, pushed him around, and generally treated him “horribly”, calling him the enemy of Russia, Georgia, Poland, and Latvia (where he was also denied entry because these states rarely accept Russian migrants, as he explained).
After a few hours in the room, he made the decision to leave for Hungary. Notably, Ivantsov stated during the podcast that those policemen made frequent calls and told an unknown person that he agreed to fly back, that he was in a hotel and that the situation was taken care of. Ivantsov added that the security cameras were turned on and off by the policeman all the time.
What are Ivantsov’s plans now?
The anti-Putin activist is now in Warsaw, Poland. He plans to stay there for a few weeks and then leave for Armenia to participate in the Russian elections on March 15-17. After that, he announced plans to try to enter Georgia again, this time from the Armenian border.
During the podcast, Ivantsov noted that this is not the first case of anti-Putin activists being denied entry to Georgia, and mentioned that his main goal now is to raise awareness of this issue and create a lot of buzz around such instances, so that the Georgian Dream Party will be harmed by such cases more than it will benefit from pleasing Putin.
Ivantsov noted that Georgian Human Rights defender organizations have already contacted him and he is planning to work with the Social Justice Center and Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association to demand justice internally in Georgia.
As for broader actions, he plans to appeal to the European Commission to demand that Georgia take more responsibility when legally admitting Russian activists, and will to continue defending his rights in the European Court of Human Rights.
Similar cases
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the cases of anti-Putin activists being denied entry to Georgia have risen. Those cases include:
- 02/06/2023 – Russian Anti-Putin Publicist Denied Entry to Georgia
- 10/05/2023 – Chechen journalist tortured in Russia denied entry to Georgia
- 08/09/2022 – Another Russian Journalist Denied Entry to Georgia
- 19/07/2022 – Another Russian Blogger Says Denied Entry to Georgia
- 11/03/2022 – Another Russian Journalist Says Barred from Georgia Entry
- 07/03/2022 – TV Dozhd Journalist Allegedly Denied Georgia Entry
In addition, activists already in Georgia have not received adequate protection and have faced threats to their lives. For example:
- 09/11/2023 – Russian Lawyers: Banned Movement Participant Vanishes from Tbilisi, Suspected in Russian Custody
- 16/08/2023 – Russian Opposition Journalist Reportedly Poisoned in Georgia
Meanwhile, GD government has been making steps towards rapprochement with Moscow. In 2023, Georgia resumed direct flights with Russia, increased its economic dependence and imported more gas, received praise for its “pragmatic” policy and was recently named as a “relatively friendly” communication regime towards Russia.
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- 17/02/2024 – Russian Citizens in Georgia Commemorate Alexei Navalny
- 12/02/2024 – Russia to Pursue “Normalization with Georgia” Despite Absence of Diplomatic Relations
- 01/11/2023 – Jokes, Grievances and Demonstrations: Russians in Georgia and Germany
- 15/06/2023 – Tbilisi Stuck in Neutral Between Russia and the West
In her interview with Sky News on February 27, President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili said she is concerned about the possible Russian interference with the upcoming “very important” parliamentary elections in Georgia in October 2024.
Asked if she was concerned about Russia’s sway over Georgia, she replied that everyone should be concerned, not just Georgia. “We are concerned because we are directly there. We have 20% of our territory that is currently occupied by Russia and we are concerned because we are going to have very important elections by October.”
The President referred to the experience of “many other countries” that are “much stronger” than Georgia, from which it is known “how Russia can interfere with election[s], how Russia can wage hybrid warfare on countries”.
According to the President, there is also a financing of marginal pro-Russian groups going on in Georgia. She noted that the for the Georgian population, given the occupation, “pro-Russian groups and parties is quite difficult to imagine but there are pro-Russian [groups] that do not declare themselves and there is financing that is coming in to support those groups and to support some forms of anti-western propaganda that we’re seeing elsewhere, we’re seeing here and we’re going to see more of that I’m sure this year. So we have to be very very cautious.”
In addition, speaking of past Russian invasions of Georgia, the President also noted that in that context Georgia and Ukraine have almost parallel histories, and “our only perspective is to get closer and closer to the European Union.”
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