The already difficult relations between the Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and the ruling party escalated over the alleged visit of Sergey Lavrov’s daughter to Georgia. Georgian Dream leaders and the Prime Minister, as well as Georgian Airways, which is now flying to Russia, made insulting statements about Zurabishvili, who in turn accused them of betraying national interests.
What happened
On May 21 the President of Georgia held an emergency briefing regarding a protest in the Kakheti region over a wedding organized there by sanctioned relatives of Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov.
“The wedding of the Lavrov family will not be in Georgia. I received an assurance from the Minister of the Interior that these people were supposed to pay for the second half of the wedding, but they left. This is a victory for society,” Zurabishvili said.
She condemned the activities of state bodies responsible for the security of the country, which those under international sanction entry to Georgia.
Zurabishvili also stated that she would not allow ruling party leader Irakli Kobakhidze to call the Georgian people xenophobic, referring to the latter’s statement about protests against Russian planes flying to Georgia. “There is no place for xenophobia in Georgia,” Kobakhidze said.
Zurabishvili announced a boycott of Georgian Airways for starting direct flights to Russia. “They are ready to do anything for money,” the president said, and called on the citizens of Georgia to join the boycott.
In response, the chairman of the ruling party, Kobakhidze, insulted the president and leader of the opposition movement, Elene Khoshtaria, calling them “dark and ignorant” and suggested they reread Vazha Pshavela’s poem “The Guest and the Host”, saying that “it is about such people as Khoshtaria and Zurabishvili that he was talking about.”
The head of Georgian Airways, Tamaz Gaiashvili, declared Zurabishvili persona non grata until she apologized to the Georgian people.
And the leader of the parliamentary majority, Mamuka Mdinaradze, said the president “succumbed to the narrative [of the National Movement, Saakashvili’s party]”.
Some quotes from the Georgian Dream statement:
Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream Irakli Kobakhidze: “They did not violate the law of Georgia on the occupied territories. As for Western sanctions, Georgia did not join them and did not introduce its own. The disruption of a wedding, the disruption of the wedding of a person who has not committed any crime, is an event that is incompatible with our culture.”
Tamaz Gaiashvili, head of Georgian Airways: “Everyone knows that any Georgian has done more for Georgia than Ms. Zurabishvili. A person born a traitor does not feel how he betrays people, his homeland. What kind of democracy is it if the majority will act in accordance with the opinion of an aggressive minority? Democracy means the decision of issues by the majority, and following the opinion of the minority is called dictatorship.
Ms. Salome announced a boycott of the national airline, so we declare her persona non grata, and until she apologizes to the Georgian people, we will not let her on board.”
Leader of the parliamentary majority Mamuka Mdinaradze: “Unfortunately, the President of Georgia makes frivolous and incorrect statements. When the president’s messages reinforce a speculative emotional narrative, especially aimed at young people, it’s unfortunate.”
On May 19,Georgian media reported that the daughter of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Ekaterina Lavrova, and members of her family came to Georgia for a wedding. After the start of the war in Ukraine, Lavrov and his family, including his son-in-law, are under Western sanctions.
The authorities have not confirmed the presence of Lavrov’s daughter in Georgia, but as President Salome Zurabishvili said at a briefing yesterday, she “received a promise” from the Minister of Internal Affairs that the couple, who planned to get married in Georgia, would leave the country.
