108 NGOs operating in Georgia issued a joint statement calling on the Georgian authorities to stop sabotaging the acquisition of candidate status and to refuse direct flights to Russia.
According to NGOs, the restoration of direct flights between Russia and Georgia is contrary to Georgia’s European aspirations.
The EU has made it clear that “it and its partners do not allow flights from or to Russia, and this decision by the Georgian government raises concerns about its obligations to comply with EU rulings in foreign policy, as provided for in the Association Agreement.”
“Against the will of 89 percent of the Georgian people and the constitution of Georgia, the government continues to change its external course,” the joint statement reads.
“Until a decision is made on the status of EU candidacy, this kind of act ignores the foreign policy course chosen by the Georgian people, which has already gotten us a visa-free policy and direct flights to the EU, not to Russia.
The population of Georgia is already suffering because of the current foreign policy of the government, one of the results of which is an increase in Russian immigration to Georgia… The sharp rise in prices and inflation is an additional price that the citizens of Georgia have to pay.”
On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a document on the abolition of the visa regime for Georgian citizens from May 15, 2023. By the second decree, Putin lifted the ban on air travel from Russia to Georgia.
According to the document, the exception is “citizens entering the Russian Federation for work or for a period of more than 90 days, including for the purpose of obtaining education.”
By another decree of Putin, the President of Russia lifted the ban on flights to Georgia for Russian airlines.
According to the document, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of June 21, 2019, which prohibited Russian airlines from flying between Georgia and Russia, was declared invalid.
According to the Civil Aviation Agency, in addition to the Russian airline Azimut, regular flights on the Tbilisi-Moscow-Tbilisi route are also launched by Georgian Airways. According to the flight application submitted by the airline to the Civil Aviation Agency, from May 20, flights will be operated seven times a week.
The Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia issued the required permit on May 16.
So far, the visa policy with Russia has been canceled only by Russia.
