Georgia refuses to discuss accommodation of migrants from Europe
TBILISI. March 6 (Interfax) - The reception of migrants staying in the European Union's territory is not on Georgia's agenda, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz suggested last week that migrants staying in some countries of the European Union could be relocated to Egypt, Georgia and the Northern Balkan countries.
"The issue of relocating migrants from the territory of the European Union has never been discussed with the Georgian side at any level. In particular, this issue was not discussed during Mr. Kurz's recent visit to Georgia," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Considering the existing challenges that Georgia is facing, it cannot address the matter, it said.
Meanwhile, Russia has already said that the Austrian foreign minister's proposal on creating accommodation facilities for refugees in Georgia could affect Russia's security if implemented.
"This is so far what they call a trial balloon, to test Georgia's response. But more specific proposals may follow further," Franz Klintsevich, first deputy head of the Federation Council defense and security committee, told reporters on Sunday.
"It is obvious that the EU countries will seek, where possible, to lift the burden of the migration crisis off themselves and shuffle it onto others," Klintsevich said said. "In that regard, I would like to say that Georgia was recently granted visa-free travel to the European Union, and, as we know, there's no such thing as a free lunch," he said.
Kurz's proposal also affects the national security interests of Russia, which has a common border with Georgia, in the sense of a threat posed by international terrorism, Klintsevich said. "We remember the time when terrorists trained in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge and then operated in our Caucasus," he said.
