EU ambassadors hand Georgian deputy PM demarche over resumed flights to Russia
TBILISI. May 29 (Interfax) - The ambassadors of European Union countries accredited in Georgia met with Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili on Monday to deliver a demarche over Georgia's resumption of flights with Russia.
"We expressed the EU's concern and regret over the resumption of air travel between Georgia and Russia. This decision runs counter to the EU decision not to fly to Russia and to exert pressure on it," EU ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski told reporters after the meeting.
For his part, Davitashvili described the meeting as an open dialogue on the issue. He stressed that Georgia shares a border with Russia and "is in a different context to that of the EU countries."
"The ambassadors expressed their position on the matter. We noted that the situation in Georgia should not be considered in the context of the situation in other countries," Davitashvili said.
Another issue discussed at the meeting was Georgia's compliance with international anti-Russian sanctions, he said.
"We communicated that we fully abide by them, both at the Lars checkpoint and at our country's airports," Davitashvili said.
He said that he pointed out the ambiguous stance taken by some EU countries on trade with Russia to the ambassadors.
"European countries have continued to trade with Russia, even after fighting started in Ukraine. Some of them have been doing more trade, others have scaled [it] back," Davitashvili said.
Georgia is not yet a member of the EU, it has only applied for membership, he said.
"We are ready for a continued dialogue and discussions with EU ambassadors," Davitashvili said.
On May 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin reversed a June 21, 2019 decree which banned flights between Russia and Georgia. A ban on the sale of tour packages has also been lifted.
On May 15, Georgian aviation authorities cleared Russia's Azimut airline for fights, the first of which took place on May 19. Georgian Airways flights resumed on May 20; Red Wings is planning to conduct flights from June 2.