“Disturbing” to have citizens of occupier in country who believe they are at home – Georgian President

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has responded to the inflow of Russian citizens into Georgia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine last year in her latest interview for CBS, and said it was “disturbing” to have nationals of an occupier country, “who believe they are at home”. 

 

She noted there was a “fine line, and this line must be maintained so that we do not have incidents in the future that allow Russia to use its favorite doctrine of protecting Russian-speaking citizens.”

 

When asked why Georgia had not denied the entry of Russian citizens, Zourabichvili said the question should be asked to the current Government. 

 

“Unfortunately, I do not represent the executive power,” she noted.

 

Zourabichvili also said if the European Union rejected Georgia’s candidacy later this year, it would be a “great victory for Russia”. 

 

On the question that the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili may not be interested in joining the EU, Zourabichvili answered “this is the question that the entire population is asking, do they [the Government] really want it or do they only verbally express their support”.