Tbilisi “utterly concerned” by Belarus president visit to occupied Abkhazia

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that it was “utterly concerned” by the recent visit of Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko to Georgia;s Russian-controlled Abkhazia region. 

The ministry said that “as a sign of protest, the Ambassador of Belarus to Georgia, Anatoly Lis, has been summoned. The meeting with the ambassador was related to the visit of the President of the Republic of Belarus to the occupied Abkhazia and the meeting with the representatives of the occupation regime. The Georgian side expressed extreme concern over the mentioned and demanded additional clarifications from the Belarusian side”. 

Lukashenko met with Abkhaz leader Aslan Bzhania on Wednesday in Bichvinta, discussing “security challenges and prospects of cooperation”, local media said. 

This was Lukashenko’s first visit to occupied Abkhazia while in office. He visited Tbilisi for the last time in 2018. 

Bzhania expressed hope that Lukashenko’s visit would “give a new impetus to relations between the two peoples.”

Russia recognized two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war. 

Since then only Venezuela, Nikaraua, Nauru and Syria have acted the same way, with Belarus refraining from taking the step.