Vice Speaker urges partners to “focus on” Georgia’s EU candidacy more than resumed Russia flights

Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Vice Parliament Speaker, on Tuesday urged the country’s foreign  partners to focus on Georgia’s obtaining the European Union membership candidate status “without any delay” by the end of this year rather than expressing concerns on resumed Russia-Georgia flights, which he said “had no reasons”. 

The US Department of State has several times warned Tbilisi of possible negative consequences of the flights, as well as risks for domestic companies if they served sanctioned Russian companies or their aircraft. 

In his press comments Talakvadze said the bloc’s refusal last year to grant Georgia its candidacy had further increased risks for the countries which have their territories occupied by Russia, on the backdrop of the Kremlin’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. 

He claimed Georgia “deserves” the status and encouraged the partners to focus on the issue more than Russia’s “unilateral decision” on May 10 to lift travel and visa restrictions with Georgia. 

Talakvadze also said Tbilisi was unable to impose individual sanctions on Russia due to potential economic and security threats.