Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the airport to protest the resumption of flights, many of them carrying Ukrainian and Georgian flags.
A Russian passenger plane landed in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on Friday, for the first time since 2019, while the opposition sees the resumption of direct commercial flights between Russia and the Caucasian country as a threat to its European aspirations.
The plane, operated by Azimuth Airlines, took off from Moscow and landed in Tbilisi at 13:17 local time (9:17 GMT).
“Russian plane, damn you.”
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the airport to protest the resumption of flights, according to an AFP correspondent. Many carried Ukrainian and Georgian flags.
A protester’s campaign banner read: “Russian plane, fuck you,” using a slogan symbolizing the Ukrainian army’s resistance to the Russian invasion that began on February 24, 2022.
The police stationed in the place arrested at least six demonstrators, according to the leader of the opposition “Drua” party, Elin Khashtaria, who called for a demonstration against the move.
Russian President Vladimir Putin made the surprising decision last week to resume flights between the two countries, which were banned in 2019 in response to anti-Moscow protests in Georgia.
And called on the Georgian opposition, for its part, to demonstrate at the capital’s airport.
“betrayal”
A lightning war took place between Georgia, one of the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, and Russia in 2008, which led to Moscow’s recognition of the independence of two pro-Russian separatist republics, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which separated from Georgia in 1992.
In addition to the resumption of flights, Russia announced the abolition of the visa regime with Georgia. By presidential decree, from May 15, Georgian citizens will be able to enter and stay in Russia without a visa for a period of less than 90 days, with the exception of stays for professional reasons.
This also fuels division. “We will not allow them to work in Georgia,” opposition leader Elin Khashtaria told AFP, saying that the ruling “Georgian Dream” party is committing “treason.” The country’s pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili also criticized the “new provocation” from Russia.
Unlike the president, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili welcomed the resumption of flights, noting that only Russian companies and aircraft exempted from Western sanctions are entitled to operate in Georgia, and stressed that “it is only a matter of economic and trade relations.”
