Tensions are rising in Georgia as direct flights with Russia are resumed

As passengers on the first direct flight from Russia to Georgia disembarked on Friday in more than three years, they were met by protesters who cursed their arrival.

Screaming “Why did you come here? Your country is an occupier!” echoed through the arrivals hall at Tbilisi International Airport. Outside, a crowd of about 200,000 demonstrators unfurled a banner reading “You are not welcome”.

“I’m just here for a vacation,” one passenger replied as he ran away from a media crowd that had gathered to meet the flight.

Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and exercises military control over 20 percent of its territory. Graffiti saying “Russians go home” is commonplace in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. The determination to join NATO is enshrined in the constitution of the former Soviet republic.

But with the arrival of Azimuth Airlines Flight A4851 from Moscow on Friday, the small country of Georgia in the Caucasus Mountains has taken a big step toward closer ties with Moscow. It follows a May 10 decree by President Vladimir V. Putin ordering the reinstatement of direct flights from Russia and removing visa requirements for Georgian citizens.

The resumption of flights and ensuing protests on Friday underscored tensions within Georgia over its relationship with Russia, and the reluctance many Georgians feel to move closer to a country with which it was at war 15 years ago, and that last year was Ukraine. invaded, another former Soviet republic.

The thaw in relations also illustrates Moscow’s need to court other governments, whether through friendly aid or harsh diplomacy, to get as many partners lined up as possible when most of the Western world opposes it. turns.

Victor Kipiani, president of the Geocase think tank in Tbilisi, said the Georgian government is trying to do a “balancing act” by trying to maintain its overall pro-Western orientation while reaping the economic benefits of its proximity to Russia.

“The country is a prisoner of its own geography,” said Mr. Kipiani, who is also a lawyer. “In the absence of a formidable security umbrella, the government is of course trying to be softer, more careful and more careful in its actions.”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said the decision to resume flights was made with the “interests of the Georgian people” in mind. He said Georgia is not at risk of Western sanctions as the government would only allow airlines not subject to sanctions to operate in the country.

Once a pro-Western pioneer who showed its confrontation with Moscow as a sign of its growing independence, Georgia has suddenly emerged as one of the few former Soviet republics to move closer to Russia, even after Ukraine’s invasion.

In 2008, Georgia fought its own five-day war with its northern neighbor, placing two of its regions under Moscow’s military control. Since then, the countries have severed all diplomatic relations and have no immediate plans to restore them.

Many of his peers, including Kazakhstan and neighboring Armenia, sought to distance themselves from the Kremlin by diversifying their political and economic ambitions by re-emphasizing their ties to the West.

However, the government in Tbilisi, led by Georgia’s Dream Party for more than a decade, faces the urgent challenge of maintaining its grip on power. With increasing voter fatigue, it made the choice to become more authoritarian and anti-Western, said Paata Zakareishvili, a former minister who has since distanced himself from the party.

“In the end, it turned out that only Russia could help them maintain their rule in that form,” Mr. Zakareishvili, now an analyst, said in an interview. “Not the West.”

Putin’s decision to restart flights to Georgia and lift visa requirements for Georgian nationals was “a gift” from the Kremlin to the Georgian government and an acknowledgment of his drift towards Moscow, said Armaz Akhvlediani, a member of parliament and a disillusioned former president. leader of Georgian Dream.

“This would never happen without certain steps by the Georgian government,” Mr Akhvlediani said in an interview. “Since 2020, our government has embarked on a path of implicit rapprochement with Russia.”

In explaining its decision, the government pointed to the economic and social benefits of cooperating with Moscow in some areas. Direct flights between Georgia and Russia could bring the mountainous country of 3.7 million people up to $400 million a year, according to Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili. And the visa-free policy with Russia allows thousands of Georgians to see their relatives in Russia, the government said.

The economic benefits of Georgia’s proximity to Russia have only been magnified by the war in Ukraine. After the invasion, thousands of Russian professionals rushed across the border into Georgia, fleeing repression and the threat of being drafted domestically. They have pumped more than $2.8 billion into Georgia’s small economy according to to the country’s central bank, and have filled Tbilisi’s cafes, bars and barbershops, while also buying Georgian products.

With the current unemployment rate of 17.3 percent in Georgia, many Georgians might consider looking for work in Russia.

That could help struggling Georgians looking for income, but Mr Akhvlediani, the lawmaker, said he also feared it would inevitably spark pro-Russian sentiment in the country.

Throughout history, Georgia has been challenged by the need to maintain its independence in a region that has been the scene of major power politics.

Since emerging as an independent nation in 1991, Georgia has oscillated between periods of rapid reform, civil strife and creeping stagnation. Since coming to power in 2012, the Georgian Dream Party has been striving for normalcy and stability.

Initially, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the party’s founder and informal leader, expressed strong support for Georgia’s widely popular aspirations to join NATO and the European Union.

However, the party repeatedly faced accusations from activists, lawmakers and many members of the public that Mr. Ivanishvili, a reclusive billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, was secretly backed by the Kremlin. Despite his retirement from front-line politics, he is still widely seen by many Georgians as a shadow ruler who makes all major decisions.

“He rules from somewhere from the sky and is not responsible for anything,” said Mr. Akhvlediani, who has worked extensively with Mr. Ivanishvili.

Thomas de Waal, a leading expert on the region, said he would not describe the government as overly pro-Russian. “This government’s #1 priority right now is regime survival,” he said in a telephone interview, “and they are very transactional in that regard.”

In recent years, the party has alienated many of its early supporters, particularly those whose main goal was to remove Georgia’s former fiery ruler, Mikheil Saakashvili.

In one case, it also increased the pressure on independent news media captivity a prominent media executive, and about the country’s vocally pro-Western civil society. In 2022, the former director-general of the main opposition television network, Nika Gvaramia, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in a case widely seen as tainted by political agendas.

In March, the Georgian government sparked tension and widespread protests in Tbilisi by attempting to introduce a law that could designate people as foreign agents – widely seen as inspired by a similar Russian statute. Thousands of people took to the streets chanting “No to Russian law” in front of the parliament building. After two nights of clashes with the police, the government drops the proposal.

For many, however, the mere attempt to pass such legislation was a clear indication of the ruling party’s pro-Russian leanings.

Kristina Siritsyan, one of the passengers, said she did not see the resumption of direct flights as a betrayal by Georgia. “I think the opposite,” she said as she walked past the protesters. “There must be peace and people must be friends.”