Presidents discusses threats with experts
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, April 16
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili held a first meeting with the NGO representatives working on foreign policy direction on April 15. The aim of the meeting was to assess the current situation in Ukraine, threats and effects on Georgia.
Commenting on Russia’s violation of Georgia’s sovereignty, President Margvelashvili said Georgian officials are constantly protesting these facts.
“Those people who are planning to make barbed wire fences aim at making problems to specific people who want to visit the graves of their predecessors… to go to churches,” the president said, stressing that Georgia has only one mechanism against this - it is promotion of this issue at every forum of the international community.
The head of the Security Council of Georgia, Irene Imerlishvili, stated that such meetings would be permanently held between the president and analysts.
Co-founder of Georgia’s Reforms’ Associates, Elene Khoshtaria, believes that there is many differences between the resources of Russia and the international community. The analyst ensures that the situation will bring more negatives for Russia in the near future and the federation’s plans will collapse.
“However, it does not mean that we should be calm and wait for the ending. We should actively discuss the situation and be involved in the developments,” Khoshtaria states.
Expert Soso Tsiskarishvili admits that the format of meeting with analysts was introduced by the former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, but for a short period of time.
“I wish the president has the ability of holding such meetings for a long time,” Tsiskarishvili stated.
“How secure we might be from open Russian aggression is mainly based on the resistance of the Ukrainian people. Russia has imperialist aims and they do not avoid any lie,” Tsiskarishvili stated.
Analyst in Caucasus issues Mamuka Areshidze claims that a threat from Russian side is “inevitable.”
“The situation is more complex and dangerous in Ukraine than we can imagine. Russia will increase its aggression towards Georgia, especially prior to the NATO summit in Wales,” the analyst states.
Analyst Khatuna Lagazidze stated that it is very positive when the government finds time in a hard situation to communicate with analysts and listen to their opinions.
“We have discussed practically all threats inside and outside the country,” Lagazidze stated.
