Georgian and Russian representatives discuss the issue of Vazha Gaprindashvili at Prague meeting
By Nika Gamtsemlidze
Friday, November 29
Yesterday, on November 28, Prague hosted a meeting between the Prime Minister's Special Representative in Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze and the Russian Representative, Member of the Federation Council, Grigory Karasin.
Several issues were discussed during the meeting, special emphasis was made on the issue of Georgian orthopedic traumatologist, Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by the occupation forces.
Russian representative Grigory Karasin hopes that Gaprindashvili, will leave Tskhinvali prison until the new year and will have the opportunity to spend the holidays with his family.
The doctor was charged for ‘deliberately crossing’ the so-called border by the de facto authorities. Gaprindashvili was sent to two-month pretrial detention.
Doctor Gaprindashvili was illegally detained near the village of Orchosani on November 9, as Georgian media reports, he was visiting patients in the occupied region. Three people detained near the border, Ramaz Zadishvili, David Mishelashvili and Zurab Tukhashvili have been released after paying fine “for illegally crossing the border.”
Vazha Gaprindashvili is the president of the Association of Orthopedists and Traumatologists of Georgia and a leading specialist at the Mediclub clinic.
Karasin is famous for his attitude towards Georgia’s relations with the EU and NATO, he has mentioned it many times that Georgia becoming a member of NATO in future will have a devastating effect on the region.
One of the issues discussed between the sides in Prague was the cancelled flights between Georgia and Russia.
Russian media have been reporting that Russian officials were thinking about restoring flights between the countries before 2020, but the political crisis in Georgia and the rallies in Tbilisi ‘are not allowing them to do so.
According to the source, Russia suspended air travel to Georgia at the time due to Russian-phobic sentiments threatening Russian citizens, and now they have to wait for the end of the internal political crisis in Georgia.
According to Karasin, much depends on the healthy atmosphere in bilateral relations, which Georgian partners have not been able to approve yet.
The Abashidze-Karasin talks were initiated by the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling party “Georgian Dream” Bidzina Ivanishvili. The format was launched in order to improve the relations with Russia. As opposed to the Geneva International Discussions, the Abashidze-Karasin talks do not focus on political issues but mainly address issues related to trade, economic, humanitarian and cultural aspects of the bilateral relationship.
