14:13, 4 July 2019

EU condemns ban on flights from Russia to Georgia

Tbilisi airport. Photo by the press service of the airport

The decision of the Russian authorities to ban flights to and from Georgia is an unreasonable measure that will "adversely affect" citizens of both countries, the European Union declares.

On June 21, after mass riots in Tbilisi, Russian President Vladimir Putin banned Russia's airlines from transporting passengers to Georgia starting from July 8. The Georgian authorities estimated the potential damage from the reduction in the number of Russian tourists in the amount of 710 million US dollars.

On June 20, the unrest in Georgia began after a scandal with the Russian delegation in the parliament building in Tbilisi. The dispersal of the protesters led to hundreds of victims and detainees.

The European Union called the ban on flights to Georgia "disproportionate" and called on for the use of a new round of the Geneva discussions to reduce the tension, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Let us remind you that after the riots in Tbilisi, tourists from Moscow told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they felt safe in Georgia, but a lot of Russian tourists began to address agencies with questions concerning the return of the tickets they had purchased earlier.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 4, 2019 at 09:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.