o333
22.04.10, 10:46
Georgian opposition intends to create 'Georgian lobby' in Russia
TBILISI, April 22 (RIA Novosti)
Georgian opposition leaders will travel to Russia on Thursday to meet
Russian officials, opposition representatives and representatives from the
Georgian diaspora in Russia in a bid to create a "Georgian lobby in Russia."
The leaders of Georgia's People's Party and Conservative Party, Koba
Davitashvili and Kakha Kukava, are among those expected to visit Russia, along
with other representatives of the country's National Council. The council
comprises several opposition parties, including of the For a Fair Georgia
public movement led by former prime minister Zurab Nogaideli.
"We are travelling [to Russia] to discuss issues of the country's
unification. We will not discuss the country's interior affairs. We are going
to create a public opinion, to create a Georgian lobby in Russia,"
Davitashvili said.
He said the Georgian delegation would meet representatives of the Georgian
diaspora in St. Petersburg, where the World Forum of Georgian Peoples Diaspora
will take place on Friday and Saturday.
On April 26-27, the Georgian opposition members are expected to meet with
Russian officials and opposition representatives in Moscow, Davitashvili said.
Visits of Georgian opposition representatives to Russia, which have become
frequent, have infuriated the Georgian government. Relations between the two
countries came to a standstill after the five-day war between Russia and
Georgia over the former Georgian republic of South Ossetia in August 2008.
Following the war, Russian recognized the independence of South Ossetia
and another former Georgian republic, Abkhazia.
Nogaideli, who has visited Moscow several times in recent months, is
expected to arrive in the Russian capital in early May to continue discussions
on the resumption of regular flights between Georgia and Russia, which have
been halted since the war.
In early March, Nino Burdzhanadze, the former speaker of the Georgian
parliament and the leader of the opposition Democratic Movement-United
Georgia, visited Moscow for talks with Russian political leaders, saying that
such dialogue was crucial for Georgia.
During her stay in Moscow, Burdzhanadze, once an ally of President Mikheil
Saakashvili, discussed Russian-Georgian relations with Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The Russian authorities have expressed their readiness to negotiate with
"realistically minded" political figures in Georgia, such as Burdzhanadze and
Nogaideli. Moscow has stressed the need to find a way out of the impasse in
Russian-Georgian relations, saying this is "key to peace in the Trans-Caucasus."