The Russian foreign Ministry has warned citizens about the risks of visiting Georgia in connection with the intention of this country to make the former mayor of Moscow Yury Luzhkov in the black list. It is stated in the official comments of the Department of information and press of the foreign Ministry.
“Drew attention to the statement of the Georgian authorities on the introduction of Luzhkov in the list of “undesirable persons” because of his previous visits to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian foreign Ministry is compelled to once again draw the attention of citizens to the need to weigh the risks before travel to Georgia”, — stated in the statement.
The Ministry warned that due to Tbilisi severed diplomatic relations Moscow has “very limited ability to protect citizens from tyranny.” The foreign Ministry reminded about the cases when Russian citizens in a similar situation, fined and imprisoned.
The foreign Ministry notes that local authorities decided not to apply to the ex-mayor position of the “Law on occupied territories” and submitted it to the blacklist after he left the country.
Diplomatic relations between Russia and Georgia were severed in 2008. It happened after Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared secession from Georgia and Russia recognized their independence. The visa regime between the two countries was introduced in 2000 at the initiative of Moscow, which considered it necessary to protect the border from terrorists based in the Pankisi gorge. In February 2009, the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili unilaterally abolished the visa regime for Russian citizens.