Russian MP calls for freezing of Russia-Georgia relations after Georgian journalist insults Putin
Russian MP Evgeni Primavov says that Georgia will be affected by the statement of Giorgi Gabunia.Photo: Ria Novosti.
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Russian MP Evgeni Primakov calls for a ‘freeze’ on Russia-Georgia relations after an anchor of TV channel Rustavi 2 Giorgi Gabunia used offensive language against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He wrote that Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili condemned the journalist’s behavior, “however, we have not yet heard an apology.”
Here is what Gabunia said.
Primakov wrote on his Telegram channel that nothing is surprising from the Georgian media “which has sunk to the bottom,” expressing sorrow that all of Georgia will be affected because of the action of the single journalist.
Georgia should expect a continuation,” Primakov wrote after mentioning the ban on direct flights to Georgia, which has come into play today.
Top Georgian officials have called Gabunia’s statement a “very dangerous provocation,” creating threats to Georgia’s safety and stability.
Georgian President Zurabishvili stated that the step taken by Gabunia is a threat to statehood.
The Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics said that the statement Gabunia made “harms both Rustavi 2 and the Georgian media,” decreases trust and respect to media outlets.
Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze said:
Whatever we have observed today on Rustavi2 is nothing but disgusting act of provocation and an attempt to destabilize our country. Something that is totally unacceptable!
— Mamuka Bakhtadze (@BakhtadzeMamuka) July 7, 2019
People gathered in front of Rustavi 2 building in Tbilisi shortly after Gabunia made the statement late yesterday, saying that the channel is creating threats to the country and each of its citizens.
They applauded a cameramen who left the channel in protest and joined the demonstration.
Rustavi 2 Director Nika Gvaramia said that the channel “distances itself from the way Gabunia chose to express himself, not the view the anchor has of Putin.”
Russia “temporarily banned” direct flights to Georgia after Russian MPs were forced to leave Tbilisi on June 20, after Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov took the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker to address the 26th Interparliamentray Assembly on Orthodoxy.
Russia has also strengthened inspections of Georgian products and stated that the removal of the Russia-Georgia visa regime has been postponed.
Anchor of Georgian private broadcaster Rustavi 2 Giorgi Gabunia has insulted Russian President Vladimir Putin on his live show P.S. earlier today, using offensive language in Russian.
Russia's Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing has announced a "strengthening of control" over alcoholic drinks imported from Georgia, in a move reminiscent of a 2006 embargo on wine from the country.
The recent address to “friends around the world” has gone viral in online media, calling on the rest of the world to come to Georgia amid Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent ban on flights with Georgia. Georgians invite travellers from all over the world to come to their country and "experience best wine, tastiest food and unforgettable hospitality provided by some of the warmest hearted people in the world".
Over 12,000 Russian citizens have signed an online petition calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to cancel his recent ban on flights between Russia and Georgia. "Allow flights between Georgia and Russia, as Russian citizens in Georgia are in safety. As for the protest rallies – this is the right of the Georgian citizens”, the text of the petition reads.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has called insults against Russian President Vladimir Putin by Georgian TV anchor Giorgi Gabunia “unacceptable,” but said that the Georgian government and people have responded to the event “in the right way.”
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has urged the Russian government not to respond to the provocations ‘staged by radical forces’ in Georgia, and not to ‘encourage their destructive goals to come true.’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his own explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and President Salome Zurabishvili have thanked the State Security Service for preventing a ‘very serious crime’ allegedly against well-known Georgian journalist Giorgi Gabunia which could have sparked tension and provocations in the country.
The Russian government’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says that allegations about plotting the murder of well-known Georgian journalist for insulting Putin is absurd.