Bundestag VP urges Putin to remember what Georgian, Ukrainian borders looked like in 1991
Bundestag Vice President at the 16th Batumi International Conference. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
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German Bundestag VP Claudia Roth has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to remember what the borders of Georgia and Ukraine looked like in 1991 before conflicts in the region broke out.
Claudia Roth made the comment at the 16th Batumi International Conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.
When I arrived in Gori, I saw barbed wires, fences, creeping occupation and aggression,” she said.
'Let Vladimir Putin remember what happened in 1991 when borders were defined,' she said adding now we have a completely different borders after military conflicts in Ukraine, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered his own explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
He said that South Ossetia joined the Russian Empire in the 18th century, while Abkhazia became a part of it in 1810.
When the Russian Empire was crumbling after World War I, Georgia attempted to engulf Abkhazia. An independent Georgian state was formed that occupied Abkhazia in 1918, assisted by the German troops. And the occupants behaved brutally," Putin said.
Roth praised the progress the Eastern Partnership has brought in the last decade, and said Georgia should develop reforms for integration in the EU adding the union should have a more active role in conflict resolution.
European Council President Donald Tusk says that the decision of Russia to ban direct flights to Georgia was “disproportionate and unjustified.” He said that Georgia has shown “devotion” to democratic reforms and the rule of law many times.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has held a meeting with Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek, who is currently on an official visit to Georgia. Minister Zalkaliani thanked the Czech Republic for steady support to Georgian Euro-Atlantic course and said the countries collaborate intensively in politics, culture and economy.
The countries of the Eastern Partnership have created a catalogue of ongoing projects in need of investments, which will enable investors from the EU to examine the projects in detail, Deputy Minister of Economy Genadi Arveladze stated yesterday at a briefing.
The Batumi 16th International Conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative, has opened earlier today, with an “unprecedented number” of foreign guests, including the president of the European Council Donald Tusk, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reports.