Ruling party MP: relations with Belarus have “already reached red line”

Irakli Chikovani, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said the visit of Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko to Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia on Wednesday had pushed relations with Belarus to a “red line”.

In his remarks over the matter, Chikovani noted the visit was an “extremely unfriendly move that cannot be assessed otherwise”.

I will say that these relations practically have already reached the red line, and we will wait for developments. I would like to emphasise once again that whatever is happening in the occupied territories is against international law”, the Georgian Dream MP said. 

He also stressed the Russian-occupied territories could not be subjects of international law as “they are indivisible territories of Georgia”.

Of course, Georgia continues its peaceful policy in order to build together a united state whose place is in Europe”, he concluded in his comments.

Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday “strongly” condemned Lukashenko’s visit to Abkhazia and his meeting with the representatives of the occupation regime.

• Georgia PM “strongly” condemns Belarusian president’s “visit” to Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia

Garibashvili said the step violated Georgia’s law on occupied territories and contradicted international law as well as bilateral relations between Georgia and Belarus.