Parliament official: Russia's “imperial ambitions” continue to undermine “our common European security”

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Tuesday said Russia's “imperial ambitions” continued to undermine “our common European security”.

In her remarks over the killing of a Georgian citizen by Russian-backed occupation forces near a village adjacent to central Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on Monday, Botchorishvili noted the development was “another reminder of what Russian occupation is and what we have to deal with every day”.

It shows how vulnerable we are when neither the NATO nor the EU umbrella connects us with the democratic world, despite our European aspirations. Georgia is doing everything for the peaceful resolution of the conflict and maintaining peace in the country. The life of every citizen of Georgia is precious to us”, she said.

“The international community should take more effective measures to protect international order and stop aggression. It is necessary to remember that what we are currently seeing in Ukraine is a continuation of the same actions that Russia has been using in Georgia for 30 years”, the lawmaker continued.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday called on the international community to make an “appropriate assessment and response” to the development. 

The Georgian national was killed in “firearm shots” as the occupation forces attempted to illegally detain him in the occupied territory, the State Security Service of Georgia said. Another citizen of the country was illegally arrested in the same incident.