Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said the Georgian Government’s policy of not implementing sanctions on Russia had “brought us a stable situation in Georgia”.
Papuashvili was asked why the Government had refused to join the prolongation of the Magnitsky List - a roster of Russian officials responsible for the 2009 death of tax lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in detention - for subsequent Western sanctions.
Georgia has an announced policy and we will follow this policy. This policy has brought us a sufficiently stable situation in Georgia, which ensures our development. This policy brought us the European Union membership candidate status. So we are following the policy that we have announced for a long time”, he said.
Earlier today, the Georgian foreign office said Georgia was maintaining the “practice of recent years” regarding the Magnitsky List, which it said “our partners are aware of”.
As a candidate country for EU membership, Georgia has supported extension of the bloc’s sanctions against leaders of North Korea and Moldova’s separatist region of Transnistria.