Burjanadze: Georgia Ready for Dialogue with Russia

Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze on May 1 reiterated Georgia’s readiness to hold “a constructive dialogue with Russia” and added that Georgia’s aspiration to join Euro-Atlantic structures “does not pose any threat to Russia’s legitimate interests.”
 
“Problems do exist in Russian-Georgian relations… And I think it is necessary to speak frankly about them, rather than to turn a blind eye… These problems need a constructive approach and solution. We have stressed that Georgia was always ready and is still ready for a dialogue. I tried to explain to our Russian colleagues that Georgia’s success or Georgia’s aspiration to join Euro-Atlantic structures does not mean bad relations with Russia and poses no threat to Russia’s legal interests,” Burjanadze told senior Georgian parliamentarians at a session of the Parliament’s bureau.

Nino Burjanadze visited Russia and participated in a ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of the Russian State Duma. Addressing Russian lawmakers on April 27, Nino Burjanadze criticized Moscow for pursuing a “double-standard policy” and for banning the import of Georgian wine, which triggered the banging of fists on desks, mainly by Russian parliamentarians from the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party.

“I want to note that after [the speech] many Russian parliamentarians apologized for this incorrect behaviour by some of the lawmakers,” Nino Burjanadze said on May 1.