Burjanadze, Nogaideli in Moscow
Nino Burjanadze, leader of opposition party Democratic Movement-United Georgia, and Zurab Nogaideli, leader of opposition Movement for Fair Georgia, will attend an opening ceremony of World War II memorial in Moscow.
The memorial was ordered by the Russian authorities in response to demolition of a similar memorial by the Georgian authorities in Kutaisi a year ago. A woman and her daughter died when the memorial was blown up on December 19, 2009 to make way for a new parliament building.
Opening ceremony of the memorial in Moscow was initially planned for Sunday, but it was rescheduled for December 20, according to the Russian media reports.
Both Burjanadze and Nogaideli, former parliamentary speaker and ex-PM of Georgia, respectively, were also attending a ceremony for laying a stone for the memorial in Moscow in May, 2010, which was also attended by Russia’s PM Vladimir Putin.
Before departure from Tbilisi, Burjanadze told Maestro TV, that it was "one of the most important priorities for any Georgian politician to settle relations with Russia and to really protect Georgia’s interests."
"Through its irresponsible actions, including towards the North Caucasus, the Georgian government is putting the country in danger," she said. "I am convinced, that peaceful Caucasus is very important for Georgia and one should be reckless to on the one hand speak about the need to improve relations with Russia and on the other hand doing everything to irritate Russia over its most sensitive issue [North Caucasus]."
Movement for Fair Georgia said in a brief press release that it would be Nogaideli’s eleventh visit to Moscow since the August war and it would last for "several days". Nogaideli’s party has a cooperation agreement with Russia’s ruling party, United Russia.
It is not yet clear whether the two Georgian opposition politicians are planning a meeting with the Russian officials in Moscow.
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