Georgian Airways Bans Its Country’s President Salome Zourabichvili Over Russia Flights Criticism

Georgian Airways’ founder has barred the country’s president Salome Zourabichvili from using its services after she threatened to boycott the airline over its restart of flights to Russia.

Russia announced this month that it would be lifting a four-year-old ban on direct flights with Georgia and eliminate a decades-old visa requirement for Georgians visiting Russia.

Georgian authorities rebuffed President Salome Zourabichvili’s request to stop the Russian attempt.

Tamaz Gaiashvili, the founder of privately-owned Georgian Airways, declared Zourabichvili a ‘persona non grata’ who would be barred from flying until she apologizes before the Georgian people.

Zourabichvili did not respond right away.

Although Georgian officials hailed the return of flights, some Georgians who want the South Caucasus country to distance itself from Moscow in favor of the European Union protested against it on Sunday in central Tbilisi.

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Many Georgians are opposed to any rapprochement with Moscow, whose soldiers occupy two separatist areas, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which account for roughly one-fifth of the country’s territory.

Other Georgian, though, are more open to the idea, and the Georgian government has tried in recent years to enhance ties with Moscow, declining to impose sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict.

President Zourabichvili, whose post is mostly ceremonial and whose relations with the government are tense, has cautioned that strengthening ties with Russia could damage the country’s chances of joining the EU in the future.

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