Briefly:

  • The visit is a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.

  • Official Tbilisi will be careful.

  • If Lukashenka had any positive image in Georgia, it was only because he did not concede to the Kremlin and did not recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia.


- How was Alexander Lukashenko's visit to Abkhazia perceived in Georgia?

Was it unexpected?

What is known about Tbilisi's first official reaction?



— Mr. Lukashenka's visit to occupied Abkhazia was completely unexpected for Georgia.

The words that Lukashenka expressed there were also unexpected, noting that he had already sent a "landing party" to Abkhazia a long time ago, led by a general (

meaning, obviously, Viktor Sheiman. —

RS

), who was there and studied the circumstances.



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has already summoned the Ambassador of Belarus, Anatoly Lis, and expressed its protest to him in the strongest terms and demanded additional explanations.

The first reaction is this.

What will happen next is still unknown.

- Lukashenka, in his manner, may later explain that his visit does not mean official recognition of Abkhazia, and such recognition requires some special decisions, which Belarus did not make.

Will official Tbilisi be satisfied with such excuses, or is the very fact of the visit to Sukhumi enough to state that Lukashenka has crossed all the red lines in relations?

Koba Liklikadze

- Public organizations and political parties are already calling on the Georgian authorities to react more harshly, because this visit means a violation of the territorial integrity of Georgia.

Lukashenko, the official Minsk, has long been considered a weak link in Georgia among those states that are in the orbit of Moscow - as a potential candidate for the "recognition" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

That is why both the previous government - Saakashvili, and the current one - "Georgian Dream" have always been very careful about the events in Belarus, about Lukashenka's dictatorial actions.



Georgia has always been very careful not to anger Lukashenka so that he does not recognize these republics.

I think that even now Tbilisi will not go for a radical aggravation of the situation.



- There will not be a complete break in diplomatic relations?



- So far we can see that they just summoned the ambassador.

Any further actions will be determined by what Lukashenka's visit to Sukhumi means.

Is this a step towards the recognition of these territories, or is it just a "step of goodwill" to please Moscow, but still not go for full-fledged official recognition.

I think the official Tbilisi will be careful.

- On September 27, yesterday, Georgia celebrated the "Day of the Fall of Sukhumi".

Every year on this day, the leadership of the country lays flowers at the Memorial of Heroes who died for the unity of Georgia.

And the next day after this date, Lukashenka will arrive in Sukhumi.



- It is very sad that Lukashenka visited Sukhumi precisely at such a time that his visit coincided with such a tragic day for Georgia.

It is symbolic, and for now we can talk mostly about symbols.

However, the visit itself is a gross violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.

So far, there have been friendly relations between the two countries, but after this visit they will definitely change.



— In Ukraine, Lukashenka was quite a popular politician, but after the beginning of Russian aggression, including from the territory of Belarus, his image fell to the maximum, his rating became negative.

Perhaps some in Georgia considered him an independent politician until recently.

But after his visit to Abkhazia, what will Georgians think of him?



— If Lukashenka had any positive image in Georgia, it was solely because he did not concede to the Kremlin and did not recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But after today's visit, for the majority of Georgians, his image has been destroyed once and for all.

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  • Vitaly Tsygankov

    Vitaly Tsygankov graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of BSU.

    One of the two founders of the first non-governmental news agency BelaPAN.

    He worked in "Zvyazda" newspapers, was a correspondent in Belarus of the Russian "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", Associated Press, columnist in "Svaboda" newspaper.

    On Belarusian Freedom since 1994.

    Correspondent of Russian Freedom in Belarus.


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