One can expect provocations from the Georgian authorities at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which will be held in Tbilisi on May 14-15, Director of the Department of pan-European cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry Nikolai Kobrinets said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
A meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will be held in Tbilisi on May 14-15. Earlier, the Georgian foreign Ministry denied that the Georgian authorities may apply to the leadership of the Council of Europe (COE) with a request to move the May meeting of the Committee of Ministers from Tbilisi to Strasbourg.
"You know, in Georgia there is a law "On Occupied Territories ", according to which a visit to Abkhazia and South Ossetia without official Tbilisi’s permission is a wrongful act and is punishable by a fine or even imprisonment of up to four years," the diplomat said.
As noted by Kobrinets, some political forces in Georgia are calling for using it in relation to the Council of Europe events.
"Theoretically, yes," said the director of the pan-European cooperation department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, answering the question of whether provocations could be expected from the Georgian authorities at the meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to be held in Tbilisi in May.
"The mentioned law - how to interpret and apply it - should be dealt with in Tbilisi. But the CE chairing country - in this case Georgia - has obligations, firstly, to ensure free entry for participants and comfortable working conditions, and secondly, which is more important in this case, to guarantee the security of all delegations. Whether our Georgian partners are able to fulfill them is not certain, "the diplomat added.
