Georgia lifts visa regime with Georgia - it was one of the key initiatives voiced by the president during his annual report in parliament on Tuesday. Mikheil Saakashvili said any Russian citizen, free of corruption, violence, abuse of human dignity and bureaucratic pressure, will be able to arrive in Georgia.
President`s speech lasted five hours. It was Saakashvili`s last report to the parliament as the president. Saakashvili was halted with applauds forty times.
`We are developing close ties with the West but at the same time we are interested in bettering relations with Russia. Russia has been and will continue to be a neighbor of Georgia. That is the reason of our aspiration to achieve peace with Russia. But this can be a peace with Russia, which recognizes and complies with every internationally accepted norm of relations among sovereign countries.
This is exactly why, as a result of a lot of work and efforts we let Russia become a full member of the World Trade Organization.
We welcome economic relations with Russia. We have never closed Georgia for Russian investors and tourists. On the contrary, we believe there is no place for tank cannons in a place where business is active.
This is why we are ready to give a chance to freedom and bilaterally abolish a visa regime with Russia. Let every Russian businessmen know that Georgia is as attractive of a country for any citizen or Russia as for citizens of any other country; free of corruption, lawlessness, bureaucratic pressure. Let the Russian tourists know that they can visit Georgia any time and everyone will meet them with famous Georgian hospitality here. Nobody will prohibit them from having the missed wine and Borjomi,` Saakashvili said.
