Ukraine’s security service dismisses notion of Burjanadze being declared persona non grata
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, August 5
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) has dismissed speculations that the leader of Georgia’s non –parliamentary opposition party Democratic Movement- United Georgia, former Parliament Speaker, Nino Burjanadze, was declared as a persona non grata.
“As of August 3, 2015 no decision is made by the Security Service of Ukraine to ban the leader of Democratic Movement, Nino Burjanadze, from entering Ukraine,” SBU spokesperson Olena Gitlyanska said in a Facebook post on August 3.
The statement came after speculations from Ukrainian and Georgian media outlets that Burjanadze was deprived of entering Ukraine because of her statements concerning the Crimea, which separated from Ukraine in the course of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian confrontation.
Burjanadze said in an interview with the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda and for Georgian media that: “Crimea has been forgotten by the international community; this is a fact today that Crimea is part of Russia and Crimea will never become integral part of Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Meastro TV that was the first which released the information, as well as some other media outlets, revealed the document confirming declaring Burjanadze as a persona non grata.
The media outlets said that several NGOs had appealed to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry not to let Burjanadze in the country; a Georgian, Tamar Shavladze, was one of those demanding the solution from the ministry.
Maestro TV said that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry sent the approved document to Shavladze.
The document reads that Burjanadze is deprived of the right to enter Ukraine and that the document will be sent to the country’s Security Service to ensure the enforcement of the decision.
Burjanadze has not yet made her response. The Messenger has tried to contact with her press-service, but to no avail.
In her recent interview for The Messenger, Burjanadze stated that Georgia should strive to regulate relations with Russia and should not “sacrifice” normal relations with the powerful neighbour for unrealistic Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
At the beginning of July, she controversially met with Russian officials in Moscow.
