Georgian Parliamentary Delegation to Visit Ukraine
By Khatia Bzhalava
Thursday, April 14, 2022
The Speaker of Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, and the Speaker of the Ukrainian Rada, Ruslan Stefanchuk have agreed on the visit of Papuashvili to Ukraine in an online meeting on Wednesday. During the meeting, the speakers discussed the Russian aggression against Ukraine and its tragic consequences. They also focused on the EU accession and cooperation of Georgia and Ukraine in this process.
Ukrainian Parliament Speaker thanked Georgia for the aid provided since the outbreak of the war, as well as for special care to the Ukrainians staying in Georgia. On his part, Papuashvili expressed Georgia’s strong support and solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people.
The sides also agreed during the meeting on the exchange of information and preliminary communication ‘to prevent confusion and vagueness’.
Stefanchuk welcomed the overcoming of misunderstanding between the Georgian and Ukrainian sides, stressing that “this visit will let the parliamentarians of Georgia see with their own eyes what is happening in Ukraine and will confirm our friendly relations!”
As Papuashvili stated after the meeting, the incomprehension and miscommunication between Ukrainian and Georgian authorities was the result of disinformation, which, according to him, is part of a hybrid war waged by ‘enemies of the country internally and externally’. According to him, communication can fix many things, adding that during the online meeting with his Ukrainian colleague, many issues were clarified and the sides ‘absolutely agreed with each other’
As it became known yesterday, two Georgian parliamentary delegations will depart for Ukraine, as no agreement could be reached on the formation of a joint delegation. Speaker Papuashvili will leave for Ukraine at the end of this week and the list of delegation members will be soon finalized. At the same time, the parliamentary opposition informs that they will form a separate delegation.
The disagreement between the Georgian and Ukrainian authorities sparked since the Russo-Ukraine war. Ukraine’s Stefanchuk first invited Papuashvili to personally share the tragedies and the results of destruction caused by the Russian aggression on April 8, however, the Georgian Parliament speaker rebuffed to visit Ukraine. Papuashvili assessed Stefanchuk’s invitation as ‘improper’ against the background of obfuscation related to “unfounded accusations of smuggling, or blaming Georgia for taking advantage of Ukrainians’ hardship”. Stefanchuk responded to Papuashvili’s statement, saying, “is it appropriate to call ‘inappropriate’ an invitation to come to a friendly country and see its plight, share its grief, and express words of support?” Stefanchuk added that ‘a friend should do this without an invitation’.
