A Russian tourist arrived in Georgia on a Russian cruise ship and quickly started telling the Georgians that Russia and Georgia are good friends and that the Georgians were lying when they said that Russia occupies 20% of Georgia’s territory.
The incident occurred after the arrival of a Russian Cruise ship in Georgia at Batumi Harbour, carrying several Russian Tourists.
Russian cruise ship Astoria Grande left Batumi’s Black Sea port after anti-war demonstrators threw eggs and called for its passengers to leave. Georgia is courting Russian tourists, but protesters and opposition parties object to Russia’s occupation of Georgian territory and its invasion of Ukraine.
The Protesters demonstrated their anger at Russia’s invasion of Georgia on August 7, 2008, 15 years ago. Today, the Russian military invaded Georgia in blunt violation of international law. As a consequence, 20% of Georgia’s territory was occupied and remained under Russian occupation to this date.
It was a hard day in Georgian and European history as Hundreds of citizens and soldiers lost their lives and multiple Georgian residents were displaced. As per Georgians, 20% of Georgia remains under Russian control, which includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
A Georgian reporter interviewed numerous Russian tourists who arrived at Batumi Harbour, asking their thoughts about the Russian Invasion of Georgia.
Some tourists refused to answer and refused to call it an invasion. A Russian tourist mentioned that Georgia and Russia are friends and are still republics of the Soviet Union. She declined that Russia invaded Georgia and called it a help Abkhazia asked Russia to get free from Georgia.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling party “Georgian Dream”, shared his predictions of banning Russian tourists from entering Russia, which the Georgians demanded at the port of Batumi.
🇬🇪🇷🇺 Georgia's losses in the event of a ban on Russian tourists from entering the country will amount to about $1 billion a year and about 20-30 thousand jobs
This was stated by the head of the ruling party "Georgian Dream" Irakli Kobakhidze.
📝 “If Russian tourists do not come… pic.twitter.com/hrQvh1vaQe
— Zlatti71 (@djuric_zlatko) August 1, 2023
He stated that if Russian tourists do not come to Georgia, the country will lose about $1 billion a year. “This is even though the economy of Georgia is $30 billion. This means that 20-30 thousand jobs will be lost,” said Kobakhidze.
