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Russia, Georgia to Open Borders for Each Other
Russia and Georgia are expected to open their borders for each others' citizens by signing a new agreement within two months, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said Monday, December 4, in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
"If the treaty is signed, the visa regime for travel between Georgia and Russia may be canceled," said Shevardnadze during his regular radio interview.
The president said he and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had agreed at the recent summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the Belarussian capital of Minsk to renew their friendship and cooperation treaty which was signed in 1994.
"The new treaty should be based on completely new principles of mutual respect," Shevardnadze said.
The relations between the two former Soviet states had encountered some difficulties in economic cooperation and over the introduction of visa regime, the withdrawal of Russian military bases in Georgia and the Chechnya issue.
Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday lodged a "strong protest" with the Georgian government over a recent anti-Russian demonstration in Tbilisi.
Some 100 people held a rally in front of the Russian embassy in Tbilisi last Wednesday, protesting against Russia's decision to introduce a visa regime on the border with their country.
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