Post: Georgia is a safe country

Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elizabeth Rood says that Georgia is a safe country and Russia should remove the ban on direct flights to Georgia, which came into force on July 8.

Rood says that measures taken against Georgia amid anti-occupation rallies in Tbilisi were “disproportionate.”

Tourists are coming to Georgia as it is a safe country. We, the United States, strongly support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders,” Rood said.

The Russian ban on direct flights to Georgia was announced by President Vladimir Putin on June 21, after protesters in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi tried to storm the Georgian parliament on June 20 when a Russian MP addressed the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy forum in Tbilisi from the seat of the Georgian parliamentary speaker.

Russia banned flights over “supposed fears” for the safety of its citizens and also tightened inspections of Georgian wine imports due to alleged safety concerns.

• Click here to read will the ban on flights affect the Georgian economy?