OREANDA-NEWSGeorgia won't legally issue security guarantees for Russian tourists, since they already exist in words and there hasn't been a single incident with Russian tourists lately. This was stated by the deputy head of the Georgian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Khvtisiashvili, answering questions from the Russian media. “We already guarantee”, said Khvtisiashvili, when asked if Georgia is ready to guarantee the safety of Russians in the country. To the clarifying question whether this promise would be legally executed, Khvtisiashvili answered that this is an abnormal question. “There hasn't been a single incident in the past five years. And now it wasn’t, ask Russian tourists”, the deputy foreign minister concluded.

President Vladimir Putin ordered the government on June 21 to take Russian tourists from Georgia and banned air transportation of passengers from Russia to the country from July 8. In the Kremlin, the disappearance of any threats to the security of Russian citizens and the normalization of the situation was called the condition for lifting the ban on flights to Georgia.

Putin’s decision followed a spontaneous rally in front of the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi. It began after the incident with State Duma deputy Sergei Gavrilov on June 20. The discontent of the Georgian opposition was caused by the fact that he sat in the chair of the country's parliament during an official event. The protests lasted several days. During the crackdown, the police used tear gas and rubber bullets. 240 people were injured, more than 300 were detained. The Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on June 23 stating that the authorities fully ensure order and security in the country. Guests of Tbilisi, foreign journalists and tourists, including Russian, weren't subjected to any threats.

The statement appeared in connection with the message that the Georgian radicals tried to beat the correspondent and the operator of the news agency. Georgian media later, with reference to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, said that they had opened a criminal case after the attack.