Georgia will send Olympians to Sochi

Georgia will send Olympians to Sochi
By Euronews
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button
ADVERTISEMENT

Georgia will be sending athletes to the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, according to the country’s prime minister.

Doubts had lingered over whether Tbilisi would send a team to the event owing to the strained ties between the two countries.

Georgia and Russia do not have diplomatic relations.

Tensions remain six years after a Russian invasion of the two breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Both have declared their independence from Georgia, but this has only been recognised by Russia and some of Moscow’s allies.

Georgian premier Irakli Garibashvili took up his post in November.

He is a protegé of his billionaire predecessor, Bidzina Ivanishvili.

The 31-year-old Sorbonne graduate is now the world’s youngest prime minister.

He was in Brussels on Monday to seek closer ties with the EU.

And he says he will not bow to Russian pressure in seeking to finalise a free trade deal.

Ukraine’s government made a U-turn on signing a similar accord, a so-called association agreement, in November.

Euronews’ Natalia Richardson-Vilkuna met Irakli Garibashvili and asked him how he saw Georgia’s relationship with Russia.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Tbilisi accuses Ukrainian official of plot to overthrow Georgian government

Georgian President calls Putin move to waive visas a 'provocation'

Protesters in Georgia claim government is being controlled by Moscow