State Department comments on mass influx of Russian citizens through the Russo-Georgian Larsi border checkpoint. Regarding the large influx of Russian citizens, the State Department stated that the Georgian government had sole discretion over who to admit.
According to a State Department spokesperson speaking to Europetime, „It is the Government of Georgia’s sovereign decision regarding who to admit, as they work to strike the delicate balance between security and openness“.
A reminder that the U.S. Permanent Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also comments on the issue. He says that each country is going to be different in terms of how it responds to the desire by Russian citizens to escape their country and to seek refuge elsewhere, and each country has to decide based on what it feels is best to protect its national security.
Of course Russia continues today to occupy 20 percent of sovereign Georgian territory, and that is a huge concern. Russia never implemented the terms of the six-point ceasefire from August 2008, and has continued to maintain military forces in Tskhinvali region and in Abkhazia in contravention of that agreement and in contravention of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
So I appreciate the concern that many Georgians have over this massive influx of Russian citizens, and all I can say is that this is a sovereign decision for the Government of Georgia on who to admit and in what types of numbers.
But certainly, this is an unprecedented situation that your country faces right now where not only are two regions of your country occupied illegally by Russia, but you have a huge influx of primarily young men coming from Russia as a result of this mobilization order.
And so each country is going to be different in terms of how it responds to the desire by Russian citizens to escape their country and to seek refuge elsewhere, and each country has to decide based on what it feels is best to protect its national security.
Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's order for a partial military mobilization on September 21, it was seen that long queues of people were trying to enter Georgia through the Russo-Georgian Larsi border checkpoint.
