Interior Minister: Gavrilov Will not be Let in Georgia

If Russian MP Sergei Gavrilov will decide to arrive in Georgia again, he will not be allowed to enter the country, the Interior Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Gakharia stated at today's press conference held after the governmental session.

Initially, the Minister refused to answer the question, noting that he is not interested in Gavrilov now.

However, later he added that Russian MP will not be let in the country again.

"We will not let him enter Georgia again," Gakharia told journalists.

Prior to the Interior Minister's statement, Sergei Gavrilov, Deputy of the Russian State Duma, said that he might pay a personal visit to Georgia again, this time as a Pilgrim.

"I would like to visit Georgia again, under the mission of Pilgrim, in order to travel to holy places," Gavrilov told journalists.

Sergei Gavrilov visited Georgia last week within the framework of the session of Inter-parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy. He was forced to leave the country following anger at his speech from the seat of the Georgian Parliament Speaker.

Gavrilov addressed delegates in Russian, angering many politicians and Georgians who are against Russia’s illegal occupation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

By Ana Dumbadze