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Georgian politician calls for military strategic union with Russia

Such a union, in his words, "will not only help comprehensively normalize relations between the two countries but will also create conditions for solving Georgia’s vitally important problems"

TBILISI, July 31. /TASS/. Renown Georgian public figure and political writer Valery Kvaratskheliya has called for a military strategic union between his country and Russia.

"Georgia should establish not only partner relations with Russia, as I have been saying in the recent years, but, taking into account the present-day geopolitical realities, a military strategic partnership with Russia," Kvaratskheliya, who is the leader of the Socialist Georgia public movement that was set up in July, told journalists.

Such a union, in his words, "will not only help comprehensively normalize relations between the two countries but will also create conditions for solving Georgia’s vitally important problems." Apart from that, such union "should provide for deployment of Russian military bases in Georgia," he said.

Kvaratskheliya was deputy chairman of the Union of Georgian-Russian Friendship in 2001-2007 and its chairman later. In 2009, he founded the Neutral Georgia party and has been its leader ever since. In July 2016, he initiated the establishment of the Socialist Georgia movement. He plans to run for a seat in the Georgian parliament at the elections due to be held on October 8.

Since 1990s, Georgia has been actively cooperating with the United States and NATO. In January 2009, Georgia and the United States signed a charter on strategic partnership that envisages cooperation in the spheres of security, defense, trade, economy and culture. The Georgian authorities and many local parties favor closer strategic relations with the United States.

In the meantime, a number of politicians call for full-scale normalization in relations with Russia which will help solve Georgia’s most important problems. Thus, this position is shared by Nino Burdzhanadze, former speaker of the Georgian parliament and the leader of the opposition party Democratic Movement - United Georgia. She and other politicians want Georgia to uphold a policy of non-alignment with military blocs. None however has openly called for a military strategic union between Georgia and Russia.

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