TBLISI, November 17 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskheliya) - The Georgian Foreign Ministry and parliament are drawing up a "black list" of foreign nationals who are unwelcome in the country, the head of the parliamentary commission for legal issues said Thursday.
Georgi Bokeriya said: "In the near future the public will know the names of those whose entry into Georgia is undesirable." He made it clear that the list would include Russians.
Georgian parliamentarians have already named several Russian candidates for the black list, including ultra-nationalist leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky, his colleague Alexei Mitrofanov, Viktor Alksnis of the Rodina (Homeland) patriotic party, and his colleague Sergei Baburin.
Georgia's decision follows the Russian Embassy in Georgia's alleged refusal of an entrance visa for Givi Targamadze, the chairman of the Georgian parliament's committee on security and defense, who had intended to travel to Russia for the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Parliamentary Assembly session in St. Petersburg.
On Wednesday, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili approved the decision by Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdzhanadze to refuse to attend the session.
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Merab Antadze said the decision to deny Targamadze a visa had been political.
"This is an unprecedented case, when a country hosting an international event has refused to receive a high-ranking official due to political motives," Antadze said.
The Russian Embassy in Georgia said in an official statement that it had issued visas for all the delegates from Georgia.
