Gamsakhurdia kept out in cold by Finland
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.HELSINKI (Agencies) - Finland rejected yesterday a visa request by Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the deposed President of Georgia, who wanted to stage a meeting in Helsinki to coincide with the European Security Conference summit scheduled for 9 and 10 July. Instead, Finland's Foreign Ministry issued a visa for Mr Gamsakhurdia which is good from 15 to 29 July, well after the summit closes. Heads of state and governments from 52 countries, including Georgia's Eduard Shevardnadze, are expected at the summit.
Although the Finnish government did not say why the visa application had been turned down, the Helsinki newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet predicted that no visa would be granted since Mr Gamsakhurdia's presence would be 'possibly very uncomfortable for the host country Finland'.
A Ghamsakhurdia support group that filed for his visa in Helsinki said yesterday it would submit a new visa application since it had 'made a mistake' in the initial procedure 'by not specifying the first two weeks of July as the desired period'.
Another group within the Finnish parliament, the 'Georgia Group' which includes 15 of the 200 MPs, submitted its own visa request yesterday morning on behalf of Mr Gamsakhurdia specifying the dates covering the security summit.
Rebels ousted the authoritarian Mr Gamsakhurdia in January and Mr Shevardnadze took over the leadership of the republic in March, but just last week armed supporters of Mr Gamsakhurdia were involved in a failed attempt to overthrow the provisional Georgian government.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments