Georgia: Russian envoy says Saakashvili needs mental health check
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 26 September 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Georgia: Russian envoy says Saakashvili needs mental health check, 26 September 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/526103d85.html [accessed 4 November 2019] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
September 26, 2013
Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, says Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili should undergo a professional mental health assessment.
Churkin made the statement after Saakashvili's address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, in which Saakashvili offered a broad condemnation of Russian policies.
The Russian delegation walked out of the hall during the address.
Churkin denounced the speech as a "train of crackpot thoughts that were not simply of an anti-Russian, but of a Russophobe, and anti-Orthodox, nature."
No Georgian response was immediately available.
Tensions have remained high between Russia and Georgia since their brief 2008 war.
Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, as independent states, and has stationed troops in both regions.
Georgia says the regions remain sovereign Georgian territory.
Based on reporting by TAR-TASS, rt.com, and RIA
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
