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Georgians to take part in Sochi winter Olympics

24 December 2012 22:18 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili on Monday reiterated his country's preparedness to take part in the 2014 winter Olympic Games to be held in Sochi of the Russian Federation, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The prime minister told the press at a special New Year eve briefing that if Georgia wanted to regulate relations with Russia, Georgian sports people should be given an opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games.

"If we want to regulate relations with Russia, we cannot refuse to take part in it (Sochi games)," said the prime minister. "I have said it earlier, that in ancient Greece, wars stopped during the Olympic Games and what's the problem with us not to take part in these games, punish our sports people and fail to work out a strategy to restore relations between the two countries.

"When there was not such a base (for regulation of relations), we would have to come up with something; and when there is such a base, why should we give it up?"

Sports minister of Georgia, Levan Kipiani, agreed with the prime minister's view as he told the same press briefing that sporting interests should not be compromised in the first place and participation in the winter Olympic Games would only facilitate regulation of political relations.

Some of the lawmakers in the previous Georgian legislature had appealed for a boycott against the Sochi winter Olympics.