Georgia: Foreign Minister Mails His Passport to Russian President

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze has reportedly mailed his Russian passport to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev after Russian lawmakers raised the possibility of revoking Vashadze's Russian citizenship.

"I am not a citizen of Russia anymore," said Vashadze, who had held dual Georgia-Russian citizenship. Speaking at a November 4 news conference in Tbilisi, he stated that he has no obligations to Russia henceforth.

Russian Duma member Semion Bagdasarov of the Fair Russia Party earlier called for cancelling Vashadze's citizenship because of the Georgian minister's alleged "anti-Russian" activity. The Duma, however, refused to act on Bagdasarov's motion, citing a constitutional ban on revoking Russian citizenship.

How exactly Vashadze mailed his passport to the Kremlin is not clear. Regular postal services between the two countries no longer exist, although international courier firms still service both states. Switzerland has acted as a diplomatic liaison between Georgia and Russia since the 2008 war.