Georgia, Tbilisi, Dec. 20 / Trend N.Kirtzkhalia /
Georgia regards the opening of an analogue to "Memorial of Glory", dismantled last year in Kutaisi in Moscow, as a provocation. Russia is a sovereign state and can decide what monuments to open, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said at a traditional briefing on Monday.
"But this particular case - the grandiose opening of the memorial - is provocative. It is an attempt to convince the public that Georgia allegedly did not appreciate the dead in WWII," Kalandadze said.
The Memorial in Kutaisi was demolished in December last year. According to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's proposal, the Union of Georgians in Russia and some other public organizations decided to recreate it in Moscow. At the solemn ceremony of the laying the memorial on Poklonnaya Hill, Putin named the destruction of the monument as a betrayal of those who fought shoulder to shoulder on all fronts.