Georgian Parliament Speaker: visa-free travel with EU weaponised for Gov’t change in Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday asserted there was an attempt to use the issue of visa-free travel as a tool of political pressure against Georgia, with the ultimate goal of changing the current Government.

In his interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Papuashvili criticised the politicisation of the visa-free travel, calling the linkage of family values and transparency issues with visa liberalisation arbitrary and unfounded.

He argued that raising the topic of visa liberalisation has provided “ammunition” to the opposition, which, in his words, “has been left without any real ideas”.

Papuashvili pointed to a broader timeline of events, claiming the current pressure campaign had not begun recently. “This chronology started last year when we witnessed foreign interference in Georgia’s elections”, he asserted, referencing what he described as direct and heavy-handed involvement from certain EU institutions, including the EU Ambassador.

The Speaker further added that the parties, who attempted to influence the elections were defeated and had since sought to exact revenge on the Georgian people. He cited a statement by MEP Rasa Juknevičienė, who blamed Georgian voters for issues in EU-Georgia relations. “She held 1,120,000 people collectively responsible. That, I said, was a purely fascist statement - and no European institution has distanced itself from it to this day”, he remarked.

He went on to suggest that following the failed attempt to change the Government on October 26 of last year, certain forces were now trying to achieve that goal through undemocratic means.

Explaining the procedure around visa-free travel, Papuashvili noted that the EU publishes annual reports on whether partner countries meet the necessary conditions, such as migration control and institutional performance. He stated that Georgia continues to meet these benchmarks.

“Some people may not like our concept of family values. Others may dislike our transparency measures. They may dislike many things, but connecting such disapproval to visa-free travel is an arbitrary, baseless move. The EU has visa-free travel with 61 countries - let the people compare which of those countries offer stronger protections of rights than Georgia”, he concluded.