Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker says EU visa-free travel revocation “tool” to incite voters against Gov't

Thea Tsulukiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday said that any pretext, including the potential revocation of visa-free travel with the EU, was serving as “fuel” for external forces to incite the domestic opposition and anger voters against the Government, especially ahead of local elections.

In her interview with Imedi TV, Tsulukiani emphasised that the ruling Georgian Dream party was enjoying significant support, making it impossible to destabilise the constitutional order.

She urged those planning such scenarios to “change their script, director, and ideas”, as “old scripts no longer work”.

Tsulukiani acknowledged that the revocation of visa-free travel would be detrimental for both sides, “primarily for them”, referring to the European Union. She expressed concern that the party attempting to revoke visa-free travel for Georgian citizens was “not joking and is serious”.

She added that making a decision openly opposing the Georgian people would not be beneficial for the EU.

“We do not want this decision, and if they think that they want this decision, then they will have to explain why they did this to the Georgian people”, the official said.

She further added that the laws on transparency and family values had nothing to do with obtaining or maintaining visa-free travel.

In her opinion, this was just the best lever for putting pressure on the Government and achieving the goal they could not achieve, to somehow reduce the support for the Georgian Dream party ahead of the upcoming local elections.

“That is why this is happening and so that the ultimate goal is the victory of the political force they want, and unfortunately, the force they want seems to be the same old force, whose return to power we all oppose to and will oppose to the end”, she concluded.

The European Commission had sent a letter to Georgia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Maka Botchorishvili, outlining eight recommendations the country must fulfil to avoid jeopardizing its visa-free travel with the EU.

One of the main recommendations is the repeal of the laws on transparency of foreign influence and on the protection of family values and minors.