Georgian Parliament official accuses Brussels of manipulating visa liberalisation issue ahead of local elections

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on European Integration, on Wednesday accused Brussels of using the visa liberalisation issue as a political tool ahead of the upcoming local elections, calling related threats “baseless and unfair”.

In his remarks, Makhashvili noted that as municipal elections were coming close, there was growing manipulation of the visa liberalisation issue.

“Georgia obtained visa liberalisation after fully implementing a number of reforms and strictly upholding EU security standards. Questioning this issue, including because of the family values law or the transparency law, is entirely baseless and unfair. This is about presenting the public with a false dilemma”, the official said.

He further highlighted that there would be multiple attempts to put pressure on the Georgian people and influence their free will.

“If there is any lever or resource available, Brussels’ bureaucracy will use it. That is why it is crucial for citizens to be active and send a very clear message that they support the Georgian Government”, Makhashvili noted.

“We believe that a decisive choice by the Georgian people will also be an important signal to anyone seeking to pressure Georgia or its Government”, he concluded.

Brussels has demanded that Georgia repeal the laws on transparency and the protection of family values, threatening to suspend visa liberalisation if it does not comply.