Parliament Vice Speaker: no real threat to Georgia’s visa liberalisation with EU, but attempts at political pressure will continue

Giorgi Kakhiani, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said he does not believe Georgia’s visa liberalisation with the European Union is under real threat, though he acknowledged that there will be calls and attempts to use the issue as leverage.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Kakhiani emphasised that while opposition groups have announced upcoming rallies, external actors will also attempt to pressure the Georgian public using the visa liberalisation issue.

“I think that if we look at this realistically and objectively, in the end, common sense always prevails in European bodies, and I do not believe visa liberalisation faces any actual danger. However, we are not under the illusion that there will be no such statements before then. It has become so predictable how internal radicals and external actors behave during election periods that I am certain, a few days before the September 13 rally, there will again be statements aimed at pressuring the population with the visa issue. The only goal is to give some momentum to the opposition, which has been practically destroyed and has no real support”, the Parliament official said.

He also addressed whether such threats of visa liberalization suspension actually influence Georgian voters. According to him, while these statements may provide short-term energy to protests, they are counterproductive in the long run.

“Why don’t they realize that such statements ultimately cause deep disappointment in society toward European institutions? Perhaps for some, this can be a reason to attend a specific rally, but for the vast majority of citizens, it creates frustration. People see that according to EU-published indices, Georgia is clearly the leading country in the region, ranking first even among candidate states, and in some criteria, we even outperform certain EU and NATO member states. Against this background, some European actors threaten us with visa suspension, while at the same time acknowledging Georgia’s progress. Naturally, this generates a sense of injustice in society”, he concluded.