“Georgian Dream is the government that did everything to enable Georgian citizens to travel to EU countries without visas. I personally participated in this process, one might say, from the very first day when the visa dialogue began with the European Union. We went through virtually every stage before my eyes,” stated Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili during a media broadcast.

Maka Botchorishvili responded to statements made by the opposition claiming that suspending visa liberalization serves the interests of the Georgian Dream to distance Georgia from the European Union.

As Botchorishvili noted, the candidate status was also frequently used as a blackmail mechanism, but this mechanism did not work.

“I clearly remember the strong consensus that surrounded the implementation of politically challenging reforms and the decision-making processes that followed. These actions weren’t driven by bureaucracy; they were led by political leadership fueled by a significant political will. We undertook these efforts to secure visa-free travel for our citizens.

I remember very well when the European Commissioner came in February 2013 and brought an action plan, which the Georgian government worked on for several years to implement the visa-free regime,” stated Maka Botchorishvili.

Additionally, as Maka Bochorishvili noted, Brussels bureaucracy is often mistaken about the effectiveness of its initiatives.

“We have seen that Brussels bureaucracy thought many things would be effective in changing the government in Georgia. In reality, the opposite happened – there was a mobilization of the Georgian people precisely to protect the sovereignty and state interests when our country’s interests were weighed against foreign interests,” stated Maka Botchorishvili.