“The Georgian Dream regime did nothing to uphold those norms and standards as required for visa-free travel,” said Grigol Gegelia, a member of the Lelo-Strong Georgia party.

According to Gegelia, the GD will bear responsibility for the suspension of visa-free travel to the country.

“No dialogue is possible with the Georgian Dream regime until the current political course stands. If political prisoners are released, new free elections are scheduled and the country is allowed to pursue a democratic process, Europe may become interested in talks with the Georgian state and this regime. Otherwise, no in-depth dialogue on any issue will take place under this policy; this is Europe’s declared will.

As for the remarks of several MEPs calling on Europe to lead a dialogue with the Georgian Dream, I would say that supporters of the GD are everywhere. They are not only Georgians. They exist in the Hungarian government and other countries. GD supporters do not rule anything in Europe. We saw that the suspension of the visa-free regime, as already formally stated in the European Commission report, is a very real risk. This is one of the scenarios that may unfold in the case of our country and this is the responsibility of the Georgian Dream regime.

The regime did nothing to uphold those norms and standards as required for visa-free travel. On the contrary, it did everything for Georgia to lose visa-free status. Therefore, the entire responsibility lies with the self-proclaimed evil regime of the Georgian Dream,” Gegelia said.

“Georgia could lose its visa-free status entirely,” reads the European Commission’s eighth annual report under the Visa Suspension Mechanism, monitoring the EU’s visa-free regimes, published on December 19.