“Everything is obvious; we see a bad and dire tendency. The European Union uses some issues for pressure and blackmail,” said Irakli Kadagishvili, Chair of the parliamentary Self-Governance Committee.

According to Kadagishvili, these are technical meetings that may continue for one year and aim to put pressure on Georgia.

“There are certain issues on which Georgia will not be able to have the viewpoint that certain representatives of the European Union might want, that is, to fully align with the EU’s foreign policy vector. This will automatically mean that Georgia must impose sanctions and a visa regime on Russia.

The European Union tells us to abolish visa-free regimes with China, Russia, and so on. They are imposing restrictions on us that are neither in the direct interest of the European Union nor Georgia at all. This is done for pressure. During this war, when Georgia started defending its interests, some in the EU structures cannot forgive us, and this is why a series of pressures follow,” he said.

Asked about the difference between Moscow and this pressure, Irakli Kadagishvili said that “Russia did not like Armenia’s policy and imposed sanctions. Here they dislike something and threaten to impose sanctions by suspending visa-free travel. This has nothing to do with Georgia’s bringing closer to the EU,” he said.