“Visa liberalisation has its own procedures and preconditions. What we have witnessed is that, in place of the criteria that genuinely matter for visa liberalisation, political preconditions have been fabricated against Georgia; preconditions that directly violate our country’s sovereignty and its right to determine its own national agenda,” stated the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, in remarks to journalists.

Papuashvili was asked about the matter of visa-free travel, specifically: “On June 11, the first dialogue between the Georgian side and the European Commission is due to take place. What are your expectations? There are also reports circulating that a political decision will be taken in January.”

“There is a mechanism provided for under the rules, whereby a technical-level meeting is obligatory. Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has assembled a delegation that will take part. It is a technical meeting, not a political one. At the same time, we are well aware of the preconditions being discussed. There has been talk of Georgia joining the EU sanctions, including those against Russia. On this point, we say clearly: we have no intention of destroying our own country and placing it in the path of war. There has also been a call for Georgia to abandon its requirement for foreign nationals to spend money transparently. It appears that the European Union prefers that Georgia’s political agenda remain covertly funded, mirroring the current practice from Brussels. As we have stated, this is impossible, out of respect for our sovereignty.

Visa liberalisation has its own procedures and preconditions. Regrettably, what we have seen is that, rather than applying the criteria that genuinely matter for visa liberalisation, political preconditions have been invented and levelled against Georgia; preconditions that directly violate our country’s sovereignty and its right to set its own national agenda. As the Georgian saying goes, national sovereignty is not something to be bartered away for a handful of strawberries,” said Shalva Papuashvili.