“They are telling us to impose sanctions on Russia and destroy ourselves if we want to keep visa-free travel. But if we destroy ourselves and our country collapses, who will be left to travel visa-free to the European Union?” Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili said in response to journalists’ questions about the June 11 meeting between Georgia and the European Commission on visa-free travel.

According to Papuashvili, “Georgia cannot destroy itself simply because Brussels wants to turn visas into a political instrument.”

“The issue concerns the introduction of visa requirements for holders of diplomatic passports. When this measure was introduced, it constituted a violation of an international agreement by the European Union. In relation to Georgia, the EU is violating international law. That, in itself, is a great embarrassment, although we see that a sense of embarrassment is not particularly present in Brussels.

Once they realized that this was a violation of international law, they introduced additional rules specifically for Georgia. They added political criteria to what had previously been purely technical criteria. Throughout the history of the EU’s visa and visa-free regimes, such political criteria had never existed.

The European Union spent time creating special rules tailored specifically to Georgia. That was a second violation - adapting EU regulations to target a single specific subject, namely Georgia. By introducing these political criteria, they effectively gave themselves the freedom, in their view, to demand whatever they want from us.

Now there seems to be no limit to their imagination. One day they tell us to impose sanctions on Russia and destroy ourselves if we want visa-free travel. That is what they are openly demanding. They are pushing us toward self-destruction by insisting that we sanction Russia.

We cannot destroy our country simply because Brussels wants to use visas as a political weapon. Every country has a visa system. Should we now introduce visas for Polish officials? This is immature policy on the part of the European Union,” Papuashvili said.

Regarding the June 11 meeting, he stressed that Georgia is represented by a technical delegation.

“A technical team from Georgia has been appointed and will review these matters. If there are political complaints, they should be addressed to politicians. Such issues cannot be resolved at the technical level. Political questions require political answers. As the saying that has become common in the region goes: ‘Sovereignty is not traded for strawberries,’” Papuashvili stated.

For reference, according to Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the EU visa regulation, the European Commission must initiate a dialogue with the relevant third country during the operation of the suspension mechanism. The first meeting between the Georgian side and the European Commission is scheduled to take place on June 11.