Lithuanian Foreign Minister: We support the position of the Georgian President, as well as the position of NGOs, that holding new elections are the right way to resolve the situation
In Lithuania, we have already imposed sanctions on about 30 people who were directly involved in the violent suppression of the opposition protests. We call on the European Union to also impose sanctions against these individuals, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told reporters in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
“We hope to agree on the steps that are necessary in light of what we are seeing on the streets of Tbilisi. When we see political opposition leaders being detained, we see violence against protesters, this is something that we cannot ignore. In Lithuania, we have already imposed sanctions on about 30 people who were directly involved in the violent suppression of the opposition protests. We call on the European Union to also impose sanctions against these individuals. The second issue is visa-free travel. We should ban it for holders of diplomatic and service passports. This is the minimum we need to do, and we should also send a strong message that we may expand this ban in the future. The third issue is to hold technical and political negotiations with Georgia within the framework of the Georgia-EU Association Agreement, as well as to suspend all institutional negotiations with Georgian government institutions, and also to suspend financial support for these institutions. On the other hand, we need to send a strong message to Georgian civil society that we will support them and we need a financial package for this, to show that we are serious. So, right now we need to send a message to the Georgian people who have taken to the streets that Europe is not abandoning you, Europe is with you and Europe needs you,” said Kęstutis Budrys.
When asked whether they would continue to support Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and declare the president elected illegitimate, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister replied:
“We support the position of the Georgian President, as well as the position of NGOs, that holding new elections are the right way to resolve the situation,” the Lithuanian Foreign Minister noted.
