Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili is now traveling to Strasbourg, stated by Lithuanian MEP and European Parliament rapporteur for Georgia, Rasa Juknevičienė, during a debate on Georgia in the European Parliament.

"President Salome Zurabishvili, the leader of European Georgia, is traveling to Strasbourg to address us at the heart of EU democracy. Is there hope? This is the most frequent question I hear in Lithuania about Georgia. Yes, there is hope. Last week, when I was in Tbilisi, I saw many people carrying EU flags. Around 500 were detained, hundreds beaten, including journalists, yet more and more people are joining the protests," said Juknevičienė.

According to her, the only solution to the current crisis is holding new elections.

"Georgia is becoming a stark example of how Russian influence can transform a democratic system into an authoritarian regime without a single shot fired. However, Georgia is a candidate country, and the EU institutions cannot stand idly by. My political group, the European People’s Party, has a clear stance: parliamentary elections were stolen, and I see no other solution but holding new elections to help Georgia. Salome Zurabishvili remains the only legitimately elected president by the people," she emphasized.

Juknevičienė also called on EU leaders and ministers to urgently visit Tbilisi.

"We call on member states to impose sanctions against those responsible for electoral fraud and violence against peaceful demonstrators. I urge heads of state and ministers to travel to Tbilisi immediately with a European Georgian mission. I call on the EU to take the lead and not allow Putin and his puppets to win this fight against freedom and democracy on the European continent. This is the very struggle for true peace and freedom, for which Ukrainians are also fighting," concluded Rasa Juknevičienė.