The idea that Georgia remains even formally in the EU accession process is an illusion, a lie. We can regain European pensions, European salaries, European education, European prosperity, and European security only if we get rid of Ivanishvili’s Russian regime.

This was stated today by United National Movement chair Tina Bokuchava at a briefing.

She added that the EU Enlargement Report will serve as the basis for suspending Georgia’s visa-free regime.

“Yesterday a very important and, at the same time, very heavy report was published. There were very tough briefings that confirmed two things:

1. Under Ivanishvili’s Russian regime, Georgia, which earned EU candidate status through the efforts of the Georgian people, unfortunately has no future in the EU today. This is the direct result of Ivanishvili’s Russian regime’s actions, steps, anti-Western and anti-European policy.

2. Marta Kos and Kaja Kallas openly said that Ivanishvili’s regime is deliberately deceiving the Georgian people, creating the illusion that Georgia at least formally remains in the EU accession process. This is an illusion, this is a lie. The truth is that the Georgian people, who are awaited in the EU’s large political and security family, can restore the EU accession process only if we remove Ivanishvili’s Russian regime.

European pensions, European salaries, European education, European prosperity, European security: we can regain and obtain them only if we remove Ivanishvili’s Russian regime.

As for the concrete consequence of this extremely grave report we heard yesterday: unfortunately, the EU will use this very report to make a decision on visa-free travel.

You know that for many months the UNM foreign-policy team has been working intensively to ensure that the suspension of visa-free travel does not affect Georgian citizens and that the Georgian people are not sanctioned because of the autocratic steps of Ivanishvili’s Russian regime. Our work has borne fruit: the EU is now discussing the suspension of visa-free travel only for members of the regime. We are talking about Ivanishvili, his entourage, the enforcers, the false witnesses, the so-called judges, the propagandists who lie to the Georgian people, and the financial-business elite that robs the Georgian people and finances Ivanishvili’s repressive Russian machine.

This report will be the foundation for that decision. I hope that, thanks to our efforts, this decision will affect only members of the regime and will never touch Georgian citizens,” Tina Bokuchava declared.