“The way out of the situation in Georgia is to restore credibility to democratic institutions and processes and hold free and fair elections,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys told journalists in Brussels before the start of a meeting of foreign ministers, responding to a question from Euroscope.

“There is only one way out of this situation, which we were also calling for a year ago. It is necessary to restore credibility to democratic institutions and processes, organize fair elections, and only after that take further steps. Otherwise, we see the degradation of processes and a rollback of democracy. This causes disappointment—especially given the high expectations of the Lithuanian people, and it is also important considering the expectations of the Georgian people regarding their European perspective. We are strong supporters of Georgia’s EU membership. I still believe in Georgia’s European future, but they cannot cope with the current situation, and the measures the current regime is taking against the political opposition and demonstrators are absolutely unacceptable. I am very disappointed to see this trend,” the minister said.

He added that he hopes the EU will continue next year to support civil society and organizations, and that “the Georgian regime will change its position and reconsider its strategy regarding Georgia’s place.”

“When such geopolitical changes are happening in the world, this is now a huge question, including in Tbilisi—where are we now? Which part of the world do we belong to?” Budrys said.