According to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Relations, Nikoloz Samkharadze, during his visit to Brussels and Luxembourg, at the meetings with the European colleagues they “presented concerns that the Georgian side has with the creation of artificial obstacles on the path to European integration.”

According to him, they first of all talked with their foreign colleagues about the neglect of Georgia’s security interests and the constant calls “that Georgia should impose economic sanctions on the Russian Federation.”

According to Samkharadze, they explained to their European colleagues that for Georgia this is not only an economic issue and solidarity with Europe or even Ukraine, but also an issue of the country’s fundamental security.

“Last week, we, the Chairmen of the Committee on Foreign Relations and European Integration, were in Brussels and Luxembourg, where we had meetings with our colleagues as well as at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. We had the opportunity to clearly state our position in the light of relations with the European Union. We presented the concerns that the Georgian side has about the creation of artificial obstacles on the path to European integration. I am talking about an unfair approach. I want the public to be clear about what we are talking about with our foreign colleagues. First of all, this is the neglect of Georgia’s security interests, with constant calls for Georgia to impose economic sanctions on the Russian Federation.

We explained to our European colleagues that this is not just an economic issue and a matter of solidarity with Europe or even Ukraine. This is also an issue of fundamental security for our country - therefore, everyone should take into account that Georgia is a partially occupied state and accordingly, we cannot take steps that could lead to an additional escalation of relations with Russia and possibly even end in a military conflict.

The second issue was the issue of interference in our internal affairs, and in particular, in the elections. At the meetings we attended, there was absolute agreement from our European colleagues that it is unacceptable and inadmissible when the Foreign Minister or the Chairman of a parliamentary committee of any other country visits a candidate country and engages in agitation against any party during the pre-election process.

The third issue is the protests, which the European Union still considers to be peaceful, and we expressed our concern about this. When you see an attack on the presidential palace, the parliament building, cars burning, police officers injured - the question arises, who is doing this? Is it some kind of “invisible hand” or are there specific people who are committing this crime? When such things happen, it cannot be considered a peaceful protest and everything should be called by its proper name.

The fourth issue we discussed is double standards, which even applies to candidate countries - what is forgiven to one candidate country may not be forgiven to Georgia later, which is completely unacceptable to us. We had a very interesting, open and constructive discussion on these issues.

Over the past three months, we have already been to 6 EU member states, and in all six states there is a certain disappointment with the position that the EU has towards Georgia - I mean, the lack of political dialogue. We will continue to engage with the member states and win over many more so that they too demand the European Commission to restore political dialogue.

As for the visa dialogue, I would like to reassure everyone that this is a normal technical issue. The European Commission has an obligation to conduct a visa dialogue with a country that has visa-free travel. This meeting was held in a very constructive manner until the details of this meeting were leaked to the press. When we talk about trust with the European Union, it is unacceptable when the details of a closed meeting are leaked to the press a few minutes before the end of the meeting. It is clear that the Georgian side could not have leaked this information to the media outlets that are represented in the European Union. Therefore, it is clear to everyone who leaked this information and why it was needed," said Nikoloz Samkharadze.