On December 9, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, condemned the violence against demonstrators and journalists in Tbilisi and said that the EU has put all options on the table to discuss the possible consequences for the Georgian authorities at the meeting of EU foreign ministers on December 16. Steps to be discussed include sanctions and suspension of visa-free travel for some categories of passports,
civil.ge reports.
“We see people on the streets. We hear their voices. We are shocked by the violence. It is absolutely, unacceptable. We stand with the people of Georgia who want a better future for them and for their families, who want Georgia to become a member of the European Union,” said Ambassador Herczyński, noting that Georgia “has had a privileged relationship with the European Union” for many years, but the current situation raises the need to “reflect” on this “privileged relationship,” which will happen on December 16.
Regarding the options for consequences that GD might face, he said that although preparatory work on sanctions has begun, sanctions policy, in general, “is very difficult in the EU” because it requires unanimity. “If we will reach unanimity, this depends on all 27 capitals. I think, I hope it will be very difficult for any EU capital to disregard the level of violence, the level of brutality,” he emphasized.
As for the suspension of visa-free travel, the EU Ambassador stated: “There is an option to have a suspension of vis- free [travel] for certain categories of passports. We have always said that we do not want to harm the population. We don’t want to punish the people who are manifesting their dedication to EU values, who are on the streets of Tbilisi and many other cities, waving Georgian flags and European Union flags, but the authorities who are responsible for the violence, brutality, we cannot keep silent [on them].”
Ambassador Herczyński reiterated that the Georgian government decided to put itself “under the scrutiny of the European Commission” by applying to join the Union. It was required for Georgia to implement reforms outlined first in the 12 steps, and later in the 9 steps, provided by the Commission. One of these steps was to hold free and fair elections, where “unfortunately, we had a lot of irregularities that are incompatible for a country to join the European Union.”
