Baltic Foreign Ministers React to Georgia Crisis

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Eva-Maria Liimets, Edgars Rinkēvičs, and Gabrielius Landsbergis expressed on February 25 their “serious concerns” over the political situation unfolding in Georgia and “urged all political forces to act with restraint, de-escalate the situation and seek constructive solution.”

In the joint statement, the three Foreign Ministers stressed “the critical importance of the rule of law and political dialogue in order to resolve the current crisis.”

The top Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian diplomats voiced their concern with the detention of United National Movement party chair Nika Melia, the top opposition leader, highlighting that this “risks undermining the possibility of dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition.”

Noting that they support the Georgians’ quest to integrate into the European Union and NATO, the three Foreign Ministers “stress[ed] the importance of political stability in order to reach those ambitious foreign policy goals.”

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)