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Politicians React to European Parliament’s Resolution on Mikheil Saakashvili 

On February 15, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the situation of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with 577 MEPs voting in favor and 33 against. The European Parliament calls on Georgian government to release imprisoned ex-President and allow him to receive proper medical treatment abroad. The MEPs remind the Georgian authorities that they “have responsibility to ensure the health and well-being of the former President, to provide him with adequate medical treatment and to respect his fundamental rights and personal dignity, in line with Georgia’s Constitution and international commitments”. The resolution also “invites” the current President of Georgia to use her constitutional right to pardon Mikheil Saakashvili. 

Moreover, the resolution underlines the fundamental role that oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili has played in Saakashvili’s ongoing detention “as part of a personal vendetta”. Therefore, Parliament reiterates its call on the Council and democratic partners to consider imposing sanctions on Ivanishvili for his role in “the deterioration of the political process in Georgia”. 

The European Parliament’s resolution has triggered mixed reactions from the Georgian Dream and opposition MPs. Civil.ge has compiled some of the politicians’ reactions to the resolution:  

Ruling Party Reactions:  

Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the Georgian Dream: “The public has become accustomed to absurd provisions in the European Parliament’s resolutions, which is very unfortunate. It should be noted that these absurd provisions are not shared either by the European Commission, or by the European Council. This happened in the previous two cases and the same will happen this time. I don’t know what is wrong with the European Parliament. We have been as careful with EU institutions as possible, and therefore, we have focused on specific odious MEPs, but now the public sees everything. This is a systemic problem facing this institution called the European Parliament. This is a very serious problem, such a decision, frankly, would be the envy of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union. I well remember the end of the 80s, what happened then, the sessions of the Supreme Council of the Soviet Union were broadcast. What happened there, the same thing happened today and the same thing happened in the case of the previous two resolutions in the European Parliament. This is an outright disaster.”

Kakha Kaladze, Mayor of Tbilisi, Secretary General of Georgian Dream: “There is nothing new in this resolution and it has no value… The document cannot be valuable if it is about direct patronage of a criminal by his lobbyists. The document cannot be valuable if it says that a philanthropist should be sanctioned.”  

Shalva Papuashvili, Speaker of the Parliament: “Unfortunately, the EP resolutions have become a source of disinformation and attacks against Georgia. There is a group of European politicians, who are doing their best to harm Georgia in order to save Saakashvili. This resolution contains many factual errors.”  

Archil Talakvadze, Georgian Dream: “This resolution does not reflect the reality. If anything can be called politically motivated, it is this resolution. They are telling Georgia to put aside the constitution and follow the rules dictated by [MEP Andrius] Kubilius. So, Georgia should release the person who has been convicted of certain crimes and about whom the European Court has also made a decision. This is a direct pressure on the government.”  

Opposition Reactions  

Levan Khabeishvili, chairman of the United National Movement: “This resolution makes it clear that Bidzina Ivanishvili is carrying out a personal vendetta against Mikheil Saakashvili. It also contains a provision on imposing sanctions against him. What else should the European resolution say… It is the first time in the history of independent Georgia that the resolution of such a level clearly mentions the name of a political prisoner and it is President [Mikheil] Saakashvili.”  

Badri Japaridze, Lelo for Georgia: “The European Parliament calls for sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili. It means that the undemocratic steps taken by the Georgian Dream have provoked strongly negative reaction from the Western democratic world, which is particularly damaging for our country at this historical moment, when the issue of granting the EU candidate status to Georgia should be resolved in a few months.”  

Aleko Elisashvili, Citizens: “It is a collapse of Georgian Dream’s foreign policy. They should understand that talking about Europe, our European perspective in this way is the same as playing with fire.” 

Teona Akubardia, Reforms Group, a parliamentary political group: “The resolution makes it clear that Georgian Dream has put personal revenge and internal political interests above the European perspective.”    

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

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