Germany, EU React to GD Criticism Over Wanted Ex-Georgian Official Visit to Berlin, Brussels
The German Embassy in Tbilisi, and the EU Delegation to Georgia made statements about UNM-era former Chief Prosecutor and Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili’s visit to Berlin and Brussels as part of the the Ukrainian delegation, which led to harsh criticism from the Georgian authorities. Germany cited lack of legal ground for banning Adeishvili, while the EU spoke of disinformation around the visit.
On February 22, Adeishvili, who has been sentenced in absentia in Georgia on several criminal charges, was seen sitting next to the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany and Ukraine’s Chief Prosecutor in the German Bundestag, at a session discussing the delivery of long-range weapons to Ukraine. A few days later, he accompanied the Ukrainian delegation to a meeting in Brussels, with Gert Jan Koopman, Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, leading to condemnation from the ruling Georgian Dream and demands for explanations from the EU and Germany.
The German Embassy in Tbilisi confirmed that Adeishvili, as a member of the Ukrainian Ambassador’s delegation, was on the rostrum reserved for guests of the German Bundestag and stated that “in Germany there was no reason, based on the principles of the rule of law, to prevent him from entering the Parliament”. The German Embassy noted that this fact has nothing to do with bilateral relations between Georgia and Germany, which “everyone knows” are “very good”.
On March 8, the EU Delegation to Georgia said Director General Koopman regularly meets interlocutors including from Ukraine and “his meeting last Tuesday was with the Prosecutor General of Ukraine who was accompanied by a number of people as part of the Ukrainian delegation.”
“Portraying this meeting in another way is disinformation (and the correct information can easily be verified on EU social media),” the EU Delegation in Georgia said, adding that “fighting disinformation against the EU is step 1 out of the 9 steps towards opening EU accession negotiations.”
The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, called Adeishvili’s presence in the EU institutions “unfortunate” and asked the EU Ambassador to explain whether the representatives of the EU Commission knew with whom they were meeting and what they had to say to the Georgian people about it.
“Zurab Adeishvili has been convicted of a wide range of crimes, from human torture to business racketeering,” Papuashvili noted. “When such a person is received with such honor in the discussion rooms by various officials, and then the same officials talk to us in the same rooms about judicial reform, vetting and human rights, I think it requires an explanation if we are to take their words seriously later on.”
Papuashvili reiterated that Adeishvili has been sanctioned by the Georgian court and that while Tbilisi is “scrupulously” complying with international sanctions, “it seems that some European countries are circumventing the sanctions imposed by the Georgian court.”
Papuashvili also criticized the Ukrainian government, arguing that “the heroic struggle of the Ukrainian people against aggression does not absolve its authorities of responsibility for protecting criminals.”
Another Georgian Dream MP, Irakli Zarkua, also called on the Foreign Ministry to summon the German Ambassador for clarifications. He also demanded explanations from the EU side.
Zurab Adeishvili, a highly influential figure in former President Saakashvili’s inner circle, left Georgia a day after the October 2012 parliamentary elections, that resulted the nation’s first peaceful transfer of power through elections since regaining independence in 1991. The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office put Adeishvili on wanted list in 2013 on several counts but still fails to achieve his extradition. In 2015, Interpol dropped red notice for him, which was issued in 2013. After the Maidan in Ukraine, Adeishvili reportedly moved to Ukraine, according to the latest information on his whereabouts, he is working for the Ukrainian authorities.
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