Bundestag Delegation Visits Georgia, Says GD Government Officials “Had No Time” to Meet

On September 4-6, the spokespersons of the parliamentary groups of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag visited Georgia. The German Bundestag delegation included Deborah Düring of Alliance 90/The Greens, Jürgen Hardt of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Ulrich Lechte of the Free Democratic Party, and Nils Schmid of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).

During the three-day visit, no members of the GD government met with the German delegation, citing business. From the GD side only Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, met with the German delegation. The delegation also met with representatives of the parliamentary opposition, local think tanks, and civil society, and concluded the visit with a press conference.

At the September 6 press conference, Nils Schmid of the SPD began by emphasizing the “unique” composition of the delegation, representing four different parties from the German Bundestag and noting that this had only happened once before, in Lithuania after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The reason for this, he said, was that “we are very concerned about the recent developments in Georgia and we are very concerned about the European future of Georgia”.

Schmid outlined the two key messages of the delegation:

1. “We expect the elections of October to be fair and free,” said Schmid, stressing that the upcoming elections in Georgia are “crucial” for the future of Georgia’s democracy and its EU path. He noted that “These are crucial elections for the future of democracy and of the European integration of Georgia” he said noting: “We will have a close look at how these elections are conducted at the end of October.”

2. “With the current government’s policies, there is no way for Georgia to become a member of the European Union,” Schmid said, noting that this was made clear by the EU’s decision to halt the integration process. He also noted that with the current policy of the GD government, neither the German Bundestag itself will approve the opening of accession talks with Georgia. “There needs to be a profound revamping of domestic policies with regard to democracy, rule of law and rule of civil society,” he said. He also stressed the importance of implementing the EU’s nine steps for Georgia, saying that the withdrawal of the Foreign Agents Law will serve as the unofficial tenth step. 

Jürgen Hardt of the CDU added that regardless of the upcoming federal elections in Germany, German policy will ensure that there will be “no compromises” on the principles and standards of the EU’s approach to enlargement. 

Deborah Düring of Alliance 90/The Greens lamented that before, “Georgia used to be a leader among the EU candidate countries, but unfortunately it has fallen to the bottom.” She reaffirmed that with the Foreign Agents Law, “Georgia won’t be able to join the EU.”

Ulrich Lechte of the Free Democratic Party regretted that there were no talks with the government representatives, because, as he said, “they refused to receive us.” He elaborated: “It was asked on the high level, and then we asked for the second level and the third level and nobody had time for us,” adding that the schedule was announced weeks in advance of the delegation’s visit. 

Lechte also noted that the current situation in Georgia is “the fight between democracy and autocracy” and expressed hope that after the upcoming parliamentary elections “there will be a fully functioning democracy.”

GD leaders, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, today, September 6, commented today while attending the graduation ceremony of the first graduates of the Kutaisi International University, founded by the honorary chairman of the GD Bidzina Ivanishvili, in the western Georgian city of Kutaisi.

“As you can see, the government and I are in Kutaisi, while the Bundestag delegation is in Tbilisi,” said Shalva Papuashvili.

PM Irakli Kobakhidze confirmed that he had also been asked to meet, but said that his meeting with the Bundestag delegation was “not feasible” “taking into account several factors, including the act committed by one of their colleagues months ago”. Kobakhidze referred to Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, noting that during the latter’s visit to Georgia, he “went to the rally organized by the radical opposition” and “participated in the revolutionary attempt”. Kobakhidze added: “Such actions are unacceptable. Against this background, the meetings are unacceptable to us.”

Michael Roth, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, together with the Chairpersons of the Foreign Affairs Committees of the Lithuanian, Czech, Finnish and Polish Parliaments visited Georgia on May 13. At the end of their visit, the Chairpersons addressed the crowd on Rustaveli Avenue and expressed solidarity with those protesting against the Foreign Agents law.

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