EU Ambassador Condemns Violence Against Demonstrators, Journalists

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.

“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.”

As for the laws adopted in the past year, in particular, the law on Foreign Agents and anti-LGBTQ+ law, the Ambassador stated that “Georgia is a free country. It’s for Georgians and the Georgian Parliament to decide what laws it wants to have in Georgia. But it is for me, as EU Ambassador, to say loud and clear that laws that are incompatible with EU norms and EU values will not bring Georgia closer to the EU membership.”

The EU Ambassador noted that another issue that doesn’t comply with EU principles is violence against demonstrators exercising their right to freedom of assembly and expression, and especially against journalists doing their job. “…any media representatives should be allowed to carry out their duty, their job freely. I’m personally, really shocked that many young people have been, beaten, brutally beaten for waiving Georgian flags. This is truly heartbreaking and I sincerely hope that this unparalleled level of violence will stop immediately.”

“My message to the people of Georgia who are standing on the streets every night, not only in Tbilisi, but many other cities is do not lose hope. Your voice is being heard. It is shocking that there is so much violence and there is so much brutality against many of them, against women, against young people… These cases should be investigated, and the perpetrators should be brought to justice. It’s very deplorable that the police, the secret service, and, some gangs of criminals who were rampant on the streets of Tbilisi two nights ago that still no one has been brought to justice,” stressed Ambassador Herczyński.

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