No one can intimidate you by threatening to suspend visa-free travel for the government when, on the other side of the scale, you have the stability and security of the country, which are vital for the future of your country and your children.
According to the Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, no one can scare the government with threats of suspending visa-free travel when the stability and security of the country, essential for the nation’s and its children’s future, are at stake. She made this statement in an interview with Rustavi 2, as disseminated by her press service.
The Foreign Minister noted that even the decision regarding diplomatic passports lacked any legal basis and was incomprehensible, questioning what the European Union might discuss by the end of the year and which groups are being referred to.
“It’s difficult for me to speak on behalf of Kaja Kallas about these groups. I don’t understand what groups these could be. First, the decision on diplomatic passports lacked any legal foundation in the way the regime was implemented. We will eventually have the opportunity to discuss how baseless this decision was – legally unjustified and flawed. However, in a political context, it exists. Whether it had a basis or is justified, whether it’s solid or not, it exists. Today, holders of diplomatic passports need visas to travel to certain EU countries. This hasn’t caused the country to collapse, and nothing catastrophic has happened. It’s quite simple: when traveling to a country with a visa regime, you apply for and receive a visa. This is a normal process. If this concerns specific groups, such as the government, ministers, or parliament members – those who have the right to hold and do hold diplomatic passports – then if this is about pressuring these categories, as certain bureaucratic groups in Brussels seem to need as a mechanism, it’s already in place. How effective it is in achieving their goals is something they can measure themselves. However, we have repeatedly said that this is not a counterbalance to what we are doing. No one can intimidate you by threatening to suspend visa-free travel for the government when, on the other side of the scale, you have the stability and security of the country, which are vital for the future of your country and your children – to maintain stability, security, and democratic governance in this country. When they talk about democratic backsliding, they themselves undermine democracy,” Botchorishvili stated on Rustavi 2.
Commenting on the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, Botchorishvili noted that certain parties continue to attempt using “blackmail language” with Georgia and instrumentalizing the visa-free travel policy.
“Today in Luxembourg, Georgia was discussed. The assembled foreign ministers deliberated, and once again, we heard how the visa regime issue is being linked to Georgia. We saw once again how certain parties try to use blackmail language against Georgia and instrumentalize the visa-free travel policy,” Botchorishvili said.
She emphasized that it became clear that the idea of canceling visa-free travel and using it as blackmail is baseless and impossible to pursue with Georgia.
“This isn’t just about Georgia. They want to use it as a political instrument. Accordingly, they are now searching for ways to avoid something that doesn’t have unequivocal support within the EU – in this case, I’m talking about canceling the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens. We can unequivocally say that this idea lacks sufficient supporters to be implemented. Naturally, even the harshest critics of Georgia’s current processes, or the Georgia issue – whatever the reason – foreign ministers of countries critical of Georgia were saying just a few months ago that such a policy shouldn’t apply to citizens. The message was clear: there is no readiness in the EU to turn visa-free travel into a tool for political maneuvering with a single stroke,” Botchorishvili stated.
However, she noted that efforts continue to find ways to use this issue as a pressure mechanism, though it was already used in 2010 by suspending an agreement concerning diplomatic passport holders. “A visa regime has effectively been introduced for specific categories of people, namely diplomatic passport holders,” she concluded.
Maka Botchorishvili: No one can intimidate you by threatening to suspend visa-free travel for the government when, on the other side of the scale, you have the stability and security of the country
