Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), is once again accusing European Union diplomats of interfering in the country’s internal affairs. The GD officials claim that EU Ambassador Pavlo Herczyński made a “blatant call” to voters during the 2024 pre-election campaign, urging them to change the policy of the Georgian Dream party.
The accusations come after the EU published a roadmap for Georgia’s integration into the EU, which was met with skepticism by the GD government. The roadmap includes recommendations for democratic reforms and rule-of-law improvements.
GD officials have been responding to these developments by launching attacks on EU diplomats. They claim that the diplomats are not respecting the Vienna Convention, which prohibits diplomatic missions from engaging in local political processes.
The head of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Nika Melia, has accused Ambassador Herczyński of making “an unacceptable statement” and called for his expulsion from Georgia. Other GD officials have also joined in, accusing the EU diplomats of trying to undermine the country’s sovereignty.
However, not everyone is buying into these accusations. Former diplomat Salome Samadashvili wrote on Facebook that the GD government has no intention of normalizing relations with the West and is simply using these accusations as a way to distract from their own failures.
The situation remains tense, with both sides exchanging verbal blows. The fate of the EU diplomats in Georgia remains uncertain, but one thing is clear: the row between the Georgian Dream government and European Union officials will continue to escalate unless some kind of resolution is found.
