EU’s visa-free travel suspension for diplomatic passport holders is slammed as “hypocritical” by Georgian Parliament Speaker

The European Council’s decision to suspend visa liberalization for holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports was called “false and hypocritical” by Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday.
The suspension was announced by the EU body on Monday in response to controversial laws that the Georgian Parliament had passed last year, including the law on the transparency of foreign influence and legislation on family values and the protection of minors.
Papuashvili reminded the public the agreement on simplified visa issuance for Georgian officials signed under former President Mikheil Saakashvili’s “regime” in 2010 and accused Brussels of “targeting Georgia while ignoring the historical context” behind the original visa agreements in a post on social media.
Abuses from the Saakashvili era between 2004-2012, including “uninvestigated murders” of Sandro Girgvliani, Buta Robakidze, and Zurab Vazagashvili, seizure of media outlets like Rustavi 2 and Imedi TV, and formation of a “systematic culture of torture” in Georgian prisons, later condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, were also outlined by Papuashvili.
“Rigging” of the 2008 elections and the “regime’s complete control over businesses” were also referenced by the official.
Papuashvili emphasized that the creators of this autocracy, were rewarded by Brussels with visa-free travel, while ordinary people received the same privilege only seven years after the defeat of the regime by Georgian Dream.
Frustration over the EU’s stance on Saakashvili, who is currently imprisoned in Georgia, and Zurab Adeishvili, the wanted former Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice of Georgia, who is now in Ukraine, was also expressed by the Speaker.
As Papuashvili said, Brussels officials hosted the wanted Adeishvili last year in the same rooms where this decision was made today.
The bloc’s decision “no surprise given the ongoing calls for the release of Saakashvili, the architect of the authoritarian regime” was also noted by him.

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