The Foreign Ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia have denied the statement made by the Georgian Parliament Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, claiming that they agreed during a meeting that the ruling party did the right thing by not heeding their European colleagues' advice to impose sanctions on Russia and release Mikheil Saakashvili.
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"The purpose of their visit to Georgia pertains to the transparency law. They had certain concerns regarding the law, so we discussed its foundation. One of the reasons behind their concerns is that funds from the European Union and their taxpayers are being partially spent in Georgia in a non-transparent manner, and partly not for their intended purposes. Incidentally, we have received approval from various representatives of the European Union, who agree with our assessment that there is indeed a transparency issue. We have communicated this to our colleagues, emphasizing that it is primarily within their capacity to address these challenges and issues, as the funds of their citizens are being partly spent in Georgia in a non-transparent manner.
Today, in our internal discussions, we all concurred that we made the correct decision by not following the advice of our European colleagues regarding the imposition of sanctions on Russia. We believe it was wise not to heed their advice and release Saakashvili.
We have been vindicated, and they have been proven wrong. We conveyed to them that if we were to strictly adhere to their recommendations, as if there were only two options: either we follow your suggestions or it will be as you predict, what guarantee is there that you will not be mistaken this time, just as you were in previous instances? The decision is ours, and this was the sentiment of our meeting today: that the fundamental basis of our relationship should be mutual respect and an understanding of the concerns we harbor," stated Papuashvili.
Today, the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia met with Iceland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, and Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna.
"We did not make such statements, nor do we agree with any such assertions. I am not aware of what he said. It is not my role to pass judgment on his statements, but we do not concur that Georgian Dream was correct regarding Saakashvili, sanctions, or any similar matters, particularly concerning this specific law. It is evident that if Georgia has a close friend, it is primarily the Baltic states," explained the Foreign Affairs Minister of Latvia.
The Foreign Ministers of Lithuania and Estonia have responded to Shalva Papuashvili's statement on social networks.
“In response to confusion about the meeting with the Chair of the Parliament of Georgia Papuashvili, I feel the need to clarify that
we did not agree that Georgia was right to ignore European advice and values, and we expressed extremely strong views, not "some concerns",
wrote the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, Gabrielius Landsbergis on X.
“Let me be clear - we did not agree on any of this. My message is the opposite: Georgia is not moving in the right direction,” The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, Margus Tsahkna, writes.
Shalva Papuashvili referred to the Chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael Roth, as a bad politician.
"The 30 years of German aid to Georgia are being thrown away with one stroke of the hand by such sleazy politicians... exactly those sleazy politicians who are willing to sacrifice society for the sake of controversy and riots just to take a selfie. These are the politicians we do not want to associate with Europe," Papuashvili said.
Georgian Dream adopted the Russian Law with 84 votes for and 30 against on May 14, in the third and final reading. President Salome Zourabishvili stated that she will veto the law. The President has a two-week deadline to do so, until May 28. Georgian Dream has the ability to override the President's veto.
