Tomorrow, May 15, the foreign ministers of Latvia, Estonia, Iceland, and Lithuania - Baiba Braze, Margus Tsahkna, Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir, and Gabrielius Landsbergis - will visit Georgia. They have already called on the Georgian authorities to reconsider the decision to adopt the Russian law.
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The foreign ministers will meet with the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili, the Parliament Chairman, Shalva Papuashvili, the Foreign Affairs Minister, Ilia Darchiashvili, and representatives of the parliamentary opposition parties. Meetings with members of the Georgian government and civil society organizations are also planned. A joint press conference is scheduled after the meeting with the President.
Information from the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Latvia indicates that current events in Georgia, including the "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" law, will be discussed during the visit.
The Baltic states and Iceland released a statement on May 10, stating that the Russian Law is incompatible with EU norms and values. If passed, they warn, the law could be used to silence the media and civil society organizations that play an important role in helping Georgia on its path to EU membership.
“The anti-Western rhetoric of Georgian authorities seriously risks undermining Georgia’s European choice. The EU candidate status was granted to Georgia on the understanding that 9 steps would be fulfilled. At this point, Georgian authorities have not made overall progress in fulfilling those steps,” the statement says.
Georgian Dream is set to approve the Russian Law in the third and final reading at today's plenary session of the Parliament, despite ongoing demonstrations against it that have been occurring for a month.
In parallel with these processes, a European delegation arrived in Georgia, comprising the foreign relations committee chairmen of the parliaments of Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, and Estonia. Additionally, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien, is in Tbilisi. However, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the honorary chairman of Georgian Dream, has refused to meet with him.
It should be noted that on May 13, the chairman of People's Power, Sozar Subar, appealed to the authorities not to meet with the representatives of EU countries and the USA, and to discuss whether they deserve to be allowed into Georgia.
