MEPs leave Georgia with “mixed feelings”, present from civic activist from occupied Akhalgori
MEPs after meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Tbilisi on Thursday. Photo: Government of Georgia press office.
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A European Parliament delegation that was on a visit to Georgia this week left the country on Friday after receiving a present from a civic activist living in central Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district.
MEP Viola von Cramon, a member of the delegation who paid a visit to the Administrative Boundary Line separating central Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the rest of the country, said on Friday she was leaving the country with “mixed feelings”.
???????? Mission to #Georgia is over. Leaving with mixed feelings.
— Viola von Cramon (@ViolavonCramon) July 22, 2022
Highlight was this handmade gift from Tamara #Mearakishvili, Georgian lady currently in house arrest by separatists. Many thanks for your bravery, Tamara. I believe in bright future of ???????? because of people like you. pic.twitter.com/2oCfwfBB5C
In her message before departure, von Cramon posted a picture of a handmade present from Tamara Mearakishvili, a Georgian civic activist living in the Russian-controlled Akhalgori district of the occupied region.
The activist had been suppressed by the local de facto authorities for years due to her civic activities, facing several charges and an unlawful expulsion from the occupied territory.
I hosted today a delegation from @EP_ForeignAff. It is so important to give #EU policymakers the opportunity to observe how security developments such as ‘borderisation’ has a detrimental impact on the freedom of movement of the local population.
— Marek Szczygieł (@EUMMGeorgia_HoM) July 21, 2022
ℹ https://t.co/PArli4qj3D pic.twitter.com/kR0LJKubUg
The delegation of MEPs departed Georgia after holding a series of meetings with almost all domestic political players and non-governmental organisations. They held discussions with Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, President Salome Zourabichvili, members of the opposition parties, Public Defender and NGOs.
The group led by David McAllister, the Chairman of the EP Committee on Foreign Relations, included MEPs Željana Zovko, Sven Mikser, Viola von Cramon, Thierry Mariani and Assita Kanko.
In their meetings, the delegation encouraged the domestic opposition to join the ruling Georgian Dream party’s Parliamentary format for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status for the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday welcomed a delegation of the European Parliament on a visit to the country to discuss the European Council's “historic” decision on granting the country the European perspective and review prospects of deepening cooperation.
A six-member delegation of the European Parliament, on a visit to Georgia, on Thursday observed the consequences of the Russian aggression in the country by visiting the occupation line near the central Georgian village of Odzisi.
Georgia’s European Union integration and implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the EU to the country for membership were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and David McAllister, the Head of a European Parliament delegation.
The fact that “serious work” on the implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union to Georgia for membership is underway and both the ruling party and the opposition have presented their plans has “given us great hope”, David McAllister, the Head of a European Parliament delegation said in a joint press conference with Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Friday rejected the notion that her meeting with a delegation of the European Parliament had tied the deoligarchisation condition for Georgia’s European Union membership status to “solutions tailored to one person”.
MEP Viola von Cramon on Friday said she disapproved of the plans of a part of the Georgian opposition to create parallel groups and boycott a working format proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party for the country to fulfil the European Union's 12-point conditions and obtain the membership candidate status in December.