Ruling party official: MEP comment separating Georgian Gov’t from people “very harmful”

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday criticised a comment by Viola von Cramon, a member of the European Parliament, on the European Union candidate status for Georgia by saying separating the country’s Government from its people was “very harmful”.

Mdinaradze’s comment followed von Cramon saying on Monday “if the European Union grants Georgia the membership candidate status, it will happen because the Georgian people deserve it and geopolitical logic demands it”.

In his response, the Parliament official said the country “and we all together deserve candidate status”.

“This was confirmed by the criteria published by the European Union itself, and, given the current situation, Georgia deserves the candidate status even more than others”, Mdinaradze added.

The Georgian Government represents the Georgian people, our country today. Separating it [from them] with Russian methods is very harmful, including for Viola [von Cramon] and her partners in Georgia”, he concluded.