Ruling party Executive Secretary affirms “firm stance” on Gov’t’s halt of EU accession talks

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday claimed the party remained “very firm in its decisions” and added “all members of our team are unanimous  in confirming the correctness of the common decision” to suspend the country’s European Union accession talks until 2028.

Mdinaradze said the party’s “honesty to the homeland” would ensure that “all risks posed by so-called [domestic opposition] political parties are managed”, claiming the GD had managed to “prevent risks” of alleged plans of the opposition to use an expected negative ruling by Council of Europe on Georgia’s accession talks this month in their plans for continued protests against the Government following the parliamentary elections in October.

He also highlighted remarks made by Giorgi Gakharia, the former Prime Minister and the Chair of the opposition For Georgia party, who claimed the domestic opposition was “consistently following” a plan to delegitimise institutions of the Government, with the objective expected to be completed before the New Year or before the inauguration of Donald Trump, the new United States President.

Mdinaradze said the party had held “a lot of discussions on the matter”, adding he could confirm on behalf of the parliamentary majority that “everyone remains firm in their stance” in the Government’s decision on EU talks.

The party official also responded to Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, who on Monday claimed developments in Georgia on the backdrop of intensified protests over the past 12 days following the Government’s announcement on the EU talks were “clearly calling for sanctions” against Georgian officials, in reference to clashes between police forces and protesters.

I hope it will be very difficult for any EU capital to ignore this level of violence and brutality. Let's see if sanctions are presented next Monday. Work is definitely underway”, the Ambassador said.

In his response, Mdinaradze said Herczynski’s comments meant announcing “that December 16-17 are the dates when some people should attempt to punish Georgia”.

He also claimed the Government’s decision to postpone EU accession talks had “reduced opposition’s resources for unrest a hundred-fold”, adding with the decision the Government had “prevented serious internal unrest” in the country.