Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament: We've Proven That Only the Will of the Georgian People Can Change the Government — Now They're Trying to Use Blackmail by Limiting Free Movement in Europe

"We have proven that nothing but the will of the Georgian people can change the government. Now they're trying to use blackmail — by restricting free movement in Europe — to influence the will of the Georgian people," said Nino Tsilosani, Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, commenting on the issue of visa liberalization.

According to her, the Georgian government is ready for dialogue, but Euro-bureaucracy leaves no space to initiate such a process.

"On our part, we once again declare that we are ready for dialogue. We are prepared to discuss in detail what our partners believe. Although we cannot call those spreading a lot of false information about Georgia 'partners', we do feel accountable to the institutions themselves. If anyone has questions about human rights, democratic processes, the electoral environment, or other issues, we want — and demand — a space where we can talk about it, rather than hearing one-sided, distorted, and disinformation-based statements.

Unfortunately, we have a sad experience: just like in the past, the process today is unfolding in such a way that no one listens to the Georgian side. As surprising as it may sound, even in court cases where someone is on trial, the accused is allowed to present their side. In this case, we are being accused without arguments, without evidence, and without even being given the opportunity to express our position. I don't know of a more unjust situation, and I never imagined something like this could happen. I didn’t live during Soviet times and don’t know exactly how it was, but based on what I’ve been told — and what I see now — unfortunately, there are far too many parallels.

As for the threat regarding visa liberalization — let’s be honest: the Georgian people defeated the harmful wave that was directed against us, and we proved that nothing but the will of the Georgian people can change power here. Now they've turned against us and are trying to use blackmail — by restricting free movement in Europe — to influence the will of the people. I honestly cannot imagine a single dignified Georgian who would accept this injustice and say, ‘Yes, visa liberalization is more important to me than the interests of my country,’" said Nino Tsilosani.