The adoption of a resolution on the situation in Georgia, which calls on the European Union to introduce sanctions for Georgian officials involved in the crackdown on protests and to review the country’s visa-free regime, stalled in the Lithuanian Seimas on Tuesday.
Lawmakers were due to vote on the resolution on Tuesday evening, but Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence, asked for a recess during the vote on the document.
The resolution was drafted by Jeglinskas himself and Remigijus Motuzas, chairman of the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Jeglinskas told BNS that the text had been drafted hastily and more time was needed to “go through all the details”.
“This is a very important resolution, we have to stand with the Georgian people, we have to express our full support, condemn the violence and support the president. We certainly must do that, but we need a strong resolution that the whole parliament must support,” he said.
The text will be reviewed by the parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday and the parliament is expected to vote on the resolution on Thursday.
In its resolution, the Seimas calls on the EU and its member states to impose personal sanctions on officials and political leaders in Georgia who are directly or indirectly responsible for the violent crackdown on the country’s civilian population.
It underlines that ensuring fundamental rights is a necessary criterion for the EU visa regime and therefore calls on the EU institutions to review the visa-free status for Georgia.
The draft resolution also proposed not to recognise the results of the October parliament election in Georgia.
“The [Lithuanian Seimas] does not recognise the results of the October 26 parliamentary election and the newly elected parliament and therefore considers that the mandate of President Salome Zourabichvili should remain valid until a new free and fair parliamentary election is held,” the document reads.
However, this clause was removed as amendments were made during the day.
“Today, the committee edited it on the spot, hastily, changed the text, and this is what we’ve got. We need to go back and do it the right way,” Jeglinskas said.
Georgia has been rocked by turmoil since the ruling Georgian Dream party declared victory in the October 26 parliamentary elections, which pro-EU opposition parties claim were rigged.
Protests erupted in Georgia last Thursday after the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that his government was postponing EU accession talks until 2028. The riot police in Tbilisi used rubber bullets, water cannons, and tear gas against protesters, who in turn threw pyrotechnics at officers.
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