Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda has called for EU sanctions on the Georgian government for using force against protesters.
“I called for doing this through sanctions and on Sunday, when I spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, I said that we need not only national but also European solutions,” Nausėda said in an interview with LRT TV on Wednesday.
“Mrs. von der Leyen agrees, but we are not sure yet whether all 27 EU countries would agree to such sanctions, given the position of Hungary, represented by Viktor Orbán, and some other countries. It would therefore amount to a loss of European credibility if we introduced sanctions and then failed to implement them at the European level,” he added.
Nausėda insisted that the “democratic world” must react to the Georgian Dream’s actions.
“Their recent statements and rhetoric are anti-Western and pro-Russian, which is why the European Union as a whole and Lithuania as a specific EU member state must react in a very principled way.
“Given that we have ongoing riots right now and that excessive force is clearly being used to suppress peaceful protests, we cannot fail to react to this,” the Lithuanian president said.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have already introduced entry bans for Georgia’s ruling politicians, including billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the Georgian Dream party.
“I think this is a natural reaction to what is happening in Georgia right now. The situation is only getting worse and society is split into two parts. At this rate, God forbid, there could be some really serious bloodshed. We certainly don’t want that,” Nausėda said.
He does not rule out going to Tbilisi next week to express solidarity with President Salome Zourabichvili as she supports the protesters and calls for a new parliament election in the country.
The October elections, which the Georgian opposition have refused to recognise, have led to a political crisis and tens of thousands of pro-European protesters have taken to the streets to protest against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
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