Garibashvili: Lithuanian MP Statements ‘Mean Absolutely Nothing’ for Georgian Dream

At today’s Parliament session, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s Prime Minister-designate Irakli Garibashvili said Lithuanian Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Žygimantas Pavilionis’ statements are “unacceptable and outrageous.” He said Pavilionis was “directly linked with the [United] National Movement.”

“Personally for me and for my team, this person’s statements mean absolutely nothing,” Garibashvili asserted, reminding the Lithuanian MP that the ruling Georgian Dream party was elected by the will of the population for the third time. “No one has the right to call upon us with incomprehensible, unfair statements,” the PM-designate said.

He said such statements were “completely unacceptable for a sovereign, self-respecting country” and called “on this person [MP Pavilionis] and on our friends to stop making such statements in the shortest possible timeframe.” Garibashvili added, “we are a welcoming country, but the offensive language from our guests is absolutely unacceptable.”

Yesterday, MP Pavilionis held a joint press conference with Georgian opposition parties in Tbilisi, offering assistance in solving the political crisis. The Lithuanian MP said that an international “response will follow” if opposition United National Movement chairman Nika Melia is detained, asserting that “we could come to the question of sanctions.”

• Senior Lithuanian MP Warns Sanctions, As Opposition Calls for Talks

The Lithuanian MP’s statements come as the political crisis runs deeper in Georgia after the court ruled pre-trial detention for Melia over his failure to post increased bail in the June 2019 unrest case. The court ruling was followed by the controversial resignation of Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia.

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