European Council President Charles Michel will visit Tbilisi next week as part of his February 28 – March 3 trip to three Eastern Partnership countries, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
President Michel is set to meet President Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze and opposition leaders, as well as visit the occupation line.
The visit comes amid Georgia’s deepened post-election crisis, with much of the opposition refusing to enter the new Parliament, exacerbated after police stormed on February 23 the United National Movement headquarters to detain top opposition leader Nika Melia, only a few hours after PM Garibashvili’s election. Melia was detained after he refused to post an additional bail, imposed after he publicly removing a monitoring bracelet in November last year. Charged for “inciting and heading mass violence,” during the June 20-21, 2019 anti-occupation unrest, Melia decries the investigation as “political persecution.”
Following the controversial raid, six MEPs urged the President Michel to “encourage Georgian political forces to seek an immediate renewal of the cross-party dialogue,” during the planned visit.
Also Read:
- Police Storm UNM Office, Detain Nika Melia
- Parliament Confirms Garibashvili Cabinet
- PM Giorgi Gakharia Resigns over Melia’s Detention
- Court Sends Largest Opposition Party Chair to Pretrial Detention
- Parliament Lifts UNM Chairman’s Immunity
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