European, U.S. Parliamentary Foreign Committee Chairs on Georgia Crisis

Foreign affairs committee chairs of the U.S. Senate and seven European countries’ legislatures said in today’s joint statement that the police raid on the United National Movement headquarters to detain top opposition leader Nika Melia “exposed the fragility of democracy and freedom in Georgia,” as well as “contravened the March 2020 Agreement between the government and opposition.”

The top lawmakers said Georgia’s “place as a free member of the European family is not in doubt but is put in danger by the violence and assaults on freedom.” They said the “destabilizing and antidemocratic actions” following the October 2020 parliamentary elections highlight the responsibility of Georgian authorities to exercise restraint.

The joint statement called on Georgians to come together to find political solutions to the country’s problems, and not to resort to tactics “practiced by others” to the detriment of the Georgian people.

Lithuanian Seimas Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Žygimantas Pavilionis remarked that “the solidarity statement” proves that “we are not alone in tackling anti-democratic action in Georgia.”

The signatories include U.S. Senate’s Robert Menendez, UK House of Commons’ Tom Tugendhat, German Bundestag’s Norbert Röttgen, Czech Republic Senates’ Pavel Fischer, Poland Sejm’s Marek Kuchciński, Lithuanian Seimas’ Žygimantas Pavilionis, Estonia’s Riigikogus’ Marko Mihkelson and Latvian Saeima’s Rihards Kols.

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