The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament criticised the European Council’s decision to suspend visa liberalisation for holders of Georgian diplomatic and service passports, calling its basis “false and hypocritical”.

Shalva Papuashvili accused Brussels of “targeting Georgia while ignoring the historical context” behind the original visa agreements.

“I would like to remind you that the agreement on the facilitation of visa issuance for diplomatic passports for officials of the [Mikheil] Saakashvili regime was signed in 2010.

This is the time when serious human rights violations had already occurred:

- The uninvestigated murders of Sandro Girgvliani, Buta Robakidze and Zurab Vazagashvili
- The seizure of “Rustavi 2” and “Imedi” from their owners, organized by Zurab Adeishvili. This is the wanted Adeishvili, whom Brussels officials hosted last year in the very rooms where this decision was made today
- The final establishment of a system of torture of prisoners, which Strasbourg later called systematic torture
- The rigging of the 2008 presidential and parliamentary elections
- The complete subjugation of business to the regime’s racket
- and many others.

Brussels rewarded the creators of this autocracy, not ordinary citizens, with visa-free travel, while it took another seven years - and the defeat of the regime by Georgian Dream - for Georgian citizens to receive the same privilege”, Papuashvili emphasized, labeling the EU’s current criticisms as “false and hypocritical”.

The bloc’s decision is not surprise given the ongoing calls for the release of Saakashvili, the architect of the authoritarian regime”, - writes Shalva Papuashvili on his Facebook page.