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Georgians do not want to be alone; they want the support of the Western world and to know that they belong to it – said MEP Michał Wawrykiewicz (KO) on Saturday. Together with MEP Dainius Žalimas from Lithuania, he came to the capital of Georgia to support President Salome Zurabishvili, the opposition, and protesters.
The Polish politician admitted that the main reason for the visit to Tbilisi is “to convey support from the European Parliament (…) for Georgian European and democratic aspirations.”
“I feel the spirit of freedom and I am wholeheartedly with the Georgian people,” said Wawrykiewicz in an interview in front of the Georgian parliament during an anti-government protest. Georgians have been taking to the streets for 31 days after the government suspended talks about Georgia’s accession to the EU until 2028.
MEPs met, among others, with representatives of all opposition parties. Wawrykiewicz emphasized that the opposition is united and speaks with one voice.
“Everyone wants fair, free elections that will create a new parliament reflecting the will of society. Not the one that was elected (in October – PAP) under the influence of manipulation and Russian influences,” he stated.
The MEP said that the Georgian opposition expressed hope that EU institutions and member countries would take individual actions, such as imposing sanctions. “This will hinder oligarchs and acolytes operating within the ruling Georgian Dream party from functioning, traveling, conducting businesses” – he enumerated.
During a meeting with non-governmental organizations, politicians received a report documenting the violence that police committed against demonstrators. “It is a document containing data on victims, their testimonies, photos of beaten people. It is important for those responsible for this to be held accountable in the future. It is also an important signal for the world to see what is happening here, how brutal the authorities are,” assessed the MEP.
When asked about the meeting with Salome Zurabishvili, Wawrykiewicz stated that she is very calm, even though the inauguration of Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s president will take place on Sunday. The opposition opposes his election by the electoral college.
“The president awaits tomorrow. She is aware, looking at the prime minister’s (Irakli Kobakhidze) announcements regarding her potential arrest, that she must also reckon with this. (…) She announced that she does not intend to flee or leave the country. She stands guard over the Georgian constitution and the rights of society. She asked us to send an appeal to the world for support, to stand with the Georgian people and not to recognize illegal authorities, but to respect her right to office,” MEP Zurabishvili reported.
In his opinion, it is very likely that Georgia’s leader will announce the date of new parliamentary elections on Sunday.
Wawrykiewicz predicts that Sunday’s “great anti-government demonstration will be enormous support for the president, but it will also be a message to the world that Georgians do not give up, fight for democracy and the right to exist in a free state.”
When asked if he feared that violence might break out in the streets of Tbilisi on Sunday, he stated that “the situation can develop dynamically and no one knows what will happen, whether the president will be arrested or whether clashes with the police will occur.”
“The protest I am observing today is very peaceful. Around us, all restaurants and shops are open. Owners know that nothing threatens them from the demonstrators. It is on the other side that there is a brutal pro-Moscow regime that wants to crush democracy,” announced the MEP.
“There will not be two presidents in Georgia tomorrow. There will only be one president, but there will also be an usurper. Such situations occur increasingly often in countries at the autocratic crossroads. This is not a dualism of power; it is the rule of law and lawlessness,” declared Wawrykiewicz. (28.12.2024)
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