TBILISI, November 20 – An opposition lawmaker on Thursday challenged the government’s version of a breakdown in human rights dialogue with Brussels, claiming that the ruling party was trying to circumvent sanctions policy.
Vika Pilpani, a member of parliament for the For Georgia party, claimed Tbilisi attempted to send a sanctioned official as part of its delegation to Brussels, as the reason for why the scheduled meeting was scrapped.
The comments came one day after Georgia’s foreign ministry publicly accused Brussels of ducking dialogue and refusing to hear Tbilisi’s “reasoned arguments.” The meeting had been scheduled for Friday, 21 November, in Brussels.
Pilpani said the incident highlighted a “basic rule” of international cooperation and argued that the ruling Georgian Dream party should have known the meeting could not proceed when one of its delegation members is a subject of international sanctions.
She said her party is now seeking official confirmation from both Brussels and Tbilisi on what exactly happened, since neither side has released a formal explanation.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had said Wednesday that Brussels postponed the meeting for an “unacceptable and unjustified reason,” and suggested the EU’s action raised doubts about its sincerity.
Pilpani countered that the situation is a predictable consequence of Georgian Dream’s handling of relations with Brussels. She argued that the government has repeatedly ignored basic commitments and that the EU’s “door is closed and will remain closed” as long as that continues. She added that if Georgian Dream genuinely wanted the meeting to take place, it could easily have chosen a delegate acceptable under the rules.
The canceled human rights meeting was one of the few EU-Georgia formats still operating despite the wider freeze in top level interaction over the last year, as Brussels continues to voice concerns over democratic backsliding, while Georgian Dream accuses the EU of foreign interference and political pressure.
