Brussels, 07/06/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 6 June, Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili said he wanted the EU to respect its own principles and allow his country to obtain visa liberalisation.
“When we became members of the Eastern Partnership, we were assured that we would be given more if we made more efforts (the more-for-more principle). We worked very hard to implement reforms and fulfil our commitments and (the liberalisation of visas) would not be a reward, but part of the cooperation and partnership around principles” declared and observed in the EU, Margvelashvili told the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. He said he did not want his country's case to be “lost in other discussions” - with Turkey, Ukraine and Kosovo also awaiting the liberalisation of visas for their citizens. “It would be unfair, it would break the respect of basic principles to which we have both committed”, he said. Like European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn a few minutes earlier in the same parliamentary committee, the MEPs underlined that when a country fulfils the criteria for the liberalisation of visas, it should be able to benefit from this, without further conditions.
Margvelashvili insisted on the European future of his country and described the MEPs to whom he was talking as “friends”. “We want to become a member of the EU, to be part of the European family”, he said, adding that his country should move “clearly and with determination in this direction”. He spoke about the unity of the political class on the issue of European and Atlantic integration.
Margvelashvili also said he wanted the elections in his country on 8 October to be observed internationally. “It is essential to have an observation mission during the elections, but also ahead of the votes in order to monitor the electoral campaign”, he said. In his view, “the challenge of the future elections is enormous”. The main challenge to be overcome will be to convince the people to turn out and vote, he said. “We need a fair, free and open campaign”, he said. The MEPs for their part hoped the electoral campaign would take place without violence, and they suggested that a “non-aggression pact” be signed.
The MEPs also called on Margvelashvili to work still more on the outstanding cases of selective justice and on the limitation to media freedom. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)