Levan Mahashvili, the head of the Georgian parliamentary committee on European integration, was criticized by Poland for canceling the invitation to the Georgian authorities to the Conference of Parliamentary Affairs Committees of the European Union (COSAC) in Warsaw. Senator Tomasz Grodzki, who was one of the recipients of the Georgian politician’s letter, commented on this.
Mahashvili, a representative of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said in a letter published by his committee on Monday that the decision to withdraw the invitation is regrettable and “weakens the spirit of dialogue and cooperation.”
The politician wrote that the Georgian side received this invitation on December 6, but it was withdrawn on December 23. He emphasized that Georgia has the right to send two representatives to the conference, which will be held on January 26-27 in Warsaw.
Such decisions, according to him, can “have a negative impact on the Eastern Partnership and damage the geopolitical leadership of Poland.” Mahashvili said that the decision to cancel the invitation “threatens the constructive dialogue and deepens the current situation and has a negative impact on the influence, prestige and position of the leader of the host country, namely Poland.”
“Although we may disagree in our assessment of the events in Georgia, the COSAC conference is an important opportunity for dialogue, not division,” he said.
In a letter sent to the chairmen of the European Union committees in the Sejm and the Senate of the Republic of Poland, Agnieszka Pomaska and Tomasz Grodzki, Mahashvili assured that he is open to dialogue and that Georgia remains on the path of pro-Europeanism.
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Grodzki: There are many reservations about the elections in Georgia
Grodzki explained that the cancellation of the invitation to the conference is related to the elections that were recently held in Georgia. “There is great uncertainty about the elections in Georgia, so supporting a government that relied on pro-Russian election fraud would be against our values in the EU,” he explained.
At the same time, he emphasized that this decision was consulted with the three EU presidency countries and representatives of other parliaments. – Except for Hungary, practically all of them supported our decision, therefore, we cannot act in a vacuum, – noted Grodzky.
At the end of November, the Georgian government announced the suspension of negotiations with the European Union regarding the membership of this organization until 2028, which led to public protests in the country. Earlier, on October 30, the European Commission announced the suspension of the accession process with Georgia and announced that it would not be restored until the Tbilisi authorities respect the values of the European Union, including explaining the violations during the parliamentary elections in October. does not recommend.
Main photo source: Paweł Supernak/PAP
