Prepared by Messenger Staff
EU Confirms Receiving Georgia's Response on Visa Liberalization
The European Commission has confirmed that Georgia has replied to a letter sent by the Commission on July 14 concerning visa liberalization, spokesperson Markus Lammert said during a briefing.
"Yes, I can confirm that the Georgian authorities responded yesterday to the letter sent by the Commission on July 14. We will now evaluate the response sent by Georgia. The European Commission expects the Georgian authorities to take concrete steps regarding the issues outlined in the recommendations," Lammert told reporters.
The spokesperson declined to provide details on the content of Georgia's response "I cannot discuss the details. As you know, we do not make such correspondence public," Lammert said.
Gakharia Considers Entering Parliament After Local Elections
Giorgi Gakharia, leader of the opposition party Gakharia for Georgia, said his team may take up their 12 parliamentary mandates, but stressed the decision will depend on the political environment following the municipal elections.
In an interview with TV Pirveli, Gakharia confirmed that the party's political boycott remains in place for now. "As of today, nothing has changed regarding the political boycott," he said. "We are simply very actively engaged in the municipal election process right now, and we don't have time for this. Therefore, any decision regarding changes to the political boycott or these 12 mandates will be discussed by the political council, most likely after the municipal elections."
Asked whether this meant that he did not rule out the possibility of his party entering parliament at a later date, Gakharia replied: "I'm not ruling anything out. At the same time, I emphasize that this will be directly tied to the political environment in the country after the municipal elections."
Gakharia also acknowledged that his party's earlier refusal to use its mandates had been a miscalculation. "The boycott is not related to parliamentary results. I'm telling you honestly today that I believe not using the parliamentary mandates was a mistake. We have a small resource left to correct this mistake. Whether we manage to use it or not will directly depend on the political environment that emerges in the country after the municipal elections," he said.
Zourabichvili Clarifies Position on 'Resistance Platform' and 'Opposition Eight'
The press office of Georgia's fifth president, Salome Zourabichvili, issued a statement on September 1 addressing recent speculation about her role in opposition initiatives.
According to the statement, the "Resistance Platform" remains active despite the imprisonment of most of its party leaders. "The 'Resistance Platform' was created on the initiative of President Salome Zourabichvili and has not been dissolved, although the majority of the leaders of the parties involved are currently imprisoned by the Russian regime," the press office said.
The statement also drew a distinction between the "Resistance Platform" and the "Opposition Eight," clarifying that Zourabichvili was not involved in the latter. "As for the 'Opposition Eight,' which was formed later, after the creation of the Resistance Platform, President Zourabichvili has never been either the initiator or a participant in its creation. However, she is not and will not be against any attempt at opposition unification," read the statement.
