Levan Makhashvili, head of the Georgian parliamentary committee for European integration, criticized the Polish side for canceling the invitation to the Georgian authorities to the Conference of the European Union Parliamentary Affairs Committees (COSAC) in Warsaw. The matter was commented on by Senator Tomasz Grodzki, who was one of the recipients of the Georgian politician's letter on this matter.
Makhashvili, 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 was regrettable and “weakens the spirit of dialogue and cooperation.”
The politician wrote that the Georgian side received the invitation on December 6, but it was withdrawn on December 23.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 to be held on January 26-27 in Warsaw.
Such decisions may – according to him – “negatively affect the Eastern Partnership and harm Poland's geopolitical leadership.” Makhashvili said that the decision to cancel the invitation “threatens constructive dialogue and deepens the current situation, and negatively affects the authority, credibility and position of the leader of the host country, i.e. Poland.”
“While we may disagree on our assessment of events in Georgia, the COSAC conference is an important opportunity for dialogue, not division,” he argued.
In a letter addressed to the chairmen of the EU affairs committees of the Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland, Agnieszka Pomaska and Tomasz Grodzki, Makhashvili assured that he was open to dialogue and that Georgia remained on a pro-European course.
Grodzki: there are huge 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 are huge reservations about the elections in Georgia, so supporting a government that relied on pro-Russian electoral manipulation would be contrary to our values in the EU – he explained.
At the same time, he emphasized that the decision had been consulted with the three countries holding the EU presidency and representatives of other parliaments. – Apart from the Hungarian one, practically all of them supported our decision, so it's not like we acted in a vacuum – noted Grodzki.
At the end of November, the Georgian government announced the suspension of talks with the European Union until 2028 about membership in this organization, which triggered the outbreak of mass protests in the country. Earlier, on October 30, European Commission announced the suspension of the accession process with Georgia and announced that it would not recommend restoring it unless the authorities in Tbilisi start to respect EU values, including explaining the irregularities during the October parliamentary elections.
Main photo source: Paweł Supernak/PAP