David Kramer, a former senior official of the US State Department and director of global policy at the George W. Bush Institute, on Monday claimed the launching of impeachment procedures by the ruling Georgian Dream party against the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili for not authorized foreign trips aimed at “undermining” the country’s chance to obtain the European Union membership candidate status later this  year.  

“I think the impeachment procedure is a mistake. In my opinion, this is an attempt on the part of the Government to undermine Georgia's status as a candidate for EU membership, and it is not consistent with Georgia's policy of carrying out the reforms necessary to obtain the status”, Kramer said while attending an international conference titled Defeat of Putinism in Tbilisi.

He claimed Zourabichvili was visiting Europe to facilitate the country’s EU integration process, while the Parliament controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party was launching her impeachment process. 

The ruling party last week said the President had violated the country’s constitution through visiting Germany without the Government's consent and was “obliged” to launch the impeachment procedure. 

However, the party admitted it did not have mandatory 100 votes in the state legislature to dismiss Zourabichvili.