Georgian PM urges EU Commission head to condemn EP’s “unfounded allegations” over Ivanishvili

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and requested the latter to “express a clear position” over the “unfounded allegations’ against the founder of the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party Bidzina Ivanishvili raised  in the European Parliament’s resolution adopted in June.

The resolution described Ivanishvili as an “informal ruler” connected with the Kremlin, having a “destructive role” in Georgian politics and called on international sanctions on him.

The PM also urged Ursula von der Leyen “to explain” to “destructive forces in Georgia” that a note on de-oligarchization in the European Commission recommendations for Georgia’s EU candidacy did not refer to Ivanishvili.

Garibashvili suggested that “none of the opponents” of the current Georgian authorities were able to “present evidence” over running the country from the backstage.

He said that “thus what the EP resolution said was a lie, offensive to the Georgian people, to me personally, causing negative sentiments towards the EU in the public.”

Garibashvili said he was glad  that neither the European Commission, nor the Council shared the EP’s resolution, but noted that a Swiss bank was using the resolution not to fulfill its legal obligations towards Ivanishvili.

 He stated that the European Commission’s recommendations issued last month, which country needed to address to receive the EU candidate status by the end of this year, included a section over de-oligarchization which the opposition linked with Ivanishvili.

“In order for the evaluation document of the European Commission not to be used for manipulation and to discredit the governance system of Georgia, I request the Commission to clearly distance itself from the personification of the record on de-oligarchization,” Garibashvili said.

He suggested that the European Commission’s “clear position” over the issues was important “not to leave room for speculation and to maintain the public trust to the EU institutions.”