UNM leader: Georgia moving closer to loss of EU visa-free regime

Deputy Secretary General of the United National Movement, Irakli Pavlenishvili, has warned that Georgia is moving closer to the risk of losing its visa-free travel regime with the European Union, blaming the policies of the country's ruling authorities.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Pavlenishvili said Georgia was increasingly at risk of losing what he described as one of the country's most significant achievements - its European future and visa-free access to the EU.

He accused Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili of pursuing policies that could damage Georgia's relations with its European partners and argued that the opposition had worked to prevent measures that would affect ordinary citizens.

"We have consistently stressed to our European friends and partners that Georgian citizens should not be punished and that measures should target Ivanishvili and his representatives," Pavlenishvili said.

The opposition politician added that international partners' patience had limits and called for the rapid dismantling of what he described as the current political system.