Leader of European Party of Armenia denied entry to Georgia

Tigran Khzmalyan, film director and leader of the European Party of Armenia, was denied entry to Georgia. Khzmalyan shared this development on social media.

Khzmalyan said he was on a one-day business visit to Georgia and waited three hours for an answer from the border guards before his passport was returned without explanation. He then had to return to Armenia.

“Congratulations on Russia Day,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

The notice he published stated “other reason” as the standard wording for refusal of entry.

Khzmalyan is a vocal advocate for Armenia’s exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and its accession to the European Union.

During the recent protests against the controversial foreign influence transparency law in Tbilisi, the European Party of Armenia expressed support for the “Georgian people’s struggle for Euro-Atlantic integration and democracy.” The party collaborates with Georgian opposition groups.

The Georgian authorities periodically refuse entry to independent Russian journalists, opposition politicians, human rights defenders, and Russian citizens who support the Kremlin’s policies and the invasion of Ukraine.