MEP Viola von Cramon: Saakashvili’s intention to return not serving Georgia’s interests

MEP Viola von Cramon says that Georgian ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s alleged return from Ukraine to Georgia for the October 2 municipal elections will not serve the state interests. 

Cramon says that shortly before the ‘crucial elections’ in Georgia, confrontation and violence are reaching ‘extremely dangerous’ levels. 

She says that in this condition, ‘no politician who genuinely puts the interests of his or her country above everything else’ should rock the boat by provoking further polarisation. 

“In such a political environment, Saakashvili’s intention to return to Georgia on the day of the elections will not serve the interests of Georgia. While I fully understand Saakashvili’s desire to be in the country of his origin, such a move, for the time being, will further deepen the crisis, create unnecessary tension, and damage precarious political processes as well as the democratic image of the country. The latter has recently already taken a serious hit by the Georgian Dream’s harmful decisions,” Cramon says. 

She says that the  EU does not have ‘resources and desire’ to mediate one more unnecessary political crisis that will inevitably ensue in case of Saakashvili’s return. 

Cramon has also responded to President Salome Zurabishvili’s recent statement on the need of a coalition government for Georgia and stated that the president’s role ‘in the next weeks might be crucial.’