UNM opposition leaders hold meetings in Berlin

The leaders of Georgia’s opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM), have held talks in Berlin as part of an official visit, the party announced on Friday.

UNM chair Tina Bokuchava and her deputy, Levan Sanikidze, met Daniel Köbl, a member of the German Bundestag and deputy chair of the Germany–South Caucasus Parliamentary Group. Discussions focused on the imprisonment of opposition figures, including former president Mikheil Saakashvili, the potential suspension of Georgia’s visa-free travel with the EU, and what the party described as the country’s deepening political crisis.

Bokuchava said she believed Germany should play a leading role in preventing Georgian citizens from being penalised with visa restrictions, arguing instead that any sanctions should target the ruling party’s leadership.

“In my meetings in the Bundestag and the Foreign Ministry, I became convinced that Chancellor Merz truly meant his words when he said we would see a different Germany under his leadership. Germany must take the initiative to help save Georgia and its European future,” she added.

Bokuchava added that the opposition would continue to work with European partners to push for targeted sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling Georgian Dream party’s founder and honorary chair, and his allies, rather than measures affecting ordinary Georgians.

Bokuchava further expressed confidence that, through internal and external pressure, political change would soon come to Georgia: “Next time we come to Berlin, it will not be to speak about sanctions, but about taking our country into the European Union.”