Civic Idea head: European leaders discussed 'decisive measures' in response to Georgian opposition crackdown

Tina Khidasheli, chairwoman of the Civic Idea NGO and former Defence Minister of Georgia, has said that a recent high-level meeting among European leaders focused on the need to take “decisive measures” in response to the Georgian government’s crackdown on opposition figures.

Speaking to Georgian media, Khidasheli claimed that the ruling Georgian Dream party had effectively imprisoned the majority of the country’s opposition leadership.

“The aggression - if that is what we can call it - the sharp and hostile moves by Georgian Dream, which has practically locked up all the leaders of opposition parties in the country, could not be left without consequences,” she said. “The meeting that took place between the leaders of the leading European states was precisely about the fact that the moment has come to take decisive measures.”

Her comments follow a coordination meeting on Georgia, initiated by the European Affairs Ministers of France and the United Kingdom. The meeting brought together officials from partner countries to discuss the political situation in Georgia, amid growing concern over the treatment of opposition politicians and the state of democratic governance in the country.