UNM’s Pavlenishvili accuses government of censoring dissent after EU envoy summoned

Deputy Secretary General of the United National Movement opposition, Irakli Pavlenishvili, has accused the government of refusing to tolerate dissent and attempting to silence diplomats, following the summoning of the European Union ambassador.

Pavlenishvili said the authorities were imposing censorship even on diplomatic representatives after EU ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, was called to the Foreign Ministry.

Pavlenishvili said the envoy had made a straightforward point: that a sanctioned and isolated country without support from the West and Europe would face a poor future.

He argued that such a scenario would emerge if Georgia failed to attract investment and lost institutional ties with Western partners.

The opposition politician accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of pursuing that course, while saying Georgia’s Western allies and much of the public wanted European integration, investment and development instead.

Herczynski was summoned after recent remarks in Brussels in which he said Georgia stood at a crossroads and that decisions in the coming months would shape the country’s future direction.