UNM leader Bokuchava warns of Schengen visa risk, vows pressure on Georgian Gov’t

Tina Bokuchava, the leader of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party, has accused the ruling authorities of ignoring conditions set by the European Commission and warned that the country risked losing its visa-free travel to the EU’s Schengen area.

Speaking to the press on Monday, Bokuchava claimed the Georgian Dream government had “no intention” of implementing the reforms demanded by Brussels. She said the opposition was working closely with EU member states - particularly Germany, France and Poland, which form the Weimar Triangle - to find ways of pressuring the Georgian government without harming ordinary citizens.

“The threat of losing visa-free travel is real. Our task is to ensure that pressure is applied on [Bidzina] Ivanishvili’s [the founder and honorary chair of the GD] regime while protecting Georgian citizens from negative consequences,” she said.

Bokuchava further criticised the appointment of Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the GD faction in the parliament and the party’s executive secretary, as the new head of the State Security Service, calling him a loyalist of the ruling party.

She argued that under his leadership “Ivanishvili’s Russian-style governance” in Georgia would come to an end, adding that “victory is very near and we will achieve it together with the Georgian people.”