Netherlands to ask EU to suspend visa-free regime with Georgia

The Netherlands will ask the European Union (EU) to suspend visa-free regime with Georgia due to mass detentions of participants of anti-government protests. This was reported by Reuters on December 5, citing a statement by Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp.

Veldkamp announced his intention to address Brussels in Malta on the margins of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

According to him, with such a request the Dutch authorities want to "let the Georgian government realize that the path it has chosen has its price." The diplomat also wants to ask the OSCE to investigate Tbilisi's actions.

Street against the dream: what is happening on the Georgian Maidan

Opposition revolts for almost a week, authorities refuse re-elections

Protests have been going on in Georgia for a week because of the suspension of negotiations on European integration and the opposition's disagreement with the results of the parliamentary elections. On separate days, protesters tried to set fire to the Georgian parliament building and damaged dozens of offices, and law enforcement agencies had to use tear gas.

Against this background, the US State Department suspended its partnership with the Georgian side and announced its readiness to impose new sanctions. The French Foreign Ministry accused the Georgian authorities of "repression", Latvia banned entry of 13 citizens of the country, and Ukraine imposed sanctions against 19 Georgian politicians.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that European politicians threatened the country with a Maidan, but another attempt to organize a revolution failed. He also noted that the issue of EU accession was being used to blackmail Tbilisi.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the events in Georgia its internal affair. In his assessment, the protests in the country are an attempt to sway the situation.