On February 2, the European Parliament began discussing the initiative of a number of European parliamentarians to “react harshly” to the situation around former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. We are talking about the unwillingness of the country’s authorities to adequately respond to the proposal of Georgian doctors and international experts about the mortal danger hanging over the politician and the need to transfer him for treatment to a Ukrainian or European clinic.
The ex-president, who was sentenced by a Tbilisi court to six years in prison on charges of malicious use of official authority, has been undergoing treatment at the Vivamedi clinic for several months for mental and endocrinological diseases.
After his arrest in October 2021, Saakashvili lost 60 kilograms and now weighs no more than 70 kg.
Doctors are convinced that the patient is in mortal danger if he remains in custody. Even if not in prison, but in a two-room ward of an elite clinic.
According to the chief physician of the clinic, Zurab Chkhaidze, the patient takes only 500-600 calories per day, which leads to progressive weight loss.
Saakashvili’s lawyers argue that their client cannot eat, but as Georgian Justice Minister Rati Bregadze noted at a special briefing, “convicted Saakashvili engages in deliberate self-harm to avoid punishment.”
Meanwhile, Tbilisi is under increasing pressure not only from European structures, but also from Kyiv: President Zelensky directly accused the Georgian authorities of trying to kill Ukrainian citizen Mikheil Saakashvili, and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry recalled the “NKVD methods” of physical and psychological pressure on prisoners.
In the near future, the European Commission should assess Georgia’s readiness to upgrade its status as a country with a “European perspective” to a state – an official candidate for EU membership along with Ukraine and Moldova.
The executive branch of the EU power cannot but take into account the position of the European Parliament, as well as the leadership of Ukraine, which is waging a bloody defensive war on the threshold of the European Union.
