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EU appoints mediator for dialogue of Georgian political forces

The new special envoy will head to Georgia in the coming days

BRUSSELS, March 9. /TASS/. President of the European Council Charles Michel appointed Christian Danielsson as his personal envoy to Georgia, who will mediate the dialogue between Georgia’s government and the opposition, the European Council’s press service said late on Monday.

"Christian Danielsson has been mandated by President Michel, in cooperation with [EU] High Representative [Josep] Borrell, to engage in the EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia, in follow up to the relaunch of the political dialogue during President Michel’s visit to Tbilisi on 1 March," the press service said.

The new special envoy will head to Georgia in the coming days.

In Tbilisi, Danielsson will mediate the relaunched dialogue among Georgia's political parties, working closely with the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Carl Hartzell, with the aim to overcome the current political tensions in Georgia.

According to the press service, Michel and Borrell encourage all political actors in Georgia to commit fully to the dialogue "in the interest of a stable, democratic and reform-oriented Georgia, able to successfully advance on its pro-European path."

In February, Georgian Interior Ministry officials arrested the chairman of the opposition United National Movement party founded by former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. MP Nika Melia, whose arrest was sanctioned by the Tbilisi court for failure to pay bail of 40,000 lari (over $12,000), is a suspect in the case of riots at the June 2019 rally.

On February 18, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia resigned due to disagreements with his colleagues. On that day, the police first came to arrest Melia, who had been at the party's office since February 16, but the United National Movement supporters did not let them into the building.

As a result, a special operation to detain Melia was held in the UNM office, with pepper gas being used to disperse his supporters. Since February 23, opposition activists have been gathering for rallies, demanding to release the lawmaker and set the date for early parliamentary elections.

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