Latvia-Georgia parliamentary cooperation group might be dissolved as leaders quit

RIGA - The Latvia-Georgia parliamentary cooperation group in the Saeima might be dissolved, but it depends on how the situation in Georgia unfolds, the group's chairperson Aiva Viksna (United List) told LETA.

Currently, there is no cooperation between the Latvian and Georgian parliamentary groups, Viksna said.

"We, people of common sense, are watching with great concern the events in Georgia and the Georgian authorities' violent crackdown on peaceful protesters," said Viksna. She joined President Edgars Rinkevics by expressing solidarity with the Georgian people and its pro-European course and voicing support for the Baltic parliaments' joint condemnation of the violent reprisals against the protesters, "because we stand in solidarity and united with the Georgian people in these difficult days".

MPs of New Unity - Davis Martins Daugavietis and Ainars Latkovskis - have left the Latvia-Georgia parliamentary cooperation group, according to information on the Latvian parliament's website. Latkovskis used to be the deputy of the group's chairperson Viksna.

Commenting on his departure from the parliamentary cooperation group, Daugavietis wrote on social networks that "the events of the last few days and the violence against protesters clearly show that the current Georgian government has taken a course towards Moscow".

As reported, protests against the suspension of accession talks with the EU have been taking place in Georgia since last Thursday. Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would pause accession negotiations with the EU until the end of 2028.