In Georgia, the impeachment procedure of the president begins

The impeachment procedure was initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party. She accuses Salome Zurabishvili of violating the constitution due to uncoordinated foreign trips with the government.

The ruling Georgian Dream party initiates the impeachment procedure of the head of state Salome Zurabishvili, party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said. "At a meeting of the political council of the party, we decided to start impeachment proceedings against President Salome Zurabishvili, who violated the constitution of the country by not coordinating visits to Europe with the government," he said at a press conference on Friday, September 1.

At the same time, Kobakhidze noted that, based on the alignment of political forces in parliament, it is impossible to succeed in impeachment, since 100 out of 150 votes are needed, and the ruling party is not able to enlist such a number without the support of the opposition. Nevertheless, the beginning of the impeachment procedure is "the constitutional duty of the party," he stressed. Kobakhidze also said that upon the president's violation of the constitution, "Georgian Dream" will appeal to the Constitutional Court.

Georgian Dream claims that Zurabishvili violated the Basic Law because she went on a trip abroad without government approval. According to Article 52 of the Constitution of Georgia, the President exercises representative powers in foreign relations, conducts negotiations with foreign states and international organizations with the consent of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Salome Zurabishvili arrived in Germany on August 31 for talks with the President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (Frank-Walter Steinmeier). She holds a series of meetings with European leaders in support of granting Georgia the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union. The government in Tbilisi did not approve this trip.

Zurabishvili, in her microblog on the X platform (formerly Twitter), thanked Steinmeier for the meeting, noting that support from Germany would be critically important. "The Georgian people believe in their European future," she added.

The Georgian Cabinet did not agree on other working visits of Salome Zurabishvili: to Ukraine on August 22-24, to Switzerland and Bulgaria in September, to Poland, Belgium and Denmark in October, as well as to the UAE, the Czech Republic and Israel in December.

Salome Zurabishvili won the presidential election in November 2018. Formally, she was nominated as an independent candidate, but she was supported by the Georgian Dream. Subsequently, relations between the head of state and the political force began to deteriorate against the background of Russia's war against Ukraine and disagreements over relations with Moscow.

Georgia applied for EU membership almost simultaneously with Ukraine and Moldova. In June 2022, Ukraine and Moldova became candidates for EU membership, but Georgia did not receive this status. Brussels promised Georgia to provide it "as soon as the remaining priorities are resolved."