Simon Vanderbroucke, the EU delegation’s enlargement program officer, was denied entry at Tbilisi International Airport on May 21, the EU Delegation confirmed.
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“The denial of entry to a duly accredited member of the EU Delegation contravenes the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and other applicable norms, which Georgia is bound to respect,” the EU Delegation said.
“A Note Verbale has been addressed to the Georgian MFA on this matter. The Georgian authorities have presented oral apologies for the regrettable incident and confirmed that the staff member is welcome to come back to his place of posting.”
This incident follows a pattern of entry denials involving activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and politicians. However, this is the first reported case involving an EU diplomat, and it comes amid the Georgian Dream government’s increasing criticism of and targeting of Western diplomats.
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Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze of the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed that the entry denial was due to a “technical problem” and insisted that the incident was “unintentional.”
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