Papuashvili Heads to Belgium, Luxembourg for Meetings at Local Legislatures

Georgian Dream Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili traveled to Brussels on September 22 for an official visit, accompanied by a GD parliamentary delegation. He met with the presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium’s Federal Parliament. A day later, on September 23, Papuashvili traveled to Luxembourg, where, according to a Georgian Parliament press release, he is scheduled to hold one-on-one and expanded-format meetings with the speaker of Luxembourg’s Chamber of Deputies. The GD delegation includes Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chair of Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee; Levan Makhashvili, Chair of the European Integration Committee; and Davit Matikashvili, Chair of the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee.

The visit comes amid strained relations between Georgia and the European Union over Georgian Dream’s anti-Western rhetoric and concerns over democratic backsliding, and as Georgian ruling party lawmakers have tried to use their visits in European capitals to advocate for a “renewal of dialogue” with the EU. Meeting with Belgian Parliamentary Leaders On September 22, Papuashvili met with Vincent Blondel, president of the Belgian Senate, and Peter De Roover, president of the House of Representatives. According to a Georgian Parliament press release, the parties recalled their “fruitful meeting held in April 2025 within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Union” and underscored the importance of Papuashvili’s bilateral visit to Brussels. The sides discussed cooperation between Georgia and Belgium and emphasized “the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in relations between the two countries. ” According to the release, “Shalva Papuashvili spoke about ongoing changes in regional geopolitics and the strategic importance of the…