By DPA
Brussels : NATO and the European Union (EU) Thursday expressed their concern over the imposition of emergency rule in Georgia and called for an urgent resumption of dialogue between the government and the opposition.
“The imposition of emergency rule and the closure of media outlets in Georgia, a partner with which NATO has an intense dialogue, are of particular concern and not in line with Euro-Atlantic values,” NATO said in a press release.
“All parties must exercise restraint, avoid violence and act within the law,” the alliance added.
EU officials also said they were worried by the news of emergency in Tbilisi, the capital city of Georgia.
“Political differences should be resolved within the democratic institutions. All sides should, therefore, resume the dialogue and refrain from actions that contribute to tensions,” the EU’s top foreign-policy official, Javier Solana, said.
Georgia was a constituent of the erstwhile Soviet Union, but became independent in 1991. In 2003 the so-called “Rose Revolution”, a non-violent popular uprising, ousted the former pro-Russian regime and brought the pro-Western Mikhail Saakashvili to power.
President Saakashvili has frequently said that he wants his country to aim for NATO and EU membership. He recently accused Russia of stirring up popular unrest against him, after thousands of Georgians took to the street accusing him of corruption.
The Georgian government Wednesday issued a decree declaring a state of emergency banning all public demonstrations in the country’s capital Tbilisi, citing fast deteriorating law and order situation in the wake of opposition protests.
Wednesday’s emergency proclamation came after a week of intense opposition demonstrations, which reached their culmination in Tbilisi, demanding President Saakashvili’s resignation accusing him of corruption, authoritarianism and failure to stem the economic downslide.