A lawmaker from parliamentary minority called on November 24 for a probe into a report by the Portuguese press, according to which the Georgian delegation, visiting Lisbon for NATO summit, hired dozens of prostitutes for a party in a hotel where the delegation was staying.

MP Levan Vepkhvadze, a vice-speaker of the Parliament from the Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM) said that the matter is about “our country’s reputation” and required probe.

The Portuguese tabloid, Correio da Manha, reported on November 23, that the Georgian delegation, joined by some officials from the Armenian delegation, hired 80 prostitutes for a party in a hotel where they were staying during the NATO summit on November 19-20.

MP Vepkhvadze raised the issue during the parliamentary debates, which were about series of recent international events which concerned Georgia, including the NATO summit. MP from ruling party, Mikheil Machavariani, the vice-speaker of the Parliament, responded to MP Vepkhvadze’s remarks by suggesting that the newspaper report was part of Russia-backed anti-Georgian propaganda and an attempt to overshadow Georgia’s recent diplomatic successes.

Giorgi Baramidze, Georgia's deputy prime minister and state minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, who was in the Georgian delegation in Lisbon told RFE/RL that the report was "absolutely groundless." Speaking in Prague, Baramidze said the security at the hotel was so tight that "even a bird couldn't fly in."

"Judge for yourself," he said. "It's such a stupid thing to even talk about this."