The European Parliament held a debate on October 8th, entitled “The Democratic Regression and Threats to the Political Pluralism of Georgia”. MEPs discussed upcoming elections in Georgia and the anti-democratic and anti-EU rhetoric from the ruling party. They also discussed the need to adopt before the elections a resolution to support Georgian democracy. Tomorrow, the vote on this resolution is scheduled.
Vera Jourova, Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency opened the debates. She said: “On October 26, over 3,000,000 Georgians will vote to elect a brand new Parliament. These elections are crucial for Georgia’s EU journey. These elections will also be a test of Georgia’s democratic system. We hoped that when Georgia was granted EU Candidate status in December last year, this would provide a strong incentive to the government to implement significant reforms and open EU accession talks. In recent months, the government has proposed laws that have moved Georgia away from this goal. Despite massive protests, the foreign influence law that stifles media and civil society was reintroduced. Other proposals that discriminate and stigmatize LGBTQI communities and weaken the independent of state institutions were also put forward. “At the same time, anti-EU rhetoric is becoming louder.”
Vice President Jourova thanked the European Parliament as well for voicing their concerns about Georgia and its “unprecedented” anti-democratic actions. She also categorically stated that the widespread misinformation about the EU’s attempt to open a “second front” in Georgia or Georgia’s Ukrainization was “unacceptable” – and would only harm EU-Georgian relationships. She said that GD’s promise to ban the opposition parties contradicts Georgia’s goal of EU Integration and expressed her hope that Georgians will return to the EU Path, promising that the EU will support this process.
Rasa Jukneviciene, MEP, stressed in her speech that “the European Parliament sent a clear message Bidzina ivanishvili and to his collaborators within the party: membership in the EU is not compatible with their politics.” The opposers to the GD’s politics also shared the same message: “You can’t be pro European and pro Kremlin at once.” Several MEPs pointed out that Georgia can’t be both pro-EU and pro-Kremlin/Putinist.
She, along MEPs Petras Austrevicius and Raphael Glucksmann, and others, called on the Georgian Government to release former President Mikheil Sakaashvili from jail and expressed support for Georgia’s EU integration and democratic growth.
Sven Mikser, Marketa Gregorova and other MEPs have stressed that the EU could withdraw the candidate status given to Georgia, and that there are other options, such as stopping visa easing and individual sanctions, if Georgia continues its current course.
The debates were dominated by criticism of Georgian Dream, but there were some MEPs who supported the ruling party. Thierry Mariani, a French MEP, accused NGOs of “destabilizing democracy” in Georgia. He said that millions of dollars have been spent over the years on NGOs, but that “this type of interference” doesn’t seem bother anyone” within the EU. This, he believes, means that the EU has double standards. He said that Georgians do not want to be told what to do by Moscow or given advice by Brussels.
Milan Mazurek, a Slovakian MEP, congratulated Georgia on passing the antiLGBTQ propaganda laws. He said that Georgia was protecting their children from “rainbow-nonsense” and the EU should let democratic states take their own decisions. Hans Neuhoff, a German MEP, also expressed a similar message. The Spanish MEP Nacho Sanchez Amor also questioned the timing, asking if the adoption of the resolution would interfere with the electoral process.
* 13/05/2024 – MEPs ask HR/VP Borrell to implement targeted sanctions against MPs if the Agents’ Law is adopted
* 23/04/2024: Calls for targeted sanctions as MEPs debate Georgia
MEPs ask HR/VP Borrell to impose targeted sanctions against MPs if the Agents’ Law is adopted
MEPs call for suspension of Georgia’s EU Candidate status
The Daily Beat: April 25,
Political Reactions to EU Resolution
EP Resolution: Negotiations on accession should not begin until the Foreign Agents Bill has been dropped
Read More @ civil.ge