The European Parliament called on the Georgian authorities to review the anti-democratic laws and return to the path of European integration and democratic development. This is stated in the resolution on democratic retreat and threats to political pluralism in Georgia adopted on October 9 at the EP plenary session.
Points of attention
- The European Parliament condemns new laws in Georgia that contradict democratic principles and hinder Euro-Atlantic integration.
- The restoration of democracy in Georgia is vital, requiring free and fair elections and an end to violence and repression.
- If Georgia fails to address anti-democratic legislation, it risks hindering its progress towards EU membership and facing consequences like the suspension of the visa-free regime.
- The EU firmly believes that Georgia's upcoming parliamentary elections will be decisive for its democratic development and geopolitical choices.
- The EU Ambassador to Georgia has confirmed the suspension of high-level contacts with Georgian authorities due to concerns over unfriendly attitudes towards the EU and anti-Western narratives.
The European Parliament adopted an important resolution regarding Georgia
The document was adopted by 495 votes, 73 MEPs voted against, 86 abstained.
The European Parliament...strongly condemns the adoption of the law on "transparency of foreign influence" and the law on "family values and protection of teenagers", as well as changes to the electoral legislation; believes that these acts are incompatible with EU values and democratic principles, contradict Georgia's ambitions for EU membership, harm Georgia's international reputation and jeopardize its Euro-Atlantic integration.
Deputies emphasized: if anti-democratic legislation is not withdrawn, it will make it impossible to achieve progress in relations between Georgia and the EU.
The EP expressed regret that Georgia, which at one time led the democratic process on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration, began to depart from democratic principles.
The resolution emphasizes that respect for freedom of expression and media, freedom of association and peaceful assembly are enshrined in the Georgian Constitution.
The European Parliament expects that "Georgian Dream" (ruling party — ed.) will respect the will and free choice of the people of Georgia during the upcoming parliamentary elections and hand over power peacefully in case of defeat; demands that Georgian Dream and its leaders immediately stop violence, intimidation, hate speech, harassment and repression against the opposition, civil society and independent media.
Deputies stressed: if conditions for free and fair parliamentary elections are not created in Georgia, the EU should consider the possibility of temporarily suspending the visa-free regime for Georgian citizens.
The European Parliament firmly believes that the next elections will be decisive for determining the future democratic development of Georgia and for its geopolitical choices, as well as for its ability to make progress towards the status of a candidate country for EU membership; believes that the results of the elections in Georgia should allow the country to return to its pro-Western democratic agenda, implement the necessary reforms and start membership negotiations with the EU.
The MPs reaffirmed their strong support for the legitimate European aspirations of the people of Georgia and call on the EU and its member states to prosecute and impose sanctions on all those involved in undermining democracy in Georgia, acts of violence against political opponents of the governing authorities and participants in peaceful protests, as well as those who continue spread anti-Western disinformation.
A separate item in the resolution contains a call to the Georgian authorities to release the former president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, from prison.
The EU began to ignore the Georgian government
This was stated by the EU Ambassador to Georgia Pavel Gerchynskyi.
Already in June of this year, we had an internal discussion with our member states about how to approach the attitude of the Georgian authorities, which we consider unfriendly to the EU. We also discussed how we should approach the anti-Western and anti-European narrative, propaganda and conspiracy theory, and decided at the EU level not to have any high-level contacts with the current Georgian authorities.
That is why in recent months there have been no high-level visits to Georgia, no high-level meetings with representatives of the Georgian authorities in Brussels. I repeat once again, the institutions of the European Union have decided to suspend all high-level meetings with representatives of the Georgian authorities.
What is known about FSB agents among Russians in Georgia
According to the founder and head of the "Georgian National Legion" Mamuka Mamulashvili in an interview with Online.UA, many Russians who moved to Georgia work for the Russian special services.
"Half a million Russians in such a small country as Georgia is a great danger," says Mamulashvili.
He emphasized that Georgia also has up to 350,000 displaced people from the Russian-occupied regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
