Georgia: Leading MEPs condemn the violence against political opponents
In a statement issued on Thursday, leading MEPs express their profound concern regarding the further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia.
The Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister, the Chair of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Sergey Lagodinsky, the Chair of the Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus Nils Ušakovs, the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur for Georgia Rasa Juknevičienė and the Chair of the European Parliament’s Election Observation Mission for the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia Antonio López-Istúriz White issued the following statement on Thursday.
"We express our profound concern regarding the further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia. We are shocked by the news that former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia was violently assaulted in a Batumi hotel and afterwards treated in hospital. This is yet another example of the escalating violence orchestrated by the Georgian Dream and its allies against peaceful protesters and dissidents.
We stand with the peaceful protesters who for 50 days have been demonstrating every evening in the streets of Georgia for a democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of their country. Georgia was for many years a champion of Euro-Atlantic aspirations with an overwhelming support of the people for this choice. That has not changed. What has changed is that the Georgian Dream has denied Georgians their future and does not even pretend anymore that they want a European democracy for Georgia.
The deteriorating situation in Georgia should not stay without a response. We stand by the position that currently President Salome Zourabichvili is the only clearly legitimate representative of the will of the Georgian people. We do not recognise the results of the parliamentary elections on 26 October 2024, as they were fraudulent and did not respect international standards for democratic elections. We do not recognise any decisions taken by this body. We strongly encourage the EU and its Member States to introduce personal sanctions against all those who are responsible for the democratic backsliding, in particular Bidzina Ivanishvili and Irakli Kobakhidze.
We encourage individual Member States and relevant regional organisations to avoid actively legitimising the self-appointed Georgian Dream authorities and call in this regard for suspending the EU Georgia Association Council. We urgently call for early elections, conducted in an improved election environment, managed by an independent and impartial election administration with widespread international observation, to ensure a genuinely free, fair and transparent process that would represent the will of the people of Georgia."
For further information, please contact:
Office of David McAllister, tel. +32 2 284 51 30, e-mail: david.mcallister@europarl.europa.eu
Office of Sergey Lagodinsky, tel. + 32 2 284 45 91, e-mail: sergey.lagodinsky@europarl.europa.eu
Office of Nils Ušakovs, tel. +32 2 284 54 09, e-mail: nils.usakovs@europarl.europa.eu
Office of Rasa Juknevičienė, tel. + 32 2 284 55 92, e-mail: rasa.jukneviciene@europarl.europa.eu
Office of Antonio López-Istúriz White, tel. +32 2 28 45713, e-mail: antonio.lopezisturiz@europarl.europa.eu
Contacts:
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Viktor ALMQVIST
Press Officer