On Thursday 14 April, a delegation of four MEPs - Lukas Mandl (EPP, Austria), Juozas Olekas (S&D, Lithuania), Elena Yoncheva (S&D, Bulgaria) and Lars Patrick Berg (ECR, Germany) reiterated, at the end of a visit to Georgia that started on 10 April, their support for the pro-European aspirations of Georgian society and called for further reforms.
“The path to a closer partnership with the EU requires Georgia to adopt reforms in key areas such as the judiciary, freedom of the media, the Rule of law as well as respect for the principles of parliamentary democracy where all voices of the political spectrum are respected”, the European Parliament statement said.
MEPs also expressed the European Parliament’s solidarity with the people and authorities of Georgia in the context of the deteriorating security situation in Eastern Europe caused by Russia’s war against Ukraine. They stressed the need for the EU to help Georgia increase its resilience to hybrid threats, particularly cyberattacks and disinformation.
Finally, the delegation condemned the illegal ‘elections’ of 12-14 March in Abkhazia and 10 April in South Ossetia and expressed its full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)