“Georgia is at a crossroads on its path to European Integration,” declared Frenchman Claude Kern (ALDE) and Portuguese socialist Edite Estrela—monitoring co-rapporteurs for the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly—on Tuesday, 4 April.
Returning from a three-day visit to the country (27–29 March), they published a press release in which they reaffirm Georgia’s European identity and highlight the progress made since it joined the Council of Europe in 1999 but lament, “At the same time, at this important moment for Georgia’s European integration prospects, the reform process clearly seems to be stalling.”
The rapporteurs went on to say, “We urge the Georgian authorities and all political forces to overcome their extreme animosity and polarisation, to set aside narrow party interests, and to jointly work with all stakeholders to implement the 12 priority areas for reform outlined by the European Commission in order for the country to obtain EU candidate status.”
As concerns former President Mikheil Saakashvili (who has been incarcerated since October 2021), they called on the authorities and the family to agree on access for foreign doctors.
“It is important to depoliticise his health condition and to ensure that all stakeholders can rely on neutral, reliable, and trusted information,” they stated.
Georgia is one of the 11 Council of Europe member states that are subject to the Parliamentary Assembly’s full monitoring procedure, which involves regular visits by co-rapporteurs, ongoing dialogue with authorities, and occasional plenary debates to help the States concerned meet the organisation’s democratic standards.
Link to the press release: https://aeur.eu/f/66y (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)