“Deeply concerned by the democratic backsliding in Georgia”, the European Parliament warned on Wednesday 9 October that Georgia will make no progress in its relations with the EU unless the law on transparency of foreign influence and the law on family values and protection of minors are repealed.
These laws are “incompatible with EU values and democratic principles, run against Georgia’s ambitions for EU membership and (...) endanger the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration”, MEPs summed up in the joint resolution of the Renew Europe, ECR, EPP, Greens/EFA and S&D groups (adopted by 495 votes in favour, 73 against and 86 abstentions).
According to the European Parliament, all EU funds paid to the Georgian government must be frozen until these laws are repealed, and strict conditions must be imposed on the payment of any future funding to the Georgian government. During Tuesday’s debate, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová announced that the European Union’s €30 million ‘European Peace Facility’ had been suspended “while the aid portfolio is reviewed”.
Furthermore, with parliamentary elections scheduled for 26 October, the European Parliament “strongly believes that the upcoming elections will be decisive in determining Georgia’s future democratic development and geopolitical choice, as well its ability to make progress with its EU member state candidacy”. It urges the Georgian authorities to ensure that the elections meet the highest international standards.
MEPs are also concerned about the climate of hatred and intimidation fuelled by statements made by political representatives and the government’s attacks on political pluralism. They call on the EU and its Member States to hold to account and impose personal sanctions on all those who jeopardise democracy in Georgia, who are complicit in the violence committed against political opponents and peaceful demonstrators, and who spread anti-Western disinformation. In particular, they cite Georgian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, ‘honorary chairman’ of the Georgian Dream party, “for his role in the deterioration of the political process”.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/dsb (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)