In a joint resolution adopted on Thursday 13 February (400 votes in favour, 63 against and 81 abstentions), MEPs warned that the European Parliament did not recognise the “self-proclaimed” authorities of the Georgian Dream party, set up following the “rigged election” of 26 October 2024, and that it still considered Salomé Zourabichvili to be the legitimate President of Georgia. According to MEPs, the political and constitutional crisis can only be resolved by new parliamentary elections.
MEPs call on the EU Council and the Member States, in particular the EU25 (excluding Hungary and Slovakia), in a “bilateral and coordinated” approach, to impose immediate and targeted sanctions on former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, his family, his companies and his supporters, as well as on the Georgian officials and political leaders responsible for the backsliding on democracy, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution of political opponents and activists.
The European Parliament is also calling for an immediate and comprehensive audit of the EU’s policy towards Georgia, including the Association Agreement.
Urging the “authorities” of the Georgian Dream party to put an immediate end to the violent repression of peaceful demonstrators, political opponents and media representatives, the European Parliament is calling for the release of all political prisoners and people arrested during anti-government demonstrations. It also hopes that the government will break with its current political line and resume the course of democratic reforms that will reopen the prospect of future EU membership.
See the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/fh0 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)