Photo by Max Kukurudziak on Unsplash
MEPs have called on the international community to join the boycott of Georgia’s self-proclaimed authorities.
Meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday they accused the Georgian authorities of eroding the country’s democracy and cracking down on dissent.
In a resolution adopted at its plenary, Parliament refused to recognise the self-proclaimed authorities of the ruling Georgian Dream party following what it calls the rigged parliamentary elections on 26 October 2024, including the newly appointed President Mikheil Kavelashvili.
It calls for the international community to join the boycott of Georgia’s ruling elite.
MEPs continue to recognise Salome Zourabichvili as Georgia’s legitimate president and called on the President of the European Council António Costa to invite her to represent the country at upcoming meetings of the European Council and the European Political Community.
In the aftermath of the disputed elections, which plunged Georgia into a political and constitutional crisis, the country has witnessed ongoing peaceful mass anti-government protests, which have been met by a violent and what MEPs call a repressive crackdown by police and law enforcement authorities.
As a result, MEPs want the Council and EU member states to impose personal sanctions on the officials and political leaders in Georgia responsible for democratic backsliding, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution of political opponents and activists.
They say this includes, among others what MEPs call “the prominent oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, as well as judges passing politically motivated sentences and media representatives spreading disinformation.”
The resolution also restates the only solution to the current crisis in Georgia is holding new parliamentary elections which, according to MEPs, should take place within the next few months, be conducted in an improved electoral environment and overseen by an independent and impartial election administration and monitored by international observers.
Deeply regretting the ruling Georgian Dream party’s abandonment of its path toward European integration and NATO membership, Parliament reiterated, in the resolution, its unwavering support for the Georgian people’s legitimate European aspirations.
The text was adopted by 400 votes in favour, 63 against with 81 abstentions.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023. The country’s most recent parliamentary elections, however, were deemed neither free nor fair by the European Parliament.
