Day: April 5, 2024

Members of the European Parliament representing a wide spectrum of political groups, made a joint statement today in which they “deeply regret” the intention of the ruling GD to reintroduce the law on “foreign agents”, “which was strongly rejected by the Georgian society” last year. The statement reads: “We also call on the European Commission to monitor whether such decisions by the Georgian authorities are consistent with the status of a candidate country and to provide an assessment in a timely manner.” MEPs further state that “in case of a regressive process of Georgia’s accession to the EU, the European Commission might have to return to the initial positions of the enlargement process.”

The statement emphasizes that the law on “foreign agents” is incompatible with EU values and democratic values and runs against Georgia’s ambitions to for EU membership.”

The statement also recalls that Georgia was granted EU candidate status last year on the condition that relevant steps would be taken, and stresses that the bill in question violates at least two of these steps: step 9, which calls for civil society to be involved in legislative and policy-making processes and to operate freely; and step 1, which calls for the fight against disinformation against the EU and its values.

MEPs recall that the EU provides substantial assistance to Georgia, which is focused on helping Georgia implement key pro-European reforms and improve the lives of the Georgian people, supporting businesses, promoting economic development, building infrastructure, etc’. The law in question, say the MEPs, “would label Georgian civil society actors as “foreign agents” and “enemies of the state” if they received similar EU funding as the Georgian government for similar activities.”

MEPs call on the Georgian leadership to honor the commitment it made last year and not introduce the law on “foreign agents”, and “instead invest in an inclusive relationship with the Georgian civil society which proved to be instrumental in monitoring and supporting the implementation of reforms that would lead to Georgia’s integration into the European Union.”

Members of the European Parliament stress that “Georgia belongs in the European Union and this can only be achieved by adhering to EU values and democratic principles, including a vibrant civil society.”

The statement is signed by the following MEPs: Petras Auštrevičius, Renew Europe, Lithuania Miriam Lexmann, EPP, Slovakia Sven Mikser, S&D, Estonia Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Greens/EFA, Germany Anna Fotyga, ECR, Poland Andrius Kubilius, EPP, Lithuania Karin Karlsbro, Renew Europe, Sweden François Thiollet, Greens/EFA, France Katalin Cseh, Renew Europe, Hungary Anna Júlia Donáth, Renew Europe, Hungary Andrey Kovatchev, EPP, Bulgaria Hilde Vautmans, Renew Europe, Belgium Michaela Šojdrová, EPP, Czechia Michael Gahler, EPP, Germany Reinhard Bütikofer, Greens/EFA, Germany Ramona Strugariu, Renew Europe, Romania Jozef Mihál, Renew Europe, Slovakia Marek Paweł Balt, S&D, Poland Rasa Juknevičienė, EPP, Lithuania Attila Ara-Kovács, S&D, Hungary Nacho Sánchez Amor, S&D, Spain Isabel Santos, S&D, Portugal

berlin — Human rights lawyers said Friday they had filed an urgent appeal against Germany’s government to stop exports of war weapons to Israel, citing reasons to believe they were being used in ways violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.

A Dutch court has ordered the Netherlands to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used for attacks on civilian targets in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been killed.

Israel denies deliberately targeting civilians in the Gaza war, saying Hamas militants use residential areas for cover, which the Palestinian Islamist group denies.

The Berlin case, brought by several organizations including the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Law for Palestine and the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy, was filed in an administrative court on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza.

In a statement, the lawyers said the arms deliveries and support Germany has provided to Israel violated the country’s obligations under the War Weapons Control Act.

They cited a January order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to take action to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, which it has subjected to siege and invasion since Hamas’ October 7 attack. Israel denies genocide allegations.

“Just the assumption is sufficient — that the weapons are used to commit acts that violate international law — to revoke arms exports under the Act,” lawyer Ahmed Abed told a news conference Friday in Berlin.

He said he expected a ruling within two to three weeks.

Political pressure

German government spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann said she could not comment about the Berlin court case and whether Germany would suspend arms exports to Israel pending a ruling.

“The federal government generally examines each arms export individually and takes a number of factors into account — including human rights and humanitarian law,” she said when asked about the matter by reporters.

International law experts said the litigation was unlikely to be able to force a halt to such arms exports under administrative law, though it could push Berlin to review its stance if evidence were provided.

“It could build up political pressure on the German government … to be more transparent and declare which arms it is planning to transfer or which arms it actually has transferred to Israel,” Max Mutschler, a senior researcher at the Bonn International Center for Conflict Studies, said.

Rights groups would have a better chance of success if they took the case to the ICJ in The Hague, said lawyer Holger Rothbauer, who successfully sued arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch over arms deliveries to Mexico in 2010.

“It seems to me that a [German] law to cover the case is missing,”

Rothbauer told Reuters, saying only a party directly affected by an administrative decision could sue to stop it. The rights lawyers said they were acting on behalf of Palestinians.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed and 75,750 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said Friday in an update.

With Gaza in ruins, and most of its 2.3 million population forced from their homes and relying on aid for survival, Israel faces rising calls from allies to halt the war and allow unfettered aid into the enclave, with critics saying governments should threaten to withhold military aid if it does not do so.

Since Hamas’ October terrorism attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, Germany has been one of Israel’s staunchest allies alongside the United States, underlining its commitment to atonement for its perpetration of the World War II Nazi Holocaust in which 6 million Jews died.

Last year, Germany approved arms exports to Israel worth a 326.5 million euros ($353.70 million), including military equipment and war weapons, a 10-fold increase compared with 2022, according to Economic Ministry data.