Day: November 7, 2024

EU leaders concerned over Georgia election

French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk issued a joint statement regarding the current political situation in Georgia, expressing concerns over the October 26 parliamentary elections.

The Eurasian Georgia?

“With the CEC declaring ‘Georgian Dream’ victorious, Georgia may have closed a chapter in its history”

“We reiterate our concern about the conduct of the parliamentary elections
in Georgia as laid down in the preliminary conclusions issued by the
international election observation mission. In particular, the reported
numerous irregularities and intimidation on voters, which affected
negatively public trust in the process, are of great concern.

We call for swift and transparent investigations of all complaints and
reports of election-related irregularities and will carefully examine the final
report of the international observation mission, which we expect in due
time.

We support the democratic and European aspirations of the Georgian
people. The freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression are fundamental
rights in a democratic society and must be upheld and protected. We call
for an inclusive dialogue with all political forces and civil society
organizations in order to undertake this task,” the statement reads.

The statement’s authors also recalled that, prior to the October 26 parliamentary elections, the European Council emphasized that Georgia is straying from the European path and stressed the need for free and fair elections.

Macron, Scholz, and Tusk also stated that they do not intend to support Georgia’s accession to the European Union until these and other conditions are met, and the country’s government returns to a democratic course.

EU lawmakers urge sanctions on Georgian officials over ‘systemic election violations’

European lawmakers call for sanctions against Georgian officials amid alleged “systemic violations” in recent parliamentary elections

EU leaders concerned over Georgia election

Situation in #SouthCaucasus remains difficult, but there are prerequisites for its improvement – #Sergei_Shoigu https://t.co/7xBfiB39b1

— Alphanews Armenian Network (@AlphaNewsAM) November 7, 2024

Georgia’s Elections: Death By Dozen Daggers. How 2024 Elections Were Rigged: A Synthesis Report. By Hans Gutbrod @HansGutbrod https://t.co/WoahR2DKm4 via @CivilGe

— Notes from Georgia/South Caucasus (Hälbig, Ralph) (@SouthCaucasus) November 7, 2024

On 7 November 2024, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament held confirmation hearing, during which Marta Kos, Slovenian candidate and Commissioner-designate addressed, among other issues, the prospects of Georgia’s EU integration against the background of the country’s democratic decline.

Asked about what minimum requirements must be met by the Georgian government to reactivate the EU accession process, and how she sees EU supporting democratic reforms in coming years, the Commissioner-designate said her message to the people of Georgia is “don’t give up the hope.” She said: “We are ready to go on with the enlargement process. The first conditions would be that the government of Georgia show us that they are willing to go this way,” adding that EU would first expect the abolishment of Foreign Agents and anti-LGBT laws. She said EU is ready to support Georgia on its EU integration path and that it has prepared the financial package for supporting reforms and “also for the civil society.”

“Civil society is a kind of watchdog over the governments, not only in the candidate countries but also in the member states,” said the Commissioner-designate, adding that in case of Georgia she plans “to get a really good overview of…which organizations, which individuals are those who would be really the strongest voice of democratic development in Georgia and then I will work on this.”

“Nothing is done yet and nothing is finished yet” she said, expressing hope for the European Parliament support in continuing helping Georgia.

“There is still hope that with the support of democratic forces and perhaps, also with the action of the government they will come back to European path,”- said Marta Kos and reiterated that the first precondition is getting rid “of the laws that are against the European values.”

The European Commission issued an official recommendation to grant Georgia candidate status on 8 November 2023. However, the negotiation process with the Georgian government was frozen due to the government’s decisions to adopt anti-democratic laws, including the so-called Foreign Agents law.

Also Read:

• 28/10/2024- Observer Mission Talks of Main Scheme of Large-Scale Election Fraud, Seeks Annulment of Results from 189 Polling Stations
• 28/05/2024- Charles Michel: Adoption of Transparency Law Takes Georgia Away from EU

The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) are organizing a global event on sustainable finance taxonomies during the COP29 conference, which will be held in Baku on November 11-22

Iran plans to expand partnership with neighboring and Islamic countries regardless of whom America elected as its new leader