Azerbaijani MPs will participate in an international conference on “The Role of Political Party Factions and Blocs’ Interaction in Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of CIS Countries,” Report informs, citing Azerbaijan’s Milli Majlis.
Day: November 23, 2024
Dr. Anton Hofreiter, Chairman of the European Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, visited Tbilisi on November 19-20, 2024 and met with President Salome Zurabishvili, leaders of various opposition parties and media representatives. The visit was part of his tour of the South Caucasus capitals. The programme also included meetings at Ilia University, with Georgian civil society and think tanks. Conspicuously absent were any meetings with his counterparts in the outgoing parliament. The refusal to meet with Western parliamentarians and Foreign Ministers has become a habit in recent months, as relations between the Georgian government, which is seen by many as sliding into an autocratic spiral, and Georgia’s traditional Western partners, have reached an unprecedented low. The recent disputed parliamentary elections have only deepened the rift.
Civil.ge’s Nata Koridze spoke to Dr, Hofreiter, known as staunch supporter of the former Associated Trio’s – Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – integration in the EU about these developments and the prospects for Georgian-German relations against this background.
Civil.ge: In your last interview with us, in April this year, right after the reintroduction of the Foreign Agents’ law followed by popular protests, you said that the government had to follow EU rules for it to move forward on the path of EU integration. However, the law was still passed, which significantly contributed to halting Georgia’s EU integration.
But the law was only a symptom, and we have seen more serious developments, such as the campaign of repression and the alleged rigging of the 26 October parliamentary elections, which local and international observers say were highly controversial. All of this has been exacerbated by the relentless anti-Western rhetoric of GD officials. How are these elections viewed from Germany? And what are the prospects Georgia’s return to the EU integration path under these circumstances?
Dr. Anton Hofreiter: The recent elections do not meet the standards that we expect from an EU candidate country and we are very concerned about everything that has happened.
I am more than concerned, because I have heard a lot of reports from independent election observers that there was massive manipulation, the most manipulation ever in the Georgian elections. There have been manipulations in previous elections, but not on this scale. Let me also underline that the threats against the opposition to ban them are totally unacceptable.
The Georgian government has obviously decided to withdraw from EU integration. With the Foreign Agents Law, the Anti-LGBTIQ-Laws and with this kind of election manipulation, the government has decided, perhaps not officially, but de facto, to withdraw from EU integration. Georgia clearly has to take back these laws that are not compatible with its EU aspirations, however, after these elections it is clear, that Georgia has to do even more in order to return to the path of EU integration.
In response to the government’s actions, some of the countries cut financial assistance. The EU has also cut direct financial aid to the government and defense aid, and individual member states have canceled various programmes. Could you tell our readers what steps Germany has taken in response to the anti-democratic trends visible in Georgia, what is expected and what is the role of the Bundestag in this?
Yes, Germany has expressed its concern and we had a discussion in Parliament in the Committee on European Affairs. It’s absolutely clear for the German Parliament that the government of Georgia has decided to withdraw from future membership in the European Union.
German Government as well as the Parliament is about to discuss further steps. There are considerations about sanctions against those responsible. These steps must be carefully taken within European and German law. There are also talks about downgrading bilateral aid to Georgia.
You mentioned “responsible” people, does Germany intend to take action against them, such as sanctions?
As I have said the next steps are being carefully considered right now. Most of the sanctions are within the competence of the European Union and need to be discussed in Brussels. What is in Germany’s competence however, is the amount of bilateral aid that is given to Georgia. In fact, Georgia is the country that receives the fifth most bilateral aid from Germany per capita, so there is a wide range of possible reactions. I have no doubt that Georgia’s turning away from democracy and EU integration will have clear and negative consequences for our relations.
Europe editor for RFE/RL Rickard Jozwiak wrote a few days ago that in conversations with EU officials he hears them reluctantly admit that at some point, if things go as they are going, they might start engaging with the new parliament and the new government, simply because that will be their only counterpart. How would you respond to that?
We have so many questions about the elections right now that I cannot see how to engage with this kind of new parliament. We’re not going to get involved until these questions are answered. I expect an independent and trustworthy investigation into the manipulations. According to all the reports I have seen, I would expect new elections after a necessary process to reconstruct a truly democratic environment in Georgia with fair conditions for political competitors.
And in that respect, the technical mission that HR Borrell announced during the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting this week, you include that in those kinds of steps?
Yes, it’s a first but necessary step.
I would like to ask you about the suspension of visa liberalization, because even in Georgia there are two views on this issue. Those in favor of this move say that it’s the most effective way to show Georgian citizens that the government is not really moving towards the EU, even though it still claims to be doing so successfully. They also say that Georgia will lose the visa-free regime anyway if it continues on its authoritarian path. Opponents say that if the EU takes away visa liberalization, it’s the people who will be punished. As far as we know, Germany is also against the suspension. But we’ve also heard, for example, Michael Roth, your colleague in the Bundestag, say he has changed his mind and now thinks suspension is the right thing to do.
I totally see how the visa liberalization issue would punish all people. That is why I prefer sanctions against the people who are responsible for the manipulations.
However we need to accept that all options are on the table right now. The reports that we have seen tell us that there was massive manipulation during the elections. With that in mind I expect appropriate measures.
After these elections, the citizens have lost hope and confidence in the elections. There is a sense of frustration in Georgian society. The president actually proposed a few days ago to hold new elections. She said: let’s keep this political configuration as it is in the interim period and then let’s have new elections. But of course under a different administration of the elections. Do you see that as a hypothetical solution to this situation?
I can see that most of the Georgian people want to be part of the European Union, but the government has decided to retreat from the European path, which becomes clear from the adoption of recent laws and the conduct of the elections.
Holding new elections only works as long as they are fair and transparent. A lot more commitment from democratic countries needs to be ensured. It requires a lot of professional and nonpartisan observers, especially from the OSCE, because we saw so many examples of manipulation, for example of ID cards being transferred from one person to another. Then there was no secrecy of the ballot, as [a voter’s] choice could be seen from the other side of the paper. Many different kinds of manipulation were recorded, so we have to make sure that this does not happen again.
There’s also this weariness and a kind of fear among citizens that Georgia is somehow falling into this grey area where it’s sort of forgotten and not on the agenda of the EU and the Western partners. In fact, we have seen that during the hearings of the new Commissioner, Kaja Kallas, for example, there was no mention of Georgia. And there are some other signs where we can already see that the Georgian issues are being kind of sidelined. And so there is a lot of concern in the country about this, from people who want this country to be part of the EU. And it’s not their choice what’s happening here at the moment. What is your message to these people?
If you get back on the path of becoming a member of the European Union, you will end up much safer than you are now. Look at the Baltic countries, they have been close to Russia and always had a lot of problems with Russia. Now, as members of the European Union and as members of NATO, they are steady democracies with a strong economy. I can only recommend Georgia to go back to the European path to cooperate on eye level with its European partners for a steady peace, not being dependent of the Russian autocracy.
A lot of what is happening in Georgia is part of the bigger puzzle and is connected to what is happening in the region, including in Ukraine, because we are talking about Russia’s aggressive revanchist push to bring these countries to its sphere of influence. So, what happens in Georgia is bound to have repercussions for the countries in the region, for Armenia, for Moldova, and so on. To what extent are developments in Georgia viewed through this prism in Germany?
We live in an interconnected world. We always have to look on a whole region, not only on one country. As Europeans it is of our vital common interest to work closely together with all European states to live in peace. That is also why the war in Ukraine affects us all.
Not everyone, but many understand that you can only deal with Russia from a position of strength, not a position of weakness. And diplomatic talks with Russia only have a chance if you are in a position of strength. That is why we have to do much more to help Ukraine, because if you’re in a position of weakness vis-à-vis Russia, you can’t achieve much by talking.
Thank you
Categories
