On November 11, the senior lawmakers of eight European Union countries (Germany, France, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland) paid an official visit to Georgia.
During the visit, they first met with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili. The meeting was followed by a joint press conference. The delegation is also scheduled to meet with opposition parties and civil society organizations. Government officials have refused to meet with the delegation.
Press Conference
The visit started with the meeting with President Salome Zurabishvili, which was followed by a joint press-conference. President opened the press conference and presented the delegation. “They are truly devoted friends of Georgia, who […] stand by the Georgian state, the Georgian state building, the state construction, its European way.” She added: ” Their coming here today, when Georgia is entering a deep political crisis, is once again a sign of European support…”
Zurabishvili went on to say that Georgia is going through a political crisis because of “one-party-managed elections” and “one-party-rigged elections.”
“Our friends are here to see with us the ways for Georgia to get out of this crisis.” She said Georgia would return to “fair elections” with “just means” so that Georgia would get a “legitimate” Parliament, Government, and President.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, Michael Roth said: “We represent different political parties… We represent eight nation states, but we all belong to Europe […] the European Union. We are here as friends of the Georgian people… We are not here to promote regime change,” he said, responding to the GD government’s discrediting campaign against the delegation.
“We are here because we are extremely concerned over the recent elections and the anti-democratic policies of the current Georgian government,” Roth said.
He stressed that the October 26 elections “were neither free nor fair” and spoke about the various alleged violations on election day, including ballot secrecy, vote buying, voter intimidation, and threats against the opposition and its supporters. All of these factors undermined the democratic process and “raise serious concerns about the legitimacy of the results,” he said.
Roth said the delegation “fully supports” the call by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk for an independent investigation into the elections. He said that if such an independent investigation cannot be ensured by a Georgian body, then international bodies such as the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU “must step in.”
“Without clarification of these allegations, the EU cannot recognize these elections as legitimate,” Roth said.
“If these allegations are not independently investigated, we will call for individual sanctions against those responsible for the election manipulation and voter intimidation,” he added, noting that “all tools” must be discussed, including the suspension of the visa-free regime with the EU. “We have to put all instruments we have on the table,” he said.
“We stand firmly with the Georgian people in their commitment to European values of democracy, rule of law and human rights,” Roth said, but added: “However, if the current government continues its anti-European trajectory, fails to repeal laws like the Russian Agent law, and persists in undermining EU principles, Georgia’s progress towards the EU membership will remain stalled.”
Q&A
The conference continued with a question and answer session with local media. During the questions, the delegation elaborated on several issues that were not discussed in Michael Roth’s speech.
Asked about the prospects of future EU engagement with Georgia, Michael Roth said: “I don’t see any chance to continue without fundamental changes here in Georgia…I promise you, we won’t go back to business as usual. We follow the developments in your country very carefully.”
Michael Roth was also asked to assess Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban’s position on the Georgian elections. He said: “The EU institutions made it very clear: when he visited Tbilisi, he just spoke on behalf of Hungary or the Hungarian government, but not on behalf of the European Union and its member states.” Roth said Orban had once again ” misused” Hungary’s presidency of the European Council, calling it a “disgrace.”
The Lithuanian representative Žygimantas Pavilionis was asked to evaluate the statement of the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on the refusal to meet with the members of the delegation. He briefly said that it is “Soviet” when the government does not meet with its critics. France’s representative, Frédéric Petit, said it was “sad” that the Georgian government doesn’t want to discuss things with people it doesn’t agree with.
Germany’s Michael Roth was also asked to comment on Russian disinformation propaganda about the Georgian government’s unpopular “Global War Party” and “Liberal Fascism.” Roth said: “Obviously, the opposition here, in your country, totally underestimated that many Georgians for good reasons are afraid of war and aggression, because the Global War Party exists. This Global War Party is Russia.” He added that he “fully understands” that the Georgian people are afraid of war. “I think we have to take these worries and concerns in your society extremely seriously. War is a total disaster and I think that’s what we have to talk about.” He also said: “We have to form a huge coalition against the Global War Party – Russia, that’s one of our main objectives while we are here.”
As the delegation met with the President, protesters against the allegedly rigged elections gathered in front of the Orbeliani Palace to greet them and thank them for their support of the Georgian people.
The delegation members are expected to join the rally denouncing the election results scheduled for the evening.
Meeting with Opposition
After meeting with President Salome Zurabishvili, the delegation met with representatives of Georgian opposition parties.
According to the opposition leaders, the discussions focused on the ongoing processes in Georgia, with an emphasis on the elections, the prospects of its investigation, and the possible steps the EU could take in response to the actions of the GD government.
“Today’s discussion was about the ongoing processes, what could be the solution, how we should act, what attitude the opposition [parties] should have independently and as a whole, how to communicate with them, what threats there are, what actions we should expect from the government, and what could be the negative consequences of the course the Georgian Dream has taken Georgia,” said Dimitri Tskitishvili of Gakharia-For Georgia.
“One of the main directions we discussed today was the international investigation [of the elections],” said Tinatin Bokuchava of Unity-UNM, adding that there is an understanding that the Georgian Prosecutor’s Office cannot conduct a fair investigation. “There are several mechanisms that can be the basis for such an investigative instrument, be it the European Parliament or the European Commission,” she added, noting that there is a readiness to conduct such an investigation.
“There was talk that not only should Georgia’s European integration be stopped, but that we might lose the benefits that Georgia receives from Europe, which are free trade, visa-free travel, candidate status,” said Zura Japaridze of Coalition for Change.
“Very painful steps are expected, and this [taking such steps] is a common practice, when Georgian Dream has captured the government and tries to carry out anti-European policies, it gets a corresponding response from Europe,” Badri Japaridze of Strong Georgia said.
More to follow….