Due to “democratic backsliding” and a “repressive regime” in Georgia, the European Parliament report to be considered next week will be highly critical, said Member of the European Parliament Markéta Gregorová. According to her, the introduction of targeted sanctions is on the agenda. She expressed hope that no one would block further progress on sanctions.
“Next week, a plenary session will take place in Strasbourg to consider the annual report on Georgia. We have recently adopted resolutions, but this document is an overall assessment of what has been happening in Georgia over the past year.
Although the final version of the report, incorporating all amendments, is not yet ready, I can already say that it will be highly critical of the democratic backsliding in Georgia, as repression has intensified, particularly against non-governmental organizations. There are virtually no NGOs left that can freely comment on political issues.
Independent media are in an extremely difficult position. Many of them have been forced to leave the country. This is not a democratic state, and everyone understands this. Such a country does not deserve candidate status for joining the European Union, because the EU is governed by the rule of law, whereas in Georgia, it is the rule of ‘Georgian Dream’, not the law. Therefore, unfortunately, the content of the report will not be pleasant.
Naturally, it will call for targeted sanctions, primarily against those involved in violence against peaceful protesters. Now that there has been a change of government in Hungary, we hope that no one else will block the sanctions, as Viktor Orbán did, and we can move forward to help the citizens of Georgia at least in this way.
At the same time, the report is by no means directed against the citizens of Georgia. All the criticism is aimed at the Georgian government and its repressive regime. However, unfortunately, Georgian citizens continue to live in this country and will also have to face the consequences of these changes, such as the potential revocation of candidate status and other measures. But this is not about them personally. Candidate status was granted to the citizens of Georgia, but it is being taken away not from them, but from the regime,” Gregorová stated.
