Georgiaʼs opposition pro-European parties are uniting to put the country back on the path to the EU

Before the parliamentary elections in Georgia, which will be held in October, six Georgian opposition pro-European parties signed the "Declaration of Unity". Their goal is to remove the current government, which is oriented towards Russia, not the West.

Echo of the Caucasus and Politico write about it.

These are the "United National Movement", "Girchi — more freedom", "Lelo", "Akhali", "Droa" and "Strategy Agmashenebeli", which call on other opposition forces to join the declaration as well.

Some of Georgiaʼs opposition parties are seeking to win elections and form a coalition government to replace the ruling Georgian Dream party, which they say has undermined Georgiaʼs aspirations to join the European Union.

The signatories of the declaration intend to "liberate the country democratically" and "return Georgia to the path of rapid integration into the EU." It is not yet clear whether all parties will enter the parliamentary elections with a single list. They are still looking for the "most efficient configuration of unity" to get the maximum electoral result.

At the same time, six opposition parties undertake not to take part in the approval of the government after the elections, which will include "Georgian Dream". Party leaders agree to support the re-election of the current president of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili.

Georgia applied to join the EU in March 2022, weeks after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and gained candidate status in December 2023. The next step should be the recommendation of the European Commission to the governments of the EU countries to start negotiations on Georgiaʼs accession to the EU, but this depends on the implementation of a number of reforms. In Brussels, as the FT reported, they made it clear: if the law on "foreign agents" is passed, there will be no recommendations. And it was passed — on June 3, the speaker of the Georgian parliament signed the law, despite the veto of the countryʼs president Salome Zurabishvili. This law is actually an analogue of the Russian law on "foreign agents".