More than 30 members of the European Parliament call for the suspension of Georgiaʼs candidate status due to the law on “innocents”

Author:
Olha Bereziuk
Date:

More than 30 members of the European Parliament signed a letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrell with a call to suspend Georgiaʼs status as a candidate for EU membership.

The letter was published on Civil.ge, a project of the UN Association in Georgia.

MEPs noted that the undemocratic behavior of the Georgian authorities, in particular their aggressiveness in pushing the law on "foreign agents", suppressing peaceful demonstrators and using force against them, crossed the line.

"Such behavior has further increased tensions and polarization in Georgian politics and society, which is contrary to the nine steps the Georgian government committed to when the country became a candidate for EU membership, and can no longer be ignored by the European Union. We urge you to take a firm position and take the following measures, which would be a clear signal to the Georgian authorities," the letter reads.

The following are invited to sign the letter:

  • suspend Georgiaʼs candidate status without any further progress in the accession process;
  • review EU funding of the state budget of Georgia and government programs;
  • to immediately conduct an interim assessment of Georgiaʼs progress in implementing the nine steps outlined in the European Commissionʼs recommendations.

Among the authors of the letter are Piatras Aušträvičius (Lithuania), Viola von Kramon-Taubadel (Germany), Guy Verhofstadt (Belgium), Sandra Kalnietė (Latvia) and 27 other MEPs.

What is happening in Georgia

On April 8, 2024, the ruling party "Georgian Dream" registered a project on "foreign agents" in the parliament. This is the second attempt to pass the law — a year ago, the vote was canceled amid large-scale protests and clashes. Now the voting is also accompanied by protests. Detentions near the parliament began on April 15, and on April 16 there were clashes with security forces.

On April 17, the Parliament of Georgia approved in the first reading the controversial law on "foreign agents", also known as the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence".

All international partners of Georgia call on Tbilisi to refuse approval of the draft law on "foreign agents". On April 16, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Teodoros Roussopoulos appealed to the Venice Commission to urgently provide an opinion on this draft law.

The European Union warned that the adoption of this law could stop Georgiaʼs European integration. In December 2023, the country received the status of a candidate for EU membership.

On May 1, the draft law was supported in the second reading and sent to the third. After that, protests resumed in Tbilisi.