The ruling Georgian Dream party members criticized the local non-governmental organizations over their joint statement, issued on November 2, in which nearly 170 CSOs appeal to the European Commission, urging it to recommend to the European Council that Georgia be granted the EU candidate status. The GD leadership claimed CSOs were “organic part of the United National Movement” and argued counterfactually that they have lobbied against Georgia’s EU candidacy, but are now trying to “take credit” for the GD government’s forthcoming success in securing the positive EC decision.
The joint statement asks the European Commission for the positive recommendation on Georgia’s EU candidate status, “despite the ongoing challenges that Georgia must address.” The CSOs note the importance of fulfilling the twelve conditions, as well as the “challenges associated with implementing these recommendations.” Signatories emphasize that Georgia’s European choice “remains a steadfast national aspiration,” which unites the country’s “broad and proactive civil solidarity.”
The GD members criticized the CSOs for allegedly “trying to separate the Georgian people from the government”, stressing that the EU does not grant the status to one without the other. They also slammed the language used by the CSOs to frame their request, which implies that the GD government is not fulfilling its obligation to properly implement twelve EU conditions. GD representatives claim that, Georgian CSOs are trying to take credit for the forthcoming positive recommendation by the European Commission on November 8.
Irakli Kobakhidze, GD Chair: “Unlike the NGOs, who have lobbied against the candidate status, our government officials have lobbied for candidate status. This is the key difference…The message “Give us the status despite everything” precisely means “Do not give us the status.”… When you tell the professor that your child is not ready, but still ask to give them a good mark, you actually tell them not to do so. These CSOs have an idea of the EU as some kind of a new Soviet Union, or they are actually lobbying against candidate status…” “[CSOs] are the organic part of the collective National Movement, and they think that if Georgia is granted candidate status, they will suffer an even heavier defeat in the parliamentary elections. This is simple logic. It’s what Salome Zurabishvili believes in, it’s what CSOs believe in, it’s what the collective National Movement believes in…As for the the narrative that there is government on one side and the people – on the other side, this refers to their non-state attitude.” Kobakhidze also reiterated claims against the “foreign sources,” being financiers of “extremism, polarization and revolutions” in Georgia. In this context he also attacked the European Endowment for Democracy (EED), repeating claims – many times rejected by EED – that it was funding “a particular political party,” which is prohibited by law. Kobakhidze noted that the government continues “to consult with European and American partners in order to prevent the financing of extremism, polarization, and revolution in our country from foreign sources.”
Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament: “As can I see, some of the non-governmental organizations did not sign the statement. It is the fact that the statement was prepared by some of the elite CSOs and even the tone of this statement shows how they are misbehaving. They realize that none of the attempts that were aimed against the candidate status now have any prospect of success. Positive signals are coming. And now everyone is trying to take credit for the victory of the Georgian people. In reality, after a year and a half of the sabotage and the resistance, it seems that the EU is preparing the positive decision, and the Georgian people will win, and all the groups that were against [the candidate status], be they political or the elite NGOs, will lose.”
Irakli Chikovani, GD Deputy Chairman: “They are trying once again to oppose the granting of candidate status to Georgia. The narrative that separates the Georgian population, Georgian citizens [from the Georgian government] or says only the geopolitical decision should be taken on granting Georgia the candidate status is complete nonsense.”
Rati Ionatamishvili, GD Deputy Chairman: “As the European decision-makers realize more and more that the decision once made on Georgia was unfair, these rich NGOs still spread the messages filled with Russian tradition and effectively try to sabotage Georgia’s European choice… As it seems, the closer the date of the decision comes, and only a few days remain, these [NGOs] will reveal more and more that their real interest was that Georgia did not get the candidate status.”
After the release of the joint statement, Eka Gigauri, the head of Transparency International – Georgia, one of the signatories, commented to journalists that “despite of all challenges that we all know we have, given the current geopolitical environment in the region, it is important that a positive recommendation decision on status be made.” The GD officials also criticized this argument, claiming that the geopolitical situation has not changed over the past year.
Also Read:
- 31/10/2023 – Ruling Party Chair Lashes out at ‘Rich’ NGOs, Alleges Anti-US Agenda
- 30/10/2023 – NGOs: Authorities are Failing To Respond To the Sanctioning of Judges
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