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MEPs Condemn Attack on Giorgi Gakharia, Back President Zurabishvili, Call for New Elections

On January 16, leading members of the European Parliament have issued a joint statement and voiced their “profound concern” over Georgia’s worsening political crisis amid an attack on former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and leader of opposition political party For Georgia in Batumi. They decried the assault as “yet another example of escalating violence” under the GD government.

“We are shocked by the news that former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia was violently assaulted in a Batumi hotel and afterwards treated in hospital,” the statement reads, adding: “This is yet another example of the escalating violence orchestrated by the Georgian Dream and its allies against peaceful protesters and dissidents.”

The MEPs, including David McAllister and Rasa Juknevičienė express solidarity with Georgian protesters demonstrating for over 50 days for democratic reforms and Euro-Atlantic integration. “The Georgian Dream has denied Georgians their future and does not even pretend anymore that they want a European democracy for Georgia,” the statement highlighted.

” We do not recognise the results of the parliamentary elections on 26 October 2024, as they were fraudulent and did not respect international standards for democratic elections. We do not recognise any decisions taken by this body,” the statement says.

The MEPs express their support for President Salome Zurabishvili, referring to her as the “only clearly legitimate representative of the will of the Georgian people.” They urged the EU and member states to consider personal sanctions against key figures, including Bidzina Ivanishvili and Irakli Kobakhidze, for being “responsible for the democratic backsliding.”

Additionally, the MEPs call for the suspension of the EU-Georgia Association Council to avoid legitimizing the GD government. “We urgently call for early elections, conducted in an improved election environment, managed by an independent and impartial election administration with widespread international observation, to ensure a genuinely free, fair and transparent process that would represent the will of the people of Georgia,” the statement concludes.

The Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs David McAllister, the Chair of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly Sergey Lagodinsky, the Chair of the Delegation for relations with the South Caucasus Nils Ušakovs, the European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur for Georgia Rasa Juknevičienė and the Chair of the European Parliament’s Election Observation Mission for the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia Antonio López-Istúriz White issued this statement.

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This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)

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