The EU has issued a statement calling on the Georgian government to uphold rights to freedom of assembly and expression following Saturday’s controversial local elections.
The statement, issued by EU High Representative Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos was published on Sunday.
The two EU officials noted that the elections took place amid a ‘period of extensive crackdown on dissent’.
‘Months of raids on independent media, the passing of laws targeting civil society, the jailing of opponents and activists, or amendments to the electoral code favouring the ruling party, drastically reduced the possibility of having competitive elections’, the two said, adding that ‘A large part of the opposition boycotted these elections, and the turnout was relatively low’.
The official results of the elections gave the ruling Georgian Dream party almost 82% of the vote. The elections took place amidst a widespread opposition boycott, with only two major opposition groups, Lelo — Strong Georgia and For Georgia taking running.
Kallas and Kos additionally criticised Tbilisi’s refusal to invite international monitors, such as the OSCE/ODIHR, ‘in due time’, which they said undermined the transparency of the electoral process.
Xandie (Alexandra) Kuenning
‘Domestic organisations also refrained from observing due to the repressive environment’, they said.
They have also called on Tbilisi to release all those ‘arbitrarily detained’ during daily anti-government protests sparked by Georgian Dream’s decision to ‘temporarily suspend’ Georgia’s EU membership bid.
The two officials have also urged ‘calm and restraint’ in the post-election period, calling on Tbilisi to ‘uphold citizens’ rights to freedom of assembly and expression’.
‘A constructive and inclusive dialogue involving all political actors and civil society is essential, and we call on every side to refrain from violence.’
‘Finally, the European Union firmly rejects and condemns the disinformation regarding the EU’s role in Georgia and denounces the personal attacks against the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia’, the statement concluded.
On Monday, Kakha Kaladze, who was re-elected in Saturday’s elections as Tbilisi Mayor, criticised Kos and Kallas, saying that the EU ‘is not relevant at all’.
‘You need to understand one thing, the masters of this country are ordinary citizens, whom you see here, the population of the country, and not some people from outside’, he said.
Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has also hit out against Kallas and Kos in response to their statement.
‘If I understood correctly, Mrs Kallas and Mrs Kos are not apologising for their spokesperson’s support of a rally calling for the overthrow of the government, which resulted in 25 police officers being injured during the attack on the Presidential Palace’, he said. ‘Yet, this is precisely what Georgian society experts expect from the European Union today’.
‘As for their assessment of the Georgian elections, I once again call on all EU representatives to refrain from spreading false narratives detached from facts, which only strengthens the desire of radical forces to undermine democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights’, he said, according to IPN.
The elections on Saturday took place amidst a mass protest and clashes between protesters and police in Tbilisi.
Several EU countries have issued independent statements supporting Georgian protesters since election day, including Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, who have all imposed sanctions on Georgian officials for their crackdown on protesters.
Norway and Sweden have also issued separate statements echoing Kallas and Kos’ remarks.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
This article was translated into Armenian and republished by our partner CivilNet.
