Zourabichvili tells EU Parliament: ‘Europe has been slow to wake up and slow to react’

President Salome Zourabichvili spoke before the European Parliament earlier today, reiterating to MEPs that the October parliamentary elections in Georgia were rigged.

She also spoke about amendments the ruling Georgian Dream and its satellites in parliament have made to various laws, and the ongoing protests in Georgia against the government’s EU U-turn.

From fireworks to the public sector: Georgian Dream introduces new legislation amid protests

Amidst fierce public protests triggered by the Georgian government’s decision to halt its EU membership bid, the ruling party announced a series of legislative changes. The planned changes include a ban on covering faces during protests and the regulation of fireworks, as well as the simplificatio…

OC MediaMikheil Gvadzabia

‘When Georgians have been fighting day and night, Europe has been slow to wake up and slow to react. While European flags are being banned in Tbilisi, Georgians are still waiting for biting measures to come from Brussels and Washington’, she said, adding that Georgia needs ‘constant political attention from the highest levels’.

‘The second direction in which Europe can act is justice […] We need to free rapidly the hundreds that are in prison and the sentences go up to nine years’, she said.

‘New elections [are] also the way Europe can help us’, she said. ‘We need for Europe to support this call as the only peaceful way forward’.

‘There are many ways in which you can stand by the Georgians, because Georgia will win this fight, it will defend its freedom, democracy, and European future.’

‘The question that I came here to ask is simple: will you speed up the transition or will you allow it to prolong throughout the winter? Georgians will not wither, but expect Europe to step up so we can defend Europe and its values ​​together’, she said.