(Adnkronos) – In a resolution adopted today during the plenary session in Strasbourg, the European Parliament refuses to recognize the “self-proclaimed” authority of the ruling Georgian Dream party following the “rigged elections” of last October 26 and calls for EU member states to sanction its leaders. In the vote, approved with 400 votes in favor, 63 against and 81 abstentions, the Italian delegations were divided: the 5 Star Movement (The Left) voted against, the League (Patriots) abstained along with Avs MEP Ilaria Salis, and all other Italian parties supported the resolution.
“MEPs call on the international community to join the boycott of Georgia’s self-proclaimed authorities, accused of undermining the country’s democracy and suppressing dissent,” reads the text of the resolution, which calls for sanctions against oligarch and Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Invanishvili, new President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, “as well as judges who issue politically motivated sentences and media representatives who spread disinformation”.
MEPs say they continue to recognize the authority of Salome Zourabichvili as the legitimate president of Georgia and call on European Council President António Costa to invite her to represent the country at upcoming summits of the Council and the European Political Community. The only solution to the crisis in Georgia “is to hold new parliamentary elections in the coming months, to be held in an improved electoral context, under the supervision of an independent electoral administration and monitored by international observers.”
Since the October elections, thousands of Georgians have taken to the streets against the government, despite the increased brutality with which the pro-Russian Georgian Dream is cracking down on dissent. The ruling party, which not even the opposition has legitimized, has announced a postponement of the EU accession process, effectively consolidating the country’s rapprochement with Moscow. MEPs “deplore the abandonment of the path of European integration and NATO accession” and reiterate “full support for the legitimate European aspirations of the Georgian people.” The resolution, the text underlines, “represents a strong political signal towards Tbilisi, but also a test case for the credibility of the EU’s external action in the region.”
