PM Bakhtadze says that the second round of the presidential elections will be held in accordance with the ‘highest standards’.
Bakhtadze’s response followed the assessment of the former President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Rasa Jukneviciene who told the Georgian service of Voice of America that Georgia has made not a step forward but a step back since the 2012 elections.
She said that despite Georgia being a regional leader in terms of democratic reforms, the pre-election period revealed several shortcomings including the inappropriate waste and use of administrative resources.
"The high standard elections has become the major goal for our political team since 2012 what has ensured Georgia’s faster pace of Euro-Atlantic integration,” PM Bakhtadze said.
In this regard, he has also mentioned his recent visit in Brussels where he has received ‘best messages about the country’s progress in terms of democratic transformation’.
“A special high level format has been launched only for Georgia which the country is using now to negotiate with the EU and this is an important message on our way of democratic development,” PM added.