MEP Viola von Cramon in Georgia amid turmoil over annulment of EU-mediated agreement
MEP Viola von Cramon arrived in Georgia earlier than scheduled because of the decision of the ruling Georgian Dream party to leave the EU-mediated agreement.
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MEP Viola von Cramon is now holding informal meetings in Tbilisi with Georgian opposition parties and members following the recent decision of the Georgian Dream ruling party to withdraw from the April 19 EU-mediated agreement.
She may also meet with the representatives of the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of a press conference tomorrow.
Von Cramon, who should have arrived in Georgia on an official visit soon as the chair of the European Parliament’s Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy, had to change her plans.
To be fair: the biggest opposition party #UNM not even made an effort to sign this joint agreement with the #EU. So, both sides play a terrible political game on the back of their citizens. All this does NOT help at all.
— Viola von Cramon (@ViolavonCramon) July 28, 2021
The April 19 EU-mediated agreement between Georgian political parties proposed the creation of the Monnet dialogue format which is an instrument developed by the European Parliament as a soft tool in the area of parliamentary mediation and dialogue.
Viola von Cramon has met with the members of former PM Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party, members of Lelo, independent opposition MPs and others. Photo: For Georgia press office.
The EU-mediated agreement, which was signed by the ruling Georgian Dream dream and five opposition parties back in April to resolve a six-month political crisis, also contained the notes on repeat parliamentary elections and obliged the signatories to ensure the conduct of large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.
Cramon has openly expressed her disappointment over the recent decision of the ruling party to leave the agreement and said that the decision of the main opposition party, the United National Movement, not to join the agreement encouraged the ruling party to withdraw from the agreement.
She said that ‘both sides (the ruling party and the UNM) play a terrible political game on the back of their citizens.’
The ruling Georgian Dream party has annulled its signatory status to the April 19 EU-mediated agreement which resolved a six-month political crisis in the country following the 2020 parliamentary elections and proposed large-scale electoral and judiciary reforms.Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze stated earlier today that the agreement initiated by the European Council President Charles Michel ‘had completed its mission’ and accused opposition parties of non-fulfilment of the agreement.
The European Parliament has appointed MEPs Marina Kaljurand and Miriam Lexmann to co-facilitate Georgian parliamentary mediation and dialogue with MEP Viola von Cramon, who will chair the EP’s Jean Monnet Dialogue for Peace and Democracy, the European Parliament Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) has reported.
The head of opposition United National Movement (UNM) party Nika Melia, who has been nominated for Tbilisi mayor by several opposition parties, has stated he is giving up his parliamentary mandate to prepare for the October 2 municipal elections.
Georgia’s former ambassador to the EU, Natalie Sabanadze, who resigned back in March 2021 after eight years in the post, has joined the political party of former Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia For Georgia, Gakharia has confirmed. Sabanadze attended yesterday’s meeting with MEP Viola von Cramon along with Gakharia to discuss the situation created after the ruling party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement.
“The Georgian Dream made unexpected and, in my opinion, harmful decision for Georgian interests and withdrew from the agreement”, leading member of the European Parliament Viola von Cramon-Taubadel said at a press conference yesterday, adding that the European Union will need ‘to reconsider its relations with the Georgian Government’.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said earlier today that the implementation of reforms will continue despite the ruling Georgian Dream party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement which ended the six-month political crisis caused by the parliamentary elections of 2020. The April 19 agreement obliged all signatory parties to participate in the process of fundamental electoral and judicial reforms’ implementation.
Opposition MP Tamar Kordzaia has boycotted the parliamentary activities after the ruling Georgian Dream party’s withdrawal from the EU-mediated agreement. Kordzaia told IPN that she signed the agreement because ‘the western course is important,’ noting that parliamentary cooperation with the Georgian Dream is impossible.
The international community has criticised the ruling Georgian Dream party’s exit from the EU-mediated agreement which put an end to a six-month political standoff caused by parliamentary elections of 2020. Seven US senators have published a joint statement on the breakdown of the Georgian EU-mediated agreement which says that ‘recent developments in Georgia undermine the reform efforts agreed to in the April 19 agreement.’
European Council President Charles Michel has called on all political parties in Georgia today ‘to put the interests of citizens first’ following the ruling party’s exit from the EU-mediated agreement. The ruling Georgian Dream party has left the April 19 agreement brokered by Charles Michel, noting that it had ‘completed its mission.’
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan said earlier today that the EU-mediated agreement still provides a ‘very important framework for reforms’ while answering a question about the ruling party’s decision not to conduct snap parliamentary elections. Head of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze announced that ‘no elections will take place until the one scheduled in 2024’ following the ruling party’s decision to annul its signatory status in late July to the April 19 agreement which resolved the political crisis caused by parliamentary elections of 2020 and proposed fundamental judicial and electoral reforms.
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan stated earlier today that she hopes the EU-mediated agreement will remain in force despite the ruling Georgian Dream party’s recent withdrawal from it. Georgian Dream annulled its signatory status to the April 19 agreement which resolved the political crisis in Georgia caused by parliamentary elections of 2020 and proposed fundamental electoral and judicial reforms.