EU urges for ‘wide consensus’ in Georgia ahead of Association Council meeting
EU-Georgia Association Council meeting will take place in Brussels on March 16. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The EU has urged for a ‘wide consensus’ and a dialogue between the Georgian Dream ruling party and the opposition to solve the current tension ahead of the 6th meeting of the EU-Georgia Association Council in Brussels on March 16, RFE/RL has cited the EU’s draft as saying for the meeting.
Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili is scheduled to participate in the meeting.
The document also urges Georgian political parties to refrain from sharp rhetoric.
The EU calls upon Georgia to ensure media freedom, pluralism and the freedom of expression to decrease polarisation and continue democratic development.
The document calls for the creation of an ‘effective anti-corruption agency.’
In the document the EU expresses support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and reminds the country of the EU’s 180 million EUR support to cope with social and economic challenges caused by the pandemic and 150 million EUR financial support for the microfinance sector.
The document vows the EU’s support in the coronavirus vaccination process.
Georgian opposition parties say that if Garibashvili arrives in Brussels 'with a zero agreement' with the opposition, it will have a negative influence on the country's image. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Five of eight Georgian opposition parties which have won seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian parliament have been demanding repeat elections since the October 31, 2020 race.
They have accused the ruling Georgian Dream party of falsifying the elections, refused to take up their mandates and took to the street in November 2020.
Foreign ambassadors have facilitated four rounds of talks since then between the ruling party and the opposition to help the parties end the tension. However, the talks ended without the result.
Opposition rallies resumed at the end of the last month, amid the coronavirus pandemic, after the arrest of the United National Movement (UNM) opposition party head Nika Melia on February 23 for his refusal to pay bail.
Opposition is demanding the release of United National Movement head Nika Melia who refused to pay 40,000 GEL of his 70,000 GEL bail. Photo: Nika Melia's press office.
Melia is charged with incitement to violence during the June protests in Tbilisi back in 2019.
Opposition parties are now demanding the release of Melia and the co-founder of the opposition-minded TV channel Mtavari Arkhi Giorgi Rurua and the repeat elections.
The dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition resumed during the recent visit of the European Council President Charles Michel to Georgia on March 1.
Michel has mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia.
The opposition has announced the launch of a ‘large-scale disobedience campaign and rallies’ if no agreement on repeat parliamentary elections and the release of opposition leader Nika Melia is made with the ruling party by the end of March.
The Georgian Dream ruling party has launched preparations for municipal elections which will take place in the autumn of this year, party officials have stated today, after a meeting at the party headquarters in central Tbilisi.
Twenty-three former diplomats, ambassadors and representatives of various international organisations have released an open letter in which they said that the Georgian Dream government ‘must take the first step’ to solve the current tension in the country and this step should be the release of the new head of the United National Movement opposition party Nika Melia.
European Council President Charles Michel has mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia, in follow up to the relaunch of the political dialogue between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition. The appointment comes shortly after Michel’s visit to Georgia earlier this month.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with the President of the European Council Charles Michel in Tbilisi earlier today. Garibashvili has stated that Michel’s visit ‘is a clear reiteration that our region has a strategic importance for the EU.’ He also said that the visit ‘demonstrates the strong support and partnership of the EU.’
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has welcomed an upcoming visit of the EU mediator in the talks with the opposition to calm the current political tension in the country.
The EU mediator in the talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition amid the current political tension in the country, Christian Danielsson, has arrived in Georgia earlier today. He is now meeting with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili in capital Tbilisi. Before the meeting Danielsson told journalists that he will have a ‘busy three days’ with Georgian political parties.
The EU mediator in the talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition amid the current political tension, Christian Danielsson, has stated that the parties should themselves find a solution to the situation with the help of mediation. He stated that Georgia ‘is a valuable partner’ for the EU and that the EU is concerned by the ‘current political deadlock’ in the country.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has met with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi in Brussels earlier today, before the sixth EU-Georgia Association Council meeting.