EU mediator Danielsson holds first joint meeting with Georgian ruling party, opposition
Christian Danielsson, who arrived in Georgia on March 12 has held a number of separate meetings with the Georgian Dream and opposition parties since them. Photo: EU Delegation to Georgia/Twitter
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Christian Danielsson, who is leading the EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia, has held the first joint meetings with the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition amid the current political tension.
Although the parties did not again speak about the topics of their discussion in detail, ruling party chair Irakli Kobakhidze said after meeting that ‘the process has gone in the right direction’ if the opposition will not try to find reasons to disrupt the talks.
We had an interesting discussion today [where] we touched upon a number of issues on some of which we have already found common grounds, but discussions on other issues continue”, Kobakhidze told journalists.
Hoping that the agreement will be reached tomorrow, the ruling party chair said the Georgian Dream will have ‘an absolutely constructive approach’.
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Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze also called the meeting ‘fruitful’. He said despite their differences, the parties have today tried to find common grounds on issues that matter for the country and people.
Despite the pandemic up to two million of our citizens went to polls in elections [last autumn], therefore we consider it groundless even to discuss the demand on holding repeat elections”, Talakvadze stated.
Christian Danielsson holds a meeting with representatives of Georgian Dream and opposition parties during his visit to Georgia as @eucopresident envoy to the EU mediated political dialogue. pic.twitter.com/xksLK34rXB
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) March 17, 2021
Meanwhile, opposition politicians who attended the meeting have unanimously claimed that the agreement with the ruling party will be reached only if the parties manage to agree on everything, not on certain issues.
We are focusing on the most important and complex issues which need very serious compromises. This is a difficult process”, Badri Japaridze, one of the leaders of Lelo said.
Leader of Strategy Aghmashenebeli Giorgi Vashadze has meanwhile stressed that ‘nothing is agreed until everything is not agreed’.
He then underscored that without an agreement on all of the issues of mediation, which includes political prisoners, repeat elections, election reform, judiciary reform and distribution of power no agreement will be reached at all.
We had a harsh discussion”, leader of Girchi - More Freedom party Zurab Japaridze said, noting that the ruling party and opposition have managed to bring their positions closer today but they are ‘far from the common agreement yet’.
Christian Danielsson is holding meetings with political parties in Tbilisi for the sixth day now. Photo: EU Delegation to Georgia
At the joint press conference with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels yesterday Vice-President of European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles called on all political actors in Georgia ‘to find common ground and look for a way forward from the current political situation’.
Noting that ‘the special responsibility rests with the ruling party and the government to find a way forward’, Borrell stated as well that ‘boycotting parliamentary activity is not helpful for a functioning democracy, for political pluralism’.
Expressing NATO’s support for the mediation efforts of the European Union Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also encouraged PM Garibashvili ‘to work with the opposition to find common ground and common solutions’.
Georgian opposition parties say that they will again take to the street if no agreement is reached with the ruling party. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Opposition politicians who have won seats in the 10th convocation of the Georgian parliament last autumn demand repeat elections be held. Accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of falsifying the elections, most of them refuse 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.
- EU mediator Danielsson holds follow-up meetings with Georgian political parties
- EU mediator Christian Danielsson meets with Georgian political parties
The dialogue resumed during the recent visit of the European Council President Charles Michel to Georgia on March 1. Michel later mandated Christian Danielsson to lead a EU-backed mediation effort in Georgia to help the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition come to an agreement amid the current political deadlock.
Danielsson, who arrived in Georgia on March 12 has held a number of separate meetings with the Georgian Dream and opposition parties since them but today the parties held the first joint meeting. They are scheduled to meet again tomorrow.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a joint press conference with Georgian Prime MInister Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels today that ‘the recent political developments in Georgia are worrying’. Expressing NATO’s support for the mediation efforts of the European Union Jens Stoltenberg encouraged PM Garibashvili ‘to work with the opposition to find common ground and common solutions’.
Vice-President of European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell Fontelles stated at the press conference following the EU-Georgia Association Council earlier today that this meeting is being held in a ‘pivotal moment’ for Georgia amid the current political crisis.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who met with the European Council President Charles Michel in Brussels yesterday, has told journalists that the Georgian ruling party and the opposition must come to an agreement amid the current political tension, but a solution ‘must not be found at the expense of state interests.’
Georgian opposition parties say that Christian Danielsson, who is the EU mediator in the talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and the opposition, will stay in Tbilisi until the parties come to an agreement on the issues of repeat parliamentary elections and the release of opposition leader Nika Melia.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated following his recent visit to Brussels that the EU top officials have reaffirmed Georgia’s 2020 parliamentary elections were ‘free and competitive’ and that the demands of the Georgian opposition parties for repeat elections ‘have no grounds.’
EU-mediated talks between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition on the issues of repeat parliamentary elections and the release of two opposition representatives have ended without a result and mediator Christian Danielsson has left for Brussels earlier today. Danielsson, who was sent to Georgia by European Council President Charles Michel on March 12, had spent a week in Georgia, more than scheduled, to help the parties come to an agreement.