French, German, Polish FMs call on Georgia’s ruling party to “de-escalate tensions”, amid public protests against Govt’s halt of EU accession talks

Jean-Noël Barrot, the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Annalena Baerbock, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany, and Radosław Sikorski, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, on Friday issued a joint statement calling on the ruling Georgian Dream party to “de-escalate tensions and open an inclusive dialogue with all political forces and representatives of civil society”, amid the ongoing public protests in Georgia against the Government’s decision to delay European Union accession negotiations until 2028.

“We [...] regret the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream party not to pursue EU accession talks and to reject EU financial support until 2028 which glaringly contradicts the European aspirations of the Georgian people as enshrined in the Constitution of Georgia”, the statement said, stressing their “determination to support” such aspirations of the Georgian people.

The Foreign Ministers of the Weimar Triangle, “strongly” condemned the “disproportionate use of force against peaceful protesters as well as the targeting of the opposition and media representatives” and deplored “raids of offices of opposition parties and civil society organisations, arrests of members of political opposition”, calling for their “immediate release”. 

“Fundamental rights, including freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, must be upheld and protected as per Georgia’s Constitution and international commitments”, the statement added.

The Foreign Ministers noted the “steps taken by the authorities expose Georgia to external and internal instability”.

The statement claimed it was the GD administration’s ”course of action since the beginning of 2024 to de facto halt the EU accession process and that has, in turn, led to the downgrading of our relationship with Georgia”.

In the closing remarks, the Ministers affirmed they would “bring this matter to the attention of the next Foreign Affairs Council in order to take appropriate measures at the EU level, and, in addition, consider the consequences of the actions of the Georgian Dream for our respective bilateral relationships”.