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A resolution on the further deterioration of the political situation in Georgia was adopted on Thursday at a plenary session in Strasbourg with 400 votes in favor, 63 deputies voted against, and 81 abstained, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
"The EP does not recognize the self-proclaimed government of the Georgian Dream party, created as a result of the rigged elections of October 26, 2024, which were neither free nor fair, were held in violation of democratic norms and standards, and did not reflect the will of the people of Georgia," the text says.
The deputies call on the international community to join the boycott of the self-proclaimed authorities of Georgia and do not recognize the legitimacy of the president elected by the single-party parliament.
"The EP continues to recognize Salome Zurabishvili as the legitimate President of Georgia and calls on the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, to invite her to represent the country at future meetings of the European Council and the European Political Community," the document says.
MEPs are asking the EU Council and member states to impose personal sanctions against officials and political leaders of Georgia, in particular, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, Vakhtang Gomelauri, Mayor of Tbilisi, Secretary General of the Georgian Dream party Kakha Kaladze, and the party's leader Irakli Garibashvili.
The EP calls on the French government to strip Bidzina Ivanishvili of the Legion of Honor and impose individual sanctions against him, and welcomes the sanctions imposed bilaterally by Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic, as well as the US and the UK.
The resolution confirms that the only way out of the crisis is to hold new parliamentary elections “within the next few months” under the supervision of an independent and impartial election administration and with international monitoring.
Recall that Georgia received candidate status for EU membership in December 2023. However, the last parliamentary elections in the country were not recognized by the EP as free and democratic.
