European and Canadian parliamentarians call on EU not to recognize Georgia election results

Leading parliamentarians from European countries, as well as Canada, believe that the parliamentary elections in Georgia (Sakartvelo) on October 26 were neither free nor fair, and therefore the European Union should not recognize their results and should impose personal sanctions.

This is stated in a joint statement by parliamentarians.

The statement was signed by the chairmen of the Foreign and European Affairs Committees of Germany, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Canada, as well as the Vice-Speaker of the Swedish Parliament and one MEP.

Leading parliamentarians from these countries stated that the political climate in Georgia on the eve of the elections was incompatible with European standards of fairness.

"Candidates were intimidated and threatened, state power was abused, votes were bought. The reports of international election observation missions clearly confirm this. Thus, there is significant falsification of the elections, including due to intimidation and bribery of voters on election day," the statement said.

The parliamentarians noted that the policy of the "Georgian Dream" is incompatible with the EU, and the treacherous campaign of fear of the "party of global war" fell on fertile ground.

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"There is only one "party of global war" and you must name it. Its name is Russia. Against this background, the European Union cannot recognize the result. We demand personal sanctions against those responsible for unfair influence on the elections, intimidation and threats against the opposition and civil society," the MEPs said.

At the same time, they stressed that it is not time to abandon the pro-European part of society. They rejected such a collective punishment of all Georgians as the suspension of visa liberalization.

"We are very concerned about the "Belarusization" of the country. If the ruling party and its leader back up their statements with actions, there is a risk of persecution and banning of the opposition, independent media and critical NGOs. The EU must make it clear to the ruling party that it will not agree to this, in which case there will be a complete breakdown in relations," the statement said.

The MPs said they continue to strongly support President Salome Zurabishvili's efforts to unite the country, protect democracy, freedom and the rule of law, and preserve and ensure Georgia's European future.

As reported, Zurabishvili will make her first statement on the results of the parliamentary elections on Sunday evening.

We recall that after counting almost all the ballots, the Central Election Commission of Georgia announced that the ruling party, "Georgian Dream" gained more than 54% of the votes.

The pro-European opposition parties do not share the results published by the Central Election Commission and point to massive violations. The opposition forces did not recognize the preliminary election results.

Prepared by: Nina Petrovich