Elections in Georgia: EU rejects disinformation regarding its role in protests
On 5 October, High Representative/Vice President Kaja Kallas and Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos released a statement urging “calm and restraint” in Georgia after municipal elections, held on 4 October, “amid a period of extensive crackdown on dissent”.
The ruling Georgian Dream party won Saturday’s local elections with 80% of the vote (according to Georgia’s Central Election Commission). Police used tear gas and water cannons against protesters who tried to break into the presidential palace.
The EU high officials also called on the Georgian authorities to uphold citizens’ rights to freedom of assembly and expression: “A constructive and inclusive dialogue involving all political actors and civil society is essential, and we call on every side to refrain from violence.”
At the same time, the European Union firmly rejected and condemned the disinformation regarding the EU’s role in Georgia and denounced the personal attacks against the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia.
“Months of raids on independent media, the passing of laws targeting civil society, the jailing of opponents and activists or amendments to the electoral code favouring the ruling party, drastically reduced the possibility of having competitive elections. A large part of the opposition boycotted these elections, and the turnout was relatively low,” said Kaja Kallas and Marta Kos.
They added that the refusal by the Georgian authorities to invite international monitors in due course, in particular OSCE/ODIHR, undermined the transparency of the electoral process and prevented credible international monitoring. Domestic organisations also refrained from observing, due to the repressive environment.
EU High Representative and Commissioner for Enlargement also called for the release of all those arbitrarily detained during large and constant protests in Georgia against “the repressive policies” of the governing party, Georgian Dream.
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