The European Parliament denounces the democratic regression in Georgia and asks that the EU freeze all funds

BRUSSELS Oct. 9 () –

The European Parliament has denounced this Wednesday the democratic regression in Georgia with the Georgian Dream government, ensuring that it puts the European path and future accession to the bloc in check.

In a resolution critical of the Georgian government for recently adopting legislation inconsistent with European standards, the European Parliament points out that Tbilisi is pursuing an authoritarian agenda and denounces attacks on press freedom and minority rights, as well as growing anti-European rhetoric.

Georgia, which received candidate country status in 2023, is on an “authoritarian trajectory” that clashes with European ambition and puts its integration on hold, MEPs say.

In this sense, they ask the EU to react to the democratic drift and freeze all European funds to the country until undemocratic laws are withdrawn, such as the law on foreign agents that the European bloc considers a carbon copy of the Russian norm to control the activity of media and NGOs.

The European Parliament also demands sanctions against “all those responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia”, including the president and leader of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is also an influential businessman with ties to Russia.

This resolution comes precisely two weeks before the elections in the country that are called to mark the European future of Georgia or its rapprochement with the Kremlin. “The upcoming parliamentary elections will be decisive in determining Georgia’s democratic development and geopolitical choice, as well as its ability to advance its EU candidacy,” the text states.

The parliamentary resolution comes just one day after the European Commission announced that it will withhold €121 million in allocations to Georgia in response to democratic backsliding in the country following the approval of the foreign agents law.