No one is forcing Georgia to become a member of the European Union. It was Georgia's own decision to apply for membership. But by applying for membership, a country agrees to comply with the criteria for membership, and these criteria are not up for negotiation. - The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia, Meline Arakelian stated this in an exclusive interview with Interpressnews.

The diplomat explains that the most important criteria for EU membership are solid democratic institutions, the rule of law, respect for human rights, protection of minorities, and while there is deterioration in this area, there can be no talk of general progress, even if certain steps are taken on more technical issues.

How official the Hague assesses the parliamentary elections held in Georgia and what specific steps should be taken by the Georgian government to start the European integration process again - Meline Arakelian, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia, spoke about these and other issues in an exclusive interview with "InterpressNews".

Let's start the interview with the elections held in Georgia on October 26. As you know, two days ago, the opposition parties, together with their supporters, blocked the intersection connecting Chavchavadze and Melikishvili avenues, Varaziskhevi and Kekelidze streets, and pitched tents there. The first day passed peacefully, however, at dawn today, the police forces dispersed the protesters - they took the tents and freed the area from the protesters. Later we also saw several cases of clashes between the police and the protesters, as a result of which many people were arrested. How would you rate what we saw? In your opinion, how proportionate was the force used by police units against the protesters? Also, to what extent is the argument of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be shared that there were not enough people at the rally to paralyze one of the important traffic junctions...

It’s important that demonstrators can enjoy their right to peaceful protest within the limits of the law. And that journalists are able to cover those events unhindered. Any response by the authorities needs to be proportionate.

Georgian Dream is waiting for the recognition of the legitimacy of the elections and the new parliament. Although, from the European leaders only Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico congratulated the ruling party on the victory, who are considered quite problematic figures for the European Union. On the other hand, the Georgian opposition claims that the EU member states have already been provided with enough evidence to prove that the elections on October 26 were completely rigged. Why are the EU countries taking so long to make a final position on whether the elections held in Georgia, the new parliament and the remaining of Georgian Dream in power are legitimate or not...

Well, first of all, the parliamentary elections in October were very important for Georgia. For this reason, my country, the Netherlands, has contributed more election observers than we normally would to the OSCE/ODIHR election observation missions. The OSCE/ ODIHR published its findings and we are waiting for their final report. In their preliminary report they highlight substantial irregularities in the context of the elections. They speak of an uneven playing field during the pre-election campaign and also of numerous irregularities on the election day. The Netherlands has expressed serious concerns about these irregularities because for a country like Georgia, it is worrisome to see such irregularities reported. We have joined other European countries and other European institutions in calling for an impartial and transparent investigation into all complaints and a remedy to the violations established.

On November 13, a plenary session of the European Parliament was held in connection with the parliamentary elections of Georgia. Several European parliamentarians assessed the October 26 elections rather harshly and noted that the elections were held against the background of significant violations. Some of the deputies stated that it is necessary to completely isolate the government of Georgia, although there were those who supported the policy of Georgian Dream... What specific questions does your country have when it comes to the October 26 elections?

We base our opinion primarily on the report of the OSCE/ ODIHR report. It was a very sizable international election observation mission. Based on their findings, we have expressed our concerns. I don't want to reiterate all the issues that they raised in the report, but we have called for an impartial credible investigation, because that is also essential in restoring public trust in the electoral process. It is also important to learn lessons from what went wrong. OSCE/ ODIHR also always does recommendations to improve the electoral process. It's important, therefore, to do this very credible investigation in a thorough way and to draw lessons from it for future elections.

The opposition parties that passed the threshold are demanding an international investigation of the elections. On this issue, a number of meetings were held both with the ambassador of the European Union and directly with the representatives of the embassies of the member countries of the organization. Can you tell us exactly what kind of mechanism we are talking about - what does the international investigation mean, and on the other hand, how realistic is this initiative?

As I said, we have called for an impartial investigation. It is primarily the responsibility of Georgian authorities to conduct these investigations in a credible way.

During their visit to Georgia, the chairmen of the foreign relations committees of the parliaments of the eight European Union countries announced that the EU is discussing the suspension of the visa-free regime with Georgia. Do you think there is high probability that the European Union is going to decide to suspend the visa-free regime for Georgia? Does this issue have more supporters or opponents? On the other hand, how fair will this step be for the population of Georgia?

First of all, it is important to recall that visa-free travel regime is a form of privileged partnership. It was granted to Georgia in 2017 based also on the progress that the country had made in the past. In return for visa-free travel, a third country agrees to a number of obligations, and among these obligations are upholding rule of law and human rights. This does not only apply to Georgia, but it applies to all countries with which the EU has visa-free travel arrangements. I really want to underline that this is not about punishing Georgian citizens. But Georgia has an obligation to comply with the conditions for visa-free travel, including human rights and anti-discrimination. This is something that is currently being discussed in the European Union, and I cannot anticipate on the outcome of these discussions. This is part of an overall discussion. It's not the only measure that is on the table. Several other measures are also being discussed and debated at the moment in the European Union, and we'll have to see what the outcome of these discussions will be.

The representatives of the Georgian Dream government accused the delegation of 8 EU countries in interfering in the internal affairs of the country and advised them to look after their own countries. Criticism from the ruling party also followed the fact that members of parliament from 8 countries came to the rally on Rustaveli Avenue... Do you see a problem in the fact that European politicians appeared together with Georgian politicians on the stage set up near the parliament, and how can you convince the public that these people are not enemies of the country?

Well, first of all, there were no Dutch Members of Parliament in this particular parliamentary delegation that visited Georgia. But in general, it is up to Members of Parliament to express themselves as they see fit. It's not up to me to comment on how Members of Parliament express themselves because it is their prerogative.

“Georgia is not progressing on its EU-path as long as there is backsliding in the area of democracy and fundamental rights. Georgia’s EU accession process has been stopped because of this“- This is how you responded to the statement of Nikoloz Samkharadze, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament, according to whom the European Commission’s enlargement report shows that Georgia is progressing on the European path. What gave you the basis to make such a conclusion? Specifically, what circumstances do you have in mind when you say that Georgia is backward in the field of democracy and fundamental rights?

Last June, the leaders of European member states decided to effectively stop Georgia's EU accession process, primarily because of the adoption of the so-called Transparency of Foreign Influence Law, of which the EU had been very clear that it is not in line with European standards. We had also indicated very clearly that if adopted, it would seriously undermine Georgia's EU accession process. That's what happened. After the adoption, EU leaders decided to halt this process. This position was repeated again last October by the European leaders. Also in the Commission's enlargement report that was published on October 30, again, the European Commission stated that Georgia's EU accession process has been effectively stopped. I don't know how we can be even clearer than that. So any claims that Georgia is still advancing on the EU path are simply not true.

Let me remind you that no one is forcing Georgia to become a member of the European Union. It was Georgia's own decision to apply for membership. But by applying for membership, a country agrees to comply with the criteria for membership, and these criteria are not up for negotiation. The most important criteria to become member of the European Union are solid democratic institutions, rule of law, respect for human rights, and protection of minorities.

These are the so-called Copenhagen Criteria, which are crucial in this process. So as long as there is a deterioration in this field, there can be no question of overall progress, even if there are some steps taken on more technical issues. You can compare it to a house that is in need of repair. If the foundations of the house are shaky and you decide to only paint the walls of the house, it will still not be a solid house. I just want to add that my country has assisted Georgia ever since its independence to build democratic institutions and rule of law. So as a friend of Georgia, it really pains us to see a reverse development in this field.

On October 30, the European Commission's Communication on Enlargement Policy was published, which states that "if Georgia does not reverse the current course of action that threatens its EU path and does not show tangible efforts to resolve outstanding issues and key reforms, the Commission will not be able to consider recommending the opening of negotiations with Georgia." How would you assess Georgia's current prospects regarding joining the European Union, and moreover, do you see the continuations of this perspective until Georgian dream stays in power?

Last December, we decided to grant Georgia candidate status of the European Union. It was a decision that we did not take lightly, but it did show our commitment to Georgia's European future. Unfortunately, the candidate status has not resulted in sufficient commitment on the part of Georgian authorities to carry out the necessary reforms. These are the so-called nine steps. And the progress in this field has been insignificant as the European Commission writes in its report. Even more so, the Commission also sees clear backsliding in a number of areas like the fight against disinformation, polarization, conduct of elections, and human rights. Especially the so-called Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, as well as the legislation related to family values, as it is called here, go against European human rights standards, which Georgia has an obligation to uphold. The Transparency of Foreign Influence Law has already proven to be very detrimental for civil society in this country. The so-called Family Values Law is extremely far-reaching, and it opens the door to Soviet-style censorship. All of this has been actually documented in legal opinions published by, for example, the Venice Commission, which is a very authoritative body of the Council of Europe, as well as by the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the OSCE.

They have clearly stated how, especially these two legislations, go against European standards. And last but not least, in the past months, we have seen a lot of misleading and hostile rhetoric about the EU coming from high-level officials in Georgia. All of this has seriously undermined our trust in the commitment of Georgian government to the EU path and to genuine reforms.

What specific steps do you request from the Georgian authorities in order to start the European integration process again? Will it be enough to abolish the Foreign Agents Law and the so-called repeal of anti-LGBT Propaganda Law?

If Georgia really wants to get back on the EU track, for a start, it will have to repeal these laws, and they have been clearly called upon from the EU side to do so. But Georgia will also have to implement the nine steps, which are the conditions to advance to the next stage of the EU accession process. The ball is really in Georgia's court. But to be frank, I think it will take a lot of time to rebuild the trust.

The Georgian government hopes that after Donald Trump officially takes the post of the US president, the relationship between Georgia and the USA will improve significantly. Personally, to what extent do you see the prospect of resetting the relations between Georgia and the US under the new administration, and to what extent do you think that the Trump’s administration will be a government that supports Georgian Dream?

First of all, it is entirely up to Georgian authorities to restore the relations with their long-time partners, including the European Union. I think that's very much in Georgia's own interest to do so. But for that, the next Georgian government will really have to reverse this worrying trend of democratic backsliding, and not only with words but with concrete actions. And I just mentioned several ways to do so.

The Netherlands remains open to improve the relations with Georgia, if the next government takes concrete steps in this direction. We have been long-time friends of the Georgian people and one of the biggest foreign direct investors in this country. We value the partnership, the broad relationship, which we have enjoyed until very recently, and we would like to see it restored. But again, it is up to the Georgian government to take concrete steps in that direction.

According to the Minister of Migration of the Netherlands, Marjolein Faber, the Netherlands is establishing border control. More specifically, the Ministry of Migration of the Netherlands announced that land border control will be established from December 9 and will continue for the next six months. Can you explain to us why the Netherlands took such a decision, and will it threaten free movement between Schengen countries?

The Netherlands has decided to reintroduce border controls as a temporary and exceptional measure meant to combat irregular migration and human trafficking. So the purpose of this temporary measure is to limit the influx of irregular migrants to the Netherlands. And the temporary border controls, they are designed in such a way as to minimize disruptions to economic and commuter traffic in border regions.

Beka Beriashvili

Interpressnews