Marketa Gregorova – There is the rule of Georgian Dream, not the rule of law in Georgia, this is not a country that deserves candidate status - the report is not critical of citizens, but they live in Georgia and they will also have to endure changes
According to MEP Marketa Gregorova, due to the “democratic backsliding” and “repressive regime” in Georgia, the European Union is considering the issue of revoking visa liberalization.
As Marketa Gregorova told InterpressNews, the annual report will be critical of the ruling party Georgian Dream.
According to Marketa Gregorova, the imposition of targeted sanctions is on the agenda. She hopes that no one will block the progress of the sanctions anymore.
According to Gregorova, the criticism in the report does not concern Georgian citizens, but rather the Georgian government and its “repressive regime,” and their candidate status is being deprived by the regime.
“Next week we will have a plenary session in Strasbourg and there will be an annual report on Georgia. We had resolutions a while ago, but this is an assessment of the whole year of what has been happening with Georgia.
Although this is not in its final form in terms of amendments, I can already tell you that it is very critical of the democratic backsliding in Georgia, because there is more repression, especially against NGOs. There are practically no NGOs left that would comment on political issues.
The situation is extremely difficult for independent media. Most of them have also had to leave [the country]. This is not a democratic country, we all know that. And this is not a country that in any way deserves candidate status with the EU, because in the EU we have the rule of law and in Georgia we have the rule of the Georgian Dream, not the rule of law. So, unfortunately, it will not be pleasant.
Of course there should be a call for targeted sanctions, especially against those who commit violence against peaceful demonstrators, because now that Hungary has changed government, we hope that no one will block sanctions like Orbán and we will be able to move forward, so that we can at least help the citizens of Georgia in this regard.
Of course, the report is not critical of the citizens of Georgia at all. This is all about the Georgian government and their repressive regime, but, unfortunately, Georgian citizens live in Georgia and they will also have to endure these changes, such as the cancellation of candidate status, etc.," Gregorova said.
