“We need immediate and well-coordinated sanctions by the member states against the officials responsible for the backsliding. We need to review our policy toward Georgia including the visa-free regime and Association Agreement. We must support much more comprehensively the civil society and independent media,” said MEP Rasa Juknevičienė at the ordinary meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

According to the MEP, today’s situation in Georgia is far from what is expected from the candidate country.

“After the falsified parliamentary elections, violence against peaceful protesters and political repressions that followed, it is hardly possible to talk about progress. Georgia’s candidacy has been de facto suspended.

The Georgian Dream’s self-appointed authorities have distanced themselves from the EU in every way possible. Suspending EU accession talks, shattering the values on which our cooperation stands, and actively attacking the EU through their hostile rhetoric and disinformation.

In contrast, thousands of Georgian people continue to protest on the streets every day, during winter time, fighting for the democratic and pro-European future of their country.

The initial draft of the report I am presenting is based on the European Parliament’s three recent resolutions on Georgia. The main points are the following: We condemn the democratic backsliding of the past few years that culminated with the rigged parliamentary elections in October 2024. We refuse to recognize the self-appointed Georgian Dream authorities. We condemn the violence and continued deliberate destruction of the environment of civil society.

The only way out of this crisis is new democratic elections. The report notes that the EU has an important role to play and its duty is to review its relationship with Georgia. Regrettably, the response of the member states, except a few, the Council and the Commission, has been inadequate. There has been little reaction to our European Parliament resolutions on the situation in the country. We owe to each Georgian people who continue to fight with EU flags despite violence.

First, we need immediate and well-coordinated sanctions by the member states against the officials responsible for the backsliding, particularly Bidzina Ivanishvili. Second, we need to review our policy toward Georgia including the visa-free regime and Association Agreement. Third, we must support, much more comprehensively, the civil society and independent media.

According to our rules, the initial draft report is limited in its length. In the next weeks, we will have the opportunity to further elaborate our position and make amendments. Frankly, I am not sure that there is a lot to add considering that the accession process for Georgia is de facto suspended,” she said.