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The European Fee introduced that it has suspended the accession course of with Georgia and won’t advocate its resumption if the nation doesn’t begin adhering to EU values, together with not clarifying irregularities throughout final week’s parliamentary elections.
On Wednesday, the European Fee adopted its annual enlargement report, assessing the progress of candidate international locations on the trail to the EU.
Georgia was on the checklist of candidate international locations, which utilized for EU membership in March 2022. In December 2023, the European Council granted it candidate standing, which it misplaced in spring this 12 months. The accession course of was halted when the Georgian authorities, regardless of worldwide appeals and social protests, adopted a controversial legislation on so-called overseas brokers, modeled on Russian laws. The EU already acknowledged then that Georgia had departed from the EU path.
The state of affairs worsened by the truth that in the course of the parliamentary elections held in Georgia on Saturday, worldwide observers famous many irregularities, and Georgia was urged to make clear them on behalf of the EU by the pinnacle of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell.
Within the revealed report, the EC famous that the shortcomings reported embody, amongst others, current legislative adjustments within the electoral course of, frequent compromises in voter secrecy, procedural inconsistencies, intimidation, and stress on voters, which negatively affected public confidence within the course of. The EC referred to as on the nation to conduct a complete electoral reform.
The doc additionally famous that the surroundings for the functioning of civic organizations and unbiased media had deteriorated within the nation, and growing restrictions on freedom of speech have been additionally famous.
As Josep Borrell famous at a press convention in Brussels, Georgian authorities additionally battle to fight overseas influences, particularly from Russia, which violate European values. The pinnacle of EU diplomacy additionally condemned the way in which social protests and opposition are suppressed in Georgia.
On Wednesday, the European Fee introduced that it’s going to not unfreeze Georgia’s membership course of and won’t advocate to member states to renew negotiations with this nation till it restores European values and clarifies the irregularities accompanying the elections. “A transparent path to Georgia’s membership within the EU have to be outlined for the accession course of to restart. This consists of an investigation into voting irregularities and adjustments to laws that violate EU values,” commented Borrell, noting that the present authorities is pulling Georgia away from the EU, its values, and rules. (31.10.2024)
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