The European Commission has warned Georgia that further negotiations on joining the European Union could be suspended if the country fails to significantly changes in the internal political course. The report prepared by the European Commission, especially focused on the problems of democratic elections and lack of progress in key reforms that are most important for compliance with EU membership criteria.
If Georgia does not change the current course of action that threatens its path to the EU and does not demonstrate tangible efforts to solve urgent problems and implementation of key reforms, the European Commission will not be able to consider the possibility of recommendations to start negotiations with Georgia (about introduction)
The report states that in December 2023, the European Council granted the candidate's status, but the Georgian government's actions from the spring of 2024 threatened Georgia's path to the EU and de facto suspended the entry process.
The granting of Georgian candidate in December 2023 was not accompanied by sufficient political commitment to the authorities to carry out the necessary reforms to promote the country on the way to the EU. On the contrary, there were significant negative events, including the adoption of the law on transparency of foreign influence and the legislative package "On Family Values and Protection of Juvenile", as well as strong anti -European narratives by Georgian officials, which seriously influenced the EU Georgia. As a result, the Georgia accession process was actually suspended. Georgia has also made minor progress in the implementation of nine steps provided for in communication on the expansion of the European Commission in 2023
The report also refers to the voting of Georgia citizens in the parliamentary elections on October 26. It is noted that the initial results of the joint mission of the international election observation, headed by the Bureau of Democratic Institutes and Human Rights of the OSCE (OSCE/BDIPP), found several shortcomings during will.
According to the document, the elections took place in a tense and highly polarized environment. The European Commission points to recent changes in electoral legislation, violation of secret ballot, procedural discrepancies, intimidation and pressure on voters, "which has a negative impact on public trust in the process."
As it is noted, the European Commission's report itself will be published later.
The Georgia Central Election Commission stated that she was listing the ballots by about 14% of polling stations after independent observers have expressed concern about the Parliamentary Elections on Saturday.
Georgia's prosecutor's office also announced the beginning of the investigation into the probable falsification of the parliamentary elections that took place in the country on October 26.
