The European and Georgian flags before the meeting between the President of Georgia and the President of the European Council, at the EU headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, on March 13, 2023. KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
The reforms seemto the point of deathin Georgia, said the Council of Europe on Tuesday, April 4, despite the prospects for European integration in the small Caucasus state. “Georgia is at a crossroads on the road to European integrationsaid Claude Kern and Edite Estrela, co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on Tuesday following a three-day visit to the country.
“Many reforms have been implemented since joining the Council of Europe, and good progress has been made“, they said. “At the same time, at this important moment for Georgia’s European integration prospects, the reform process seems to have clearly stalled.“. A former Soviet republic of nearly 4 million inhabitants, Georgia has wanted to join the EU for years. But the imprisonment of former Georgian president and opposition figure Mikhail Saakashvili at the end of 2021 and several recent controversial moves by the ruling party have cast doubt on his aspirations.
EU candidate status refused
Protests erupted in early March against a bill inspired, according to its opponents, by a text that Russia uses to repress its critics at home. After three days of demonstrations by tens of thousands of people, Parliament finally rejected the controversial text. In June 2022, the EU refused Georgia the status of candidate for integration, which it instead granted to Ukraine and Moldova.
Brussels is asking Tbilisi in particular for reforms in terms of justice, the electoral system, freedom of the press and the fight against the oligarchs. Regarding Mikhail Saakashvili, hospitalized, the two rapporteurs advocate access for foreign doctors. “It is important to depoliticize his health status and ensure that all stakeholders can rely on neutral, reliable and trustworthy information“, they pointed out.
Mikhail Saakashvili, 55, was arrested on his return to Georgia from a long exile abroad, and imprisoned following a conviction for “abuse of powerwhich he dismisses as political. Doctors said his life was in danger due to serious illnesses he has suffered since his incarceration, during which he was allegedly poisoned with heavy metals. His health has also deteriorated due to a 50-day hunger strike aimed at denouncing his conditions of detention.
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