European Parliament Reviews Georgian Parliamentary Elections

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The European Parliament on Wednesday discussed the parliamentary elections held in Georgia last month.

Margaritis Schinas, the Vice-President of the European Commission for Promoting our European Way of Life, claimed the elections had been “unfortunately marked by serious irregularities”, with violations reported both during the electoral campaign and on the election day itself, The Caspian Post reports, citing Georgian media.

“Let me state this loud and clear from the start: these elections fall short of the standards expected of a country holding the EU candidate status”, Schinas said.

The official further claimed that “the ruling [Georgian Dream] party benefited from an uneven playing field, used substantial resources and instrumentalised the fear of war”.

András László, a member of the European Parliament, saidGeorgia had “held free and fair elections”.

"Georgians made a democratic choice. Even if many don’t like it in the EU, we should respect their choice. The Georgian prime minister clearly said in his first statement after the elections that continuing the EU accession talks still remains a priority. We need to continue our partnership and accession talks with the new government”, László said.

Fellow member of the Parliament Rasa Juknevičienė claimed that the elections in Georgia “were not democratic”.

"We can’t recognise them. The Georgian Dream has not won. We need to call for an independent international investigation”, she stated.

MEP Danilo Della Valle recalled the report by the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights by saying that “they do not confirm any accusations of large-scale fraud as promoted by the opposition”.