Opposition MP Vashadze: EP’s painful resolution on Georgia gov’t fault

The European Parliament resolution on the media freedom and security of journalists on June 9 does not need many comments – this is a very painful resolution for Georgia, opposition MP, former FM under the United National Movement (UNM) government Grigol Vashadze said on Friday.

He stated that the Georgian Dream authorities were to be blamed for the “step backwards.”

“The state, which was perceived in Brussels, Washington and Berlin as the locomotive of reforms throughout the post-Soviet space, turned out to be laggard. If we start looking for the reason for this and do what the Georgian political class loves so much – blaming each other – then let us recall the main postulate of European political life: the government is always responsible for failure! What happened in the European Parliament is a ‘merit’ of the government,” Vashadze suggested.

He stated that the EU did not turn a bling eye to attacking journalists during Tbilisi Pride events back in July 2021, as well as the withdrawal of the Georgian Dream party from the April 19 EU mediated agreement which resolved a six-month political standoff in Georgia, obliging the signatories to help implementation of large-scale judiciary and electoral reforms.

Vashadze stated that it was an “insult” to the EU.

“There are two weeks left before the decision of the European Commission [on Georgia’s candidacy status]. During these two weeks, it is necessary for our officials to meet with MEPs, talk to them and find out all the allegations against us, although we know perfectly well what those allegations are. These are: law enforcement system, penitentiary system, illegal surveillance, electoral system. Make a commitment to fix it all,” Vashadze said.

“There is an ‘alternative to this’ – the leadership of the Georgian Dream can continue the old-fashioned talk with the European parliamentarians and say from a high tribune that the resolutions of the European Parliament have no importance,” he stated.

Vashadze said that the opposition was unable to make changes on the country’s EU path.

“The opposition has no access to anything. Nobody asks us anything,” Vashadze stated, accusing the Georgian Dream authorities of promoting “financial managers in  embassies under the UNM to ministerial posts”