Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Monday, said the EU would send a technical mission to Georgia “to study carefully what has happened.”
“We will study all the irregularities that have been denounced. We will invite the ODIHR electoral observation leader to explain to us what has been happening, Borrell stated during the press conference after the Foreign Affairs Council.
“The conduct of the parliamentarian election last month confirmed a democratic backsliding of the country under the current government. Georgian Dream leaders have moved the country away from the European Union path, going against the aspiration of the Georgian people, and to the country goal to be in the way of the European Union.
We all want the same thing for Georgia, to get back to the European path. And this will require efforts. We will send to Georgia a mission. We will discuss the irregularities and the election will have to be investigated. And the government has to produce decisive changes through concrete actions.
Georgia cannot move forward in its relationship with the European Union. We will not be able to advance into the European path without strong changes. We will invite the head of the ODIHR election observation mission to Georgia to present his assessment on the election irregularities to the member states, will inform the Council meeting in order for member states to be aware of what we are talking about when we talk about irregularities in these elections.
And to the Georgian people, I want to repeat what I said last year during my visit to Georgia – the door of the European Union will remain open for Georgia, but the course of the government of Georgia when it comes to the respect of rule of law and basic principles, including the way election has been conducted, is turning Georgia away from its European Union integration path,” Borrell stated.
