As European Union, as European Union member states, of course, we are not taking sides. We are not supporting any particular political force. But what we really care about is free and fair elections as well as a free and fair electoral process. This is step number two of the nine steps that Georgia has been given in December last year, stated EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński.
The Ambassador expressed appreciation for the Georgian Government’s request for a long-term observation mission from OSCE/ODIHR to oversee the elections. He emphasized the importance of conducting electoral campaigns to the highest international standards.
“I sincerely hope that the electoral campaign will be conducted to the highest international standards. I’m really glad that the government of Georgia yesterday approached OSCE/ODIHR requesting a long-term observation mission. All our member states, who are members of OSCE, will support it, and I have started also meetings of EU ambassadors with political parties. Our intention is to meet all of them in the next couple of months so that we are very well informed, as European Union member states, about different ideas and different electoral programs of every political party in Georgia.
Electronic voting has been introduced in the vast majority of precincts, and this is a solution that Georgians themselves have introduced. There is no golden standard in EU member states. Some countries have it, some don’t the majority don’t. So I cannot express my opinion about it.
What I can say, and I want to say this loud and clear. We sincerely hope that the 2024 parliamentary elections in Georgia will be held up to the highest international standards and that we will have not only free and fair elections but also a free and fair electoral campaign that will allow every single political party to express their program, to engage with voters and to compete,” he stated.
Regarding the recommendations of the Venice Commission on the election code, Herczyński emphasized: “For us, the Venice Commission is the highest standard-setter when it comes to legal solutions. We sincerely hope that the recommendations provided by the Venice Commission will be implemented to the fullest possible extent. For sure, we will discuss this issue next week in Brussels during the upcoming Association Council that will be co-chaired on the Georgian side by the Prime Minister and on the European side by High Representative Vice President and Commissioner Varhelyi, who will represent the European Union. So the conversation continues, and we sincerely hope that all the recommendations of the Venice Commission will be duly implemented because the Venice Commission is the highest standard-setter when it comes to such electoral processes.”
