We expect Georgia to tackle the issue of excessive influence of vested interests in political life, in public life, - EU Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski told reporters.
The Ambassador was asked about the statement made by the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, according to which "the disinformation narrative of the radical opposition was somewhat facilitated by the wrong information spread by the US Ambassador, as if the Ukrainian law was withdrawn by the Venice Commission - the Ambassador’s statement played a bad role and contributed to the deepening of polarization."
“I have a rule that I do not comment on the comments of others. What I would like to say is that deoligarchization is one of the 12 priorities, it is the priority no. 5. This priority has been agreed by 27 EU Member States early last year, at the highest level, at the level of heads of state and government. We expect Georgia to tackle the issue of excessive influence of vested interests in political life, in public life. This is a problem not only of Georgia, by of many other countries, especially the former Soviet Union countries. The Venice Commission has very clearly stated that the approach chosen by the ruling majority, namely draft law on deoligarchization is not a right approach, that a lot of risks are involved. This is why we would expect a systemic approach, as stated by the Venice Commission, and systemic approach means many different things that should be done to strengthen the state institutions of Georgia. This is about accountability, this is about transparency, this is about financing of political campaigns, this is about financing of elections, this is about media freedom, this is about justice reform, this is about tackling high corruption. So the whole environment should be created in order not to allow rich people to have influence on public and political life and we are here, as the European Union, to help with our expertise, with our experts, whatever will be the path chosen by political elites in Georgia”, said the Ambassador.
