Georgia is sinking into crisis, and Salomé Zourabichvili is growing impatient. The pro-Western Georgian president criticized on Wednesday December 18 the “slowness” of Europe’s reaction and called on it to act “more” in the face of the political crisis in her country, in front of MEPs meeting in plenary session in Strasbourg. Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has been going through a crisis since the ruling party, the Georgian Dream, claimed victory in the legislative elections on October 26. The government, accused of pro-Russian authoritarian excesses, decided at the end of November to suspend all EU accession negotiations until 2028.
“Europe took time to wake up and react,” declared Salomé Zourabichvili, who had announced that she would refuse to hand over her mandate as planned on December 29, as long as new legislative elections were not organized. “While European flags are banned in Tbilisi, Georgians are still waiting for strong measures from Brussels and Washington. And I hope we will not have to wait for a deeper crisis to arise for Europe to act” , she added. She called on Europe to “fight against lies and disinformation” and to support “the call for new elections”, after the legislative elections of October 26 described as rigged by the opposition.
Events every evening
On Saturday, an electoral college dominated by the ruling party appointed far-right loyalist Mikheil Kavelashvili as Georgia’s new president, in a vote boycotted by the opposition and deemed illegal by the current head of state. .
Since the end of November, thousands of pro-EU demonstrators have been mobilizing every evening in Tbilisi and other cities to protest against the Georgian Dream party, accusing it of wanting to put the country back into Moscow’s orbit. “The Georgians will not weaken, but expect Europe to mobilize so that we can defend Europe and its values together,” insisted Salomé Zourabichvili, to applause.
“If Georgia falls under the control of Russia (…) the stakes are very high”, underlined this former French diplomat who cited “the security of the Black Sea” or even “the European future of the Armenia”. “This Assembly stands in solidarity with the Georgian people and their journey towards Europe. Our door will always remain open,” assured the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.