Georgia is moving further away from Europe as the Georgian Dream government tightens its grip on independent voices and civil society.
The latest warning comes with the forced closure of our close liberal partner Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s office in Tbilisi, after more than two decades of work supporting democracy and European integration in the country.
The foundation concluded that it could no longer operate independently after Georgian authorities rejected its grant application and made clear that its activities would have to align with government priorities.
ALDE Party President Svenja Hahn MEP and European Liberal Forum President Jan-Christoph Oetjen MEP are calling on the EU to respond with targeted sanctions against those responsible for repression and systematic undermining of democracy and freedoms.
They warn that the crackdown is pushing Georgia further away from the standards expected of an EU candidate country, while raising wider questions about what the country’s European path now means in practice:
“These developments demonstrate how far the Georgian Dream regime is moving away from the standards expected of an EU candidate country and send a worrying signal to all those with European aspirations.
What is happening in Georgia matters not only to its citizens, but also to the credibility of the EU’s enlargement policy and its commitment to democracy and fundamental rights.”
Read the full statement and joint letter to Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, below.
