On November 18, the European People's Party (EPP) passed a resolution criticizing the Georgian authorities for their "blatant disrespect" of the EU's twelve conditions for giving the country membership candidate status.
"The EPP Calls on the European Union and democratic partners to impose personal sanctions on the oligarch Ivanishvili for his role in sabotaging Georgia's European integration and posing the threat to Georgia's and regional security," the EPP stated.
The Georgian government was urged in the resolution to adhere to the will of the Georgian people and bring the country back to its European path by taking specific steps and implementing necessary reforms in the spirit of the EU 12 recommendations for the benefit of the Georgian people and their free, democratic, and European future. It urged the government and Parliament to clearly distance themselves from and condemn the hateful rhetoric and fake news promoted by representatives of the ruling majority against the European Union and the United States, accusing them of bartering for EU candidate status and of opening the second front of the war against Russia in Georgia. The resolution urged the government to end the political persecution against its political opponents and free media, which included freeing Nika Gvaramia, the head of Mtavari Arkhi TV and releasing former president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Notably, the United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia, two opposition parties in Georgia, are Georgian EPP political family members.
Georgian Dream Responds
On November 19, Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the Georgian Dream (GD) party, stated that the resolution from the European People's Party dramatically deviated from reality. "It is utterly unjust. A document of this sort thus has no value," he added.
"What price should such a document have when it tells us that two criminals should be released and Bidzina Ivanishvili [Ex-PM, GD founder] should be punished? Naturally, it is free," Kobakhidze continued.
According to Kobakhidze, the United National Movement (UNM) and European Georgia are criminal parties. "Because it has no connection to European principles, the UNM cannot be an EPP member," he continued.
