Georgian government blasts European delegation amid call for election investigation

Georgia’s ruling party hit out at senior politicians from across the EU after a high-level visit on Monday where they voiced concerns over last month’s bitterly contested elections and warned against a growing rift that has seen the country’s application to join the bloc frozen.
Members of the foreign relations committees from the parliaments of France, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states flew to Tbilisi for talks after the divisive vote, which international observers say was marred by irregularities. However, Shalva Papuashvili, chair of Georgia’s parliament, refused to meet with the visiting delegation.
Speaking at a press conference alongside the country’s independently-elected, pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, German foreign affairs committee chair Michael Roth declared that “the elections were not free and fair” and said the trip was designed to “express solidarity with the majority of Georgian citizens who are reaching for EU membership.”
“We are not here as enemies. We are not here to push for regime change,” he added, saying there should be a comprehensive investigation into voter manipulation.
In a message to the media later on Monday, Kakha Kaladze, secretary general of the governing Georgian Dream party and mayor of Tbilisi, claimed the visiting EU politicians were “ordinary pests” and accused them of “propagating lies.”
However, Frédéric Petit, vice-chair of the French parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said the government was missing the opportunity to work with the EU to resolve the standoff.
“It’s surprising to me that as a parliamentarian, a member of parliament tells me that ‘I won’t meet you because you don’t agree with me.’ For me, it is a complete rejection of what democracy means,” he said.
Opposition figures in Georgia have called on the EU not to recognize the results of the elections, which saw Georgian Dream secure a surprise majority. Brussels has called for a thorough investigation into allegations of ballot-stuffing, vote buying and intimidation. Traffic ground to a halt in the capital Sunday night as protesters blocked key thoroughfares, calling on the government to hold new elections.
Granted candidate status last year, Georgia’s EU accession process was halted over the summer after Georgian Dream passed a slew of Russian-style legislation targeting Western-backed NGOs and cracking down on LGBTQ+ rights.