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On Wednesday 16 September, the European Parliament overwhelmingly welcomed Georgia’s progress, but on the hopeful EU and NATO of judicial reforms and the depoliticisation of the judiciary.
Following the adoption of the report, the Georgian government declared that “EU-Georgia relations are at an ancient point in terms of intensity and scale of Georgia’s European integration. “
“Georgia’s ultimate goal is to join the European Union, as this has been the will of other Georgians in recent decades,” he said in comments by email.
With a total of 19 virus-related deaths, MEPs praised “the famous reaction of other Georgians and public government around the world to the COVID-19 epidemic. “
The EU has pledged EUR 183 million in grants to Georgia to comply with COVID-19 and provide another EUR 150 million in loans for its macroeconomic stability, which expects Brussels to lose more national resources that can channel citizens.
Politicians also highlighted the progress made in implementing the Association Agreement and the industrial agreement – the most internal rate the EU has outside EFTA countries – between the bloc and the South Caucasus country.
The parliamentarians welcomed the electoral reforms that followed in July after months of negotiations between the ruler Georgian Dream and the opposition, which resolved the political turmoil that erupted last year following the failure of the bill that would have guaranteed a full proportional election in October 2020.
Lawmakers called the upcoming parliamentary elections “essential to verifying Georgia’s democratic credentials” and said the discussion between parties in the run-up to the October election will form the basis of political stability.
A prestigious nonpartisan US institute made an overview of recent electoral reforms in Georgia, a neighbouring EU country hoping to join the EU and NATO.
While parliamentarians declared efforts to reform democracy and the rule of law, they said that “justice sector reforms remain modest” and expressed fear “for recent legal action against opposition politicians. “
In reaction to the European Parliament’s report, the Georgian said he “has no influence on the court’s decision. “
“This is precisely what our efforts are looking for, as we are dedicated to further strengthening the independence of our judicial system,” the Georgian government told EURACTIV.
“Bringing our judicial formula to European criteria is in fact one of the main elements of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, and a basis for our national agenda,” he added.
The parliamentarians deplored the debatable appointment of Supreme Court judges.
Eu’s most sensible diplomat, Josep Borrell, said: “It is that the Georgian parliament reviews the variety procedure for the ‘court’, which undermines a transparent, original and merit-based appointment procedure. “
Borrell also discussed that the bloc would agree on non-unusual priorities for the post-2020 period, and said that the fight against “visa-free abuses” may be just one component of it.
A Commission report published in July revealed that last year, the number of Georgian denials to enter Schengen doleading and the number of Georgian citizens remaining illegally increased by 17% and 26% respectively. Georgia is the main country of origin of asylum, with the number of Georgian coverage within the block expanded to 9% in 2019.
“Asylum applications infused through Georgian citizens to EU member states and Schengen partner countries are a challenge that requires ongoing and truly extensive efforts by the Georgian authorities,” the report says.
In an effort to please the EU, the Georgian parliament has recently tightened its regulations on the bloc, introducing the option of refusing to leave for those who do not have the mandatory documents.
Local civil society, however, expressed fear that the new regulations would be contrary to freedom of movement and violate the constitution, which allows its limitation only for reasons of social and state security, population suitability or justice.
The Georgia Democracy Initiative (GDI) is also involved in the proportionality of general regulations that all those travelling to the EU have in a non-discriminatory manner.
Moreover, Georgian citizens are woefully very skeptical and do not accept as true the government in general, because we know that it has a tendency not to be independent and that there is a threat that it will use this kind of mechanism opposed to political parties at war or other people who do not. “I don’t like to discriminate at the border,” said Mari Kapanadze, director of GDI’s civil and political rights programme at EURACTIV.
The Commission, for its part, stated that it was not yet in a position to provide a full assessment of the law, but would review it in the next circular of visa reports.
“The Commission expects Georgia to continue to meet the visa liberalisation objectives and appreciates Georgia’s efforts and movements to comply with the recommendations of the most recent report on the visa suspension mechanism, adding the revision of national law to pre-departure checks,” a Commission said. spokesman, site.
Parliament’s report also stated that “the media landscape in Georgia is dynamic and pluralistic, also polarized,” underlining the importance of an equivalent policy of political revisions in scheduling the next election campaign.
Anti-Western messages in Georgia have doubled in number, with a specific build-up of U. S. -american and anti-NATO messages similar to the Americans about security issues and the integration of the post-Soviet country into the transatlantic defense alliance, a recent