Georgia: Joint Statement by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas and Commissioner Marta Kos on latest developments

The new legislation, including Foreign Agents Registration Act and Law on Broadcasting, adopted by the parliament, without due public consultations, give additional tools to the Georgian authorities to supress dissent and tighten the policy of repression. These laws risk stigmatising the work of civic activists, threatening the survival of civil society and independent media, rolling back human rights protections, unduly restricting fundamental freedoms, and eroding democratic decision-making.

These steps further erode the foundations of democracy in Georgia. Such actions are fundamentally incompatible with EU values of democracy, rule of law and media pluralism, and far from anything we would expect from a candidate country. They will negatively impact Georgia’s EU path. Adherence to these EU values is not negotiable.

A vast majority of Georgian people want Georgia to join the European Union. We call on the authorities to demonstrate a genuine and irreversible commitment to returning to the EU path. This requires stopping the violence against citizens, releasing all those unjustly detained, suspending repressive laws, consulting the Venice Commission, and engaging in a meaningful dialogue with civil society and all political actors to find a way out of the current crisis.

Georgia’s return to the EU accession path is fully in the hands of the country’s authorities.

The European Union remains ready to support Georgian people’s European aspirations and all efforts towards a democratic, stable, and European future for Georgia.