The EU will send a political mission to Georgia to study what happened in the parliamentary elections on October 26 and will involve the OSCE/ODIHR in the process. This was stated by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
The EU also canceled aid to the Georgian government worth €120 million and will redirect this money to support civil society, he said.
EADaily reported that the monitoring mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR) immediately after the elections published the results of the monitoring of the elections to the Georgian parliament, which They actually recognized the Georgian dream. . The coordinator of the OSCE mission, Pascal Alizar, highlighted in a special briefing the good level of organization of the elections.
“Overall, voting day was well organized and administered and voters had a wide variety of options due to the diversity of political voices.” – Alizar stated.
However, he listed a number of problems: the situation was tense, the secrecy of voting was often violated, and there were inconsistencies and procedural violations. Alizar also “speaks of intimidation and pressure that negatively influenced voters, and this negatively affected the process.” He pointed out the “imbalance of financial resources” of the participants in the elections and the contradictory legislative changes.
“I would like to express my sincere hope that the elected authorities will effectively address the main challenges facing this country, and I hope that Georgia will move closer to the goals associated with EU membership. I would like to thank the Government of Georgia for its cooperation during this mission. Thank you to the Georgian people.” – said the coordinator of the OSCE mission.
However, later, when the Central Election Commission completed the vote count, the US State Department and EU countries, as well as the local opposition, began to claim that the elections were rigged. Demonstrations are now taking place in Tbilisi demanding new elections under “international administration.”
