Thank you, President!
To start with, I would like to congratulate my good colleague Sven Mikser for this timely and well-balanced report.
It is encouraging to see that popular support for EU remains at a record high in Georgia. It also means that the Georgian people deserve our solidarity and support.
Therefore, as the Co-Chair of the EU-Georgia PAC I would like to reiterate the full and unwaveringly support to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Report on the implementation of the Association Agreement is an excellent framework to evaluate Georgia’s progress and talk openly about challenges.
I welcome the recent electoral reform in line with ODIHR recommendations and hope that it will contribute to ease the polarisation in Georgia’s political and media landscape.
I also would like to recognise the promotion of women’s representation.
I urge all political parties, including opposition, to do their utmost to guarantee peaceful, free and fair elections on October 31st. These elections will be crucial in determining Georgia’s future for years to come.
Georgia has an impressive reform record. Of course, further approximation is still needed in some areas, like environment protection, and fight against discrimination of vulnerable groups. It is also true that Georgia is a young democracy, where the rule of law must be further consolidated. To conclude, I would like to congratulate Georgian authorities for handling the COVID-19 crisis in an exemplary manner. Team Europe’s response has been a proof of EU solidarity with our key ally.
Remarks were presented at the 14/09 plenary session in the European Parliament.