Why Does the EU Consistently Delay Taking Responsibility?

The EU institutions reached a new record in 2024 in Georgia in terms of being surprised, unprepared and non-responsive vis-à-vis well-planned and well-predicted moves of the ruling party to consolidate its hold on power, including by blank” rel=”noopener”>rigging October’s parliamentary elections.

In mid-May, over 120 experts from the TEPSA network and beyond addressed anblank” rel=”noopener”> open letter to the leaders of EU institutions, pleading for timely (geo)political action, including a large-scale pre-election monitoring mission. Our letter warned that the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party was in the process of “establishing a Belarus-style regime that would enable Russia to regain control over the South Caucasus.”

Regrettably, only a routine electoral mission took place, and the EU’s ex post technical mission has not yet arrived. The ruling party has meanwhile confronted post-election civil protests with riot police, water cannons, tear gas, and rubber bullets. It has also deployed thugs who target activists, journalists, and opposition leaders. Over 400 people have been detained over the past two weeks, most of them beaten. Still, Georgians courageously continue to protest across the country.

Large-scale civil protests started in April, but only now in December has anybody arrived to Georgia from the political level of EU institutions. Six MEPs have now found the time to visit Tbilisi and meet civil society representatives and President Zourabichvili, who has become the focal point of efforts to salvage Georgia’s democracy.

Stolen elections

According to two mutually independentblank” rel=”noopener”> exit polls by companies with a long record of accuracy, Georgia’s four main opposition parties together obtained about 50% of votes in the 26 October parliamentary election, while Georgian Dream received about 40%. However, official results gave GD 54% and the combined opposition only 38%. With election administration and courts under its control, the ruling party has smoothly turned an electoral defeat into a self-proclaimed victory and has tried to carry on.

Behind closed doors in Brussels, EEAS representatives acknowledge that Georgian Dream rigged the parliamentary election through intimidation, vote-buying, violations of vote secrecy and carousel voting. The illegitimacy of the election outcome has been well described in a blank” rel=”noopener”>strong resolution adopted by the