The German Parliament, the Bundestag, has supported a resolution from the Social Democratic Party, Union 90/Greens, and the Liberal Democratic Party, which is part of the governing coalition, titled European future for Georgia.
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The resolution supports Georgia's accession to the European Union but criticizes the "authoritarian and anti-European direction" of the ruling Georgian Dream party. It states that this course deliberately puts Georgia's European future at risk, against the wishes of the vast majority of the population.
Through this resolution, the Bundestag calls on the federal government to insist at the European level that no further progress is made in the EU accession process with Georgia until the so-called Transparency of Foreign Influence Law [Russian law] is repealed.
Members of the Bundestag assert that such a law is incompatible with the fundamental values and democratic principles of the European Union. It is noted that it contradicts two of the nine reform priorities agreed upon between the European Union and the Government of Georgia - ensuring the free activity of civil society and combating disinformation against the European Union and its values.
"The spirit of that law is in alignment with Russia’s foreign agents law,' members of the Bundestag stated.
The resolution also criticizes the anti-LGBT law passed by the Georgian Dream party. The Bundestag urges the federal government to call on the parliamentary majority of Georgian Dream to repeal this legislation. It argues that this law, like the constitutional amendments proposed by Georgian Dream, is not only an attack on the LGBTQIA+ community but also an assault on human rights, freedom of expression, and civil society.
As per the resolution, the German government should demand that the Georgian government "put a stop to the unlawful criminal prosecution of peaceful protesters by the police and the public prosecutor’s office."
The resolution states that future relations with Georgia should depend on the conduct of free and fair parliamentary elections.
"For Georgia, the coming parliamentary election is becoming a choice of direction on the democratic and constitutional nature of the state and on the country’s European journey."
Members of the Bundestag believe that attacks on independent monitoring organizations, the negative impact of Russian law on their activities, and recent changes to the election code that strengthen the ruling party's influence on the Central Archives Commission, along with the mobilization of administrative resources to support Georgian Dream's policies, call into question the equality and freedom of parliamentary elections.
The resolution notes that the leadership of Georgian Dream is attempting to instill an atmosphere of fear in the country through increasingly authoritarian actions, dividing society into patriots and enemies/traitors.
"The latest declaration from the Georgian premier, Irakli Kobakhidze, announcing his intent to ban key opposition parties after the parliamentary elections, is absolutely unacceptable and incompatible with democracy as Europe understands it," the resolution states.
The resolution also addresses targeted sanctions, calling on the government to monitor the current situation in Georgia to identify facts that may lead to such sanctions.
At the same time, the Bundestag urges the federal government to support the maintenance of visa-free travel for the Georgian population at the European level, despite the government's setbacks in democracy, as the suspension of visa-free travel would affect the entire population of Georgia and consequently the pro-European forces.
The Bundestag appeals to the federal government to call on Russia to fully respect Georgia's territorial integrity and to strongly condemn any Russian influence over territories de facto controlled by Russian troops, as well as attempts to further destabilize Georgia.
The Alternative for Germany faction and the Sahra Wagenknecht Union group also voted against the resolution, while the left-wing group abstained.
The Alternative for Germany calls on the federal government to influence its partners to "stop any attempts at government change (regime change) in Georgia." The faction's statement emphasized that "unacceptable interference in domestic affairs, such as the alleged promotion of democracy and non-governmental organizations," should be avoided.
