The statement notes that the local elections held in Georgia on October 4, 2025, took place "in a restricted environment, amid months of repression by self-appointed officials of 'Georgian Dream' against civil society, independent media, and the political opposition."
"We deplore the fact that the authorities effectively prevented the presence of credible electionobservers, with a late invitation to the OSCE/ODIHR and restrictions on civil societyhampering observation by domestic organisations," the statement reads.
The European Parliament members also express concern over "post-election violent clashes in the streets and call on all parties to remain calm."
"We strongly denounce the Georgian Dream's declared intention to ban opposition parties,which would mark a new culmination of Georgia's slide towards an authoritarian regime. Wereiterate our call on the EU and its Member States to take immediate action and to introducepersonal sanctions against key Georgian Dream political leaders and officials responsible fordemocratic backsliding, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution ofpolitical opponents and activists, in particular Bidzina Ivanishvili and Irakli Kobakhidze," the statement declares.
The joint statement was authored by: David McAllister (Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee), Mounir Satouri (Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights), Sergey Lagodinsky (Chair of the European Parliament Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly), Nils Ušakovs (Chair of the Delegation for Relations with the South Caucasus), and Rasa Juknevičienė (European Parliament’s Standing Rapporteur on Georgia).
