Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-11-14-Speech-3-302"
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"en.20071114.33.3-302"2
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".
Mr President, as rapporteur on the South Caucasus, I should like to use the opportunity of this report by Mr Tannock and Mr Obiols i Germà – whom I congratulate, by the way, on their work – to tell you my impressions of the situation in Georgia, based on a visit I made there on 5 November, at the height of the demonstrations.
I found it a very complex situation. The major reforms that had been undertaken were, on the one hand, impressive, particularly in relation to the economy and to combating corruption; on the other hand, the difficult social climate has to be borne in mind, with very high unemployment and a third of the population living below the poverty line.
The most striking thing is the very tense, indeed aggressive, political climate, with the opposition levelling extremely grave accusations at the President, then engaging in public retractions that simply raise more questions. The Government responds with repeated accusations of foreign – i.e. Russian – interference, and produces video footage in support of its claims. The events of 7 November – the declaration of the state of emergency, the violent police crackdown on demonstrators and the closure of the television station – underscored the extremely worrying nature of the situation. Obviously actions like this do not sit well in the traditional European framework of values rooted in the rule of law and fundamental rights; and they need to be explained.
We must hope that the presidential election scheduled for 5 January will allow democratic debate to return to the fore. It will be up to the Georgian people to decide what is rumour and what is fact, and whether to focus on their disappointments or on the challenges ahead. It will be up to us, however, to encourage them and to assist in the organisation of genuinely democratic, properly conducted elections, in accordance with international standards. The issue at stake is the credibility and stability of democracy in Georgia."@en1
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