The European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) held a session on June 3 to debrief MEPs following their May 26-28 working trip to Georgia. The meeting featured statements from MEPs as well as accounts by representatives of Georgian civil society and media.
During their 3-day visit to Georgia, the DROI delegation, consisting of five MEPs -Nacho Sanchez Amor, Rasa Jukneviciene, Adrián Vázquez Lázara, Matthieu VALET, and Catarina Vieira – held meetings with various groups, including representatives of media and civil society organisations, families of political prisoners, as well as President Salome Zurabishvili and members of the pro-Western opposition.
The visit’s purpose was “to show support for pro-EU civil society organisations, and to assess the human rights and fundamental freedoms situation in the country, not least in the light of its EU membership candidate status.”
During the June 3 extraordinary meeting, Spanish MEP Nacho Sánchez Amor (S&D), who chaired the mission, criticized the recent legislation passed by the GD parliament, calling it “completely contrary” to what is happening in the EU. He said that the Georgian authorities are trying to manipulate public opinion and spread disinformation about the European bloc. He also highlighted that civil society faces “repressive actions” and that, without foreign support, some human rights NGOs in Georgia risk closure.
