“We are not here as enemies. We are not here to push for regime change,” he added, saying there should be a comprehensive investigation into voter manipulation.
In a message to the media later on Monday, Kakha Kaladze, secretary general of the governing Georgian Dream party and mayor of Tbilisi, claimed the visiting EU politicians were “ordinary pests” and accused them of “propagating lies.”
However, Frédéric Petit, vice-chair of the French parliament’s foreign affairs committee, said the government was missing the opportunity to work with the EU to resolve the standoff.
“It’s surprising to me that as a parliamentarian, a member of parliament tells me that ‘I won’t meet you because you don’t agree with me.’ For me, it is a complete rejection of what democracy means,” he said.
Opposition figures in Georgia have called on the EU not to recognize the results of the elections, which saw Georgian Dream secure a surprise majority. Brussels has called for a thorough investigation into allegations of ballot-stuffing, vote buying and intimidation. Traffic ground to a halt in the capital Sunday night as protesters blocked key thoroughfares, calling on the government to hold new elections.
Granted candidate status last year, Georgia’s EU accession process was halted over the summer after Georgian Dream passed a slew of Russian-style legislation targeting Western-backed NGOs and cracking down on LGBTQ+ rights.
