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ISFED noted that there was tense atmosphere in Zugdidi and Marneuli, which resulted in several scuffles throughout the day, followed by temporary interruptions in the voting process.
GYLA, which had 50 observers posted at 22 polling stations across the country, noted that the presence of party activists and supporters at polling stations was widespread across the country. The watchdog said this threatened the expression of the voters’ free will.
Former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the exiled founder and informal leader of the United National Movement (part of the United Opposition alliance nowadays) made calls for peaceful protests during election day. It was his wife, Roelofs, who ran for office in the Zugdidi campaign marred by incidents.
“We must be ready to attack,” Saakashvili told National Movement activists and observers. He remarked that Georgian Dream “always rigs elections, but they still have poor chances”. Saakashvili appealed to GD members, asking them not to steal elections.
“Georgia’s enemy – [GD party chairman Bidzina] Ivanishvili has little time left in Georgia. I want Georgians to take care of each other,” Saakashvili said.
2.4 Polish foreign minister calls for upgraded Eastern Partnership at 10th anniversary event
The Polish foreign minister, Jacek Czaputowicz, on May 14 called for an upgraded Eastern Partnership.
Closer ties with the European Union and the creation of a free-trade zone among the six nations in the Partnership—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine—should be sought, he said, without giving direct assurances of eventual full EU membership. He was speaking on May 14 at a conference in Brussels celebrating the Partnership’s 10th anniversary.
Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine already have concluded Association Agreements with Brussels that include free-trade pacts, and they have achieved visa-liberalisation agreements for their citizens with most EU member states. But none of six nations are close to joining the EU, and the next steps for Eastern Partnership nations remain uncertain.
Czaputowicz, whose country initiated the Eastern Partnership together with Sweden, said, according to RFE/RL, that “as far as institutionalisation of relations is concerned, I think we can envisage creating some instruments.”
He suggested a rotating presidency of Eastern Partnership countries to deal directly with the six-month rotating EU presidencies. “Of course, it is difficult, but my main message is that these countries should take more responsibility for the coordination of their work for themselves—not to wait for what we can do—and demonstrate to the European Union that they are organised,” he reportedly said.
8 GEORGIA Country Report June 2019 www.intellinews.com