Page 6 - GEORptAug22

2.0 Politics
2.1 Georgian PM defends Ivanishvili against European
Parliament
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has come to oligarch and ruling party founder Bidzina Ivanishvili's defence in the face of heavy criticism made by the European Parliament.
On July 18, in a letter addressed to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Garibashvili deemed allegations against the Georgian Dream party founder as "not based on evidence" and "totally fictional."
The European Parliament's June 9 resolution slammed Georgian Dream party over its handling of press freedom and called for sanctions against Ivanishvili, who briefly served as the country's prime minister from 2012-2013.
Garibashvili found problematic the resolution's critical view of Ivanishvili's alleged ties with Russia and the calls to impose personal sanctions against Ivanishvili.
The PM claimed the radical wing of the opposition was fighting against Ivanishvili, and said that the European Commission should distance itself from this to not deepen the polarisation in the country and destroy public trust in European organisations.
Georgia has a chance to be considered for EU membership; however, only after fulfilling recommendations by the EC. Since the country is struggling with the deadline, a review has been postponed.
2.2 European Commission gave Georgia more time to fulfill recommendations
The European Commission has delayed its assessment of whether Georgia is fulfilling its recommendations to be considered for EU membership. The review was to have taken place in December.
On July 13, Michael Rupp, a European Commission enlargement directorate representative, said that the delay is intended to give Tbilisi "proper time to work carefully" on meeting the priorities to obtain European Union candidate status. He said EU officials did not want to "rush" Georgia, given the political quarrels in the country. Protesters have been demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili for months.
Rupp said the commission is "very interested" to see Georgia work "hard, deep, and thoroughly" on the priorities. He added that the delay "will give Georgia's political system the right time to work carefully on these priorities."
6 GEORGIA Country Report August 2022 www.intellinews.com