On June 17, the European Commission published individual opinions on Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia.[1] The Commission supports granting EU candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova immediately, and to Georgia -- only after certain conditions are met.
"Step towards the Europe" responds to the European Commission's recommendations to the Council of the European Union regarding the decision on whether to grant EU candidate status to the Associated Trio.
The signatory organizations respond to the news story aired by TV Pirveli on June 12. The story describes the alleged involvement of the State Security Service (SSS) employees in the planning and execution of the violent events of July 5.
On behalf of the civic initiative "Step Towards Europe", we would like to respond to the resolution on Georgia adopted by the European Parliament on June 9 and the debates held a day earlier, where all political groups were unanimous in their assessment that, under the current Georgian government, democratic backsliding is occurring in the country.
On 7 June 2022, the Parliament of Georgia voted for legislative amendments that notably lower the standard of human rights protection in the process of covert investigative actions. The adopted bill falls well short of international norms of human rights protection and the practice of European Court of Human Rights.
Transparency International Georgia has studied the guilty verdict delivered against Nika Gvaramia, a former director of Rustavi 2 TV company and the founder of Mtavari Arkhi, on May 16, 2022, which fails to meet the criteria of lawfulness, substantiation and fairness.
To: The President of the European CommissionDr. Ursula von der Leyen31 May 2022 Dear President von der Leyen,
The Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary would like to comment on the guilty verdict delivered against Mr Nika Gvaramia, director of Mtavari TV. The ruling represents another concerning example of pressure exerted on critical media organizations, raising questions regarding the legitimacy of the ruling and showing signs of selective and politicized justice.
Non-governmental organizations express solidarity with Nika Gvaramia and Mtavari Arkhi team.