European Council President Charles Michel has commended all Georgian citizens who participated in local municipal elections on October 2 and called on the country to focus on ‘in-depth structural reforms.’
"Essential that the country's focus now return to in-depth structural reforms, as set out in the 19 April Agreement, notably in the rule of law and judicial spheres,” Charles Michel stated.
The April 19 EU-mediated agreement proposed by Charles Michel back in April resolved the political crisis in Georgia caused by the 2020 parliamentary elections and put forward large scale electoral and judiciary reforms.
The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party along with the majority of opposition parties signed the agreement back on April 19, although, the largest opposition United National Movement (UNM) party refused to join it due to a stipulation that offered amnesty to individuals convicted for violence during the June 2019 protests in Tbilisi sparked by the presence of Russian legislators in the Georgian parliament.
The GD in late July decided to withdraw from the agreement due to the UNM’s refusal to sign the document. However, the UNM eventually signed it after four months of refusing to do so in early September.
Various foreign ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps call on all political parties in Georgia to join the April 19 agreement and to cooperate in the implementation of the reforms.
