The European People’s Party (EPP), which is the largest group in the European Parliament, calls on the Georgian government ‘to improve the political environment’ as well as to guarantee free and fair elections in the second round of the municipal elections.
"Recent elections in Georgia have raised our concerns over the state of democracy and freedom in the country. The reports of international observers underlined reduced democratic standards, a lack of free and fair election environment, an uneven playing field, misuse of administrative resources, violations and hate speech", the EPP said.
Saying that the Georgian people ‘deserve a better future, with the end of political confrontation and the return to a constructive agenda, which would speed up the country’s reform process', the group plans to ‘closely monitor’ the second round, ‘where the fate of the big cities will be decided’.
