Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched Monday, June 20 in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, to demand membership of the European Union of this former Soviet republic of the Caucasus.
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Waving European and Georgian flags, around 60,000 demonstrators, according to an AFP journalist, gathered in front of the Georgian Parliament, a few days after the European Commission's recommendation to wait before granting Tbilisi candidate status. membership.
Several pro-European organizations and all opposition formations had called for a "
march for Europe
" Monday evening in Tbilisi, in order to "
prove the commitment of the Georgian people in their European choice and in Western values
" .
“
Europe is a historic choice and aspiration for Georgians, for which all generations have made sacrifices
,” the organizers said in the statement.
“
Freedom, peace, sustainable economic development, the protection of human rights and justice are values that unite us all and which would be guaranteed by integration into the European Union,
” they added.
"Accelerate reforms and move forward"
The rally aims to send a signal to Brussels as EU leaders are set to discuss whether or not to grant official candidate status to Georgia, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, this week.
If the European Commission gave a positive opinion concerning Ukraine and Moldova, it nevertheless considered on Friday that Georgia must first carry out reforms, in particular political ones, before being able to claim this status.
The European executive recommended that Georgia be “
offered the prospect of becoming a member of the European Union
”, a situation which however has no legal value.
“
It is up to Georgia to speed up (reforms) and move towards this open door
,” commented Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
The Georgian Dream Party, in power in Tbilisi, said it was "
happy
" to have a "
concrete roadmap
", but considered it "
regrettable
" that the Commission does not support candidate status now.
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On Friday, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also welcomed "
the historic decision to grant Georgia a European perspective
", adding that "
we will work with Brussels to implement all the requirements and we will obtain candidate status
".
The Georgian government has come under increasing criticism over its human rights record in recent years, with NGOs expressing concern over the decline in freedom of expression.
