Pro-European protests: Violence in Georgia: Sanctions become a topic at EU meetings

The EU is threatening the Georgian government with sanctions in view of the violence against pro-European demonstrators. A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in Brussels that possible measures will be examined at the foreign ministers’ meeting next Monday. Violence is not an answer to the demonstrators’ demands for a democratic and European future for Georgia.

The spokeswoman initially said nothing about the type of sanctions being discussed. It is conceivable, among other things, to impose EU entry bans on those responsible for the recent events and to freeze assets existing in the EU.

Regarding the current developments in the South Caucasus republic, which borders Russia, the spokeswoman’s statement said that for almost two weeks Georgian citizens have been facing brutal and unlawful violence from the police during their protests. Arbitrary arrests of protesters and opposition leaders continued, with media representatives particularly targeted by law enforcement and informal violent groups.

EU speaks of more than 400 arrested

Disturbing reports from civil society organizations and Georgia’s Ombudsman also indicated serious and deliberate violence, raising credible fears of torture and inhumane treatment. So far, however, neither police officers nor members of informal violent groups have been held accountable.

According to EU information, more than 400 people have already been arrested. More than 300 were reported to have suffered violence and ill-treatment, many of whom required urgent medical attention.

The reason for the protests in Georgia are indications of possible irregularities in the recent parliamentary elections and the announcement by the ruling Georgian Dream party that it wants to put EU accession negotiations on hold until 2028. Critics fear that this also has to do with Russian influence.

Budapest threatens to veto sanctions

Hungary, however, is holding out the prospect of vetoing the EU’s proposed sanctions decisions. “The Hungarian government considers the proposals in this regard to be nonsensical and unfounded,” said Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, according to the state news agency MTI. The politician had previously met his Georgian counterpart Maka Bochorishvili in Budapest. Under its right-wing populist head of government Viktor Orban, the Central-Eastern European EU country maintains good relations with Russia. Moscow, in turn, supports the Georgian ruling party Georgian Dream.