17 European foreign ministers issued a joint statement on July 11 expressing “deep concern” at the “deteriorating situation” in Georgia. 

The EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas joined the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Poland, the Baltics, the UK and others in saying she was disturbed by the “authoritarian” and “anti-European course” of the incumbent Georgian Dream government.

The statement condemned ongoing democratic backsliding by the incumbent Georgia Dream party, which in recent months has moved to consolidate absolute power via crackdowns on independent media, NGOs, activists and opposition politicians.

The ministers strongly condemned what they described as the recent “politically motivated imprisonment and detention” of eight high-profile opposition leaders by the Georgian authorities.

The statement noted that the arrests were “clearly designed to stifle political opposition in Georgia, a few months ahead of the local elections”, which are scheduled for October 4.

Kallas and the others noted how jailing opposition leaders, as well as “representatives of civil society, peaceful protesters and independent journalists”, reflected GD’s “dismantling of democracy in Georgia and rapid transformation towards an authoritarian system, in contradiction to European norms and values”.

In light of GD’s current course, the statement continued, EU relations with Georgia have suffered a “considerable downgrade”.

The statement declared that the EU would “not hesitate to make use of the range of unilateral and multilateral tools available” should the Georgian authorities “continue to take steps that erode democracy and respect for human rights”.

Stressing that it was “not too late to reverse course”, the ministers urged the Georgian authorities to immediately release those “unjustly detained”, to “reverse repressive legislation” and to “engage in a national dialogue with all relevant stakeholders to find a way out of the current situation”.

Georgian Dream responds

An answering letter the GD political council released on July 13 called the foreign ministers’ statement as “another blatant and unfair attack on Georgian people and Georgian democracy”.

Shrugging off the ministers’ criticism as “false accusations” and “Soviet style disinformation”, GD instead accused Europe of “democratic backsliding” and being in a “value crisis”.

Further, the Georgian ruling party doubled down on its prior allegations that UK and EU governments are under the control of a shadowy “Deep State” network which aims to interfere in foreign politics.

European Parliament resolution

The foreign ministers’ statement followed a report on Georgia issued by the European Parliament on July 9 which slammed GD’s abandonment of democracy, its anti-European pivot and its ongoing crackdown on its opponents.

The report declares the incumbent GD government and parliament to be “illegitimate”, citing Georgia’s contested October 2024 parliamentary vote, which saw GD win a fourth term in power amid widespread allegations of rigging.

The EP’s report described this election as “fraudulent” and marred by “Russian interference”, highlighting “voter intimidation, vote buying and harassment of election observers” as among the violations seen on polling day.

Referencing the ongoing persecution of the political opposition, eight leaders of which have been jailed in the last three weeks alone, the EP report warned that Georgia’s upcoming October 2025 local election would take place in a deteriorating legal environment, were unlikely to be free or fair, and may be instrumentalised by the GD government to grant themselves legitimacy.

Notably, and echoing prior rhetoric from chief EU diplomats, the resolution expressed “deep regret” that GD had “failed to use the historic opportunity granted to Georgia, as a candidate country, to progress on its European integration path”.

GD continues to insists that it is committed to fully integrating Georgia into the EU “with dignity” by 2030, though the party’s actions of the past few months, namely the suspension of accession negotiations with the European bloc, suggest otherwise.

On the same day that European Parliament adopted the resolution, local outlets reported that Georgia’s interior ministry had fired the entire staff of the Euro-Atlantic Integration Department as part of a broader “reorganisation”.

Many, including former department head Tornike Parulava, believe that the mass dismissals are politically motivated.

Parulava noted that the dismantling of the units responsible for coordinating with Brussels “clearly signals” GD has “no intention” to pursue EU integration efforts, even in the long term.

Noting that the “generally limited and delayed” measures taken by the EU so far in response to the Georgian authorsities’ actions “do not reflect the severity of the situation”, the EP report called on the bloc to impose tougher, personal sanctions against top GD officials and their “enablers” in business, media, legal and law enforcement spheres.