Three weeks ago, I personally witnessed manipulation in different parts of the country, shocking cases of ballot stuffing, facts of forgery, lack of secrecy and intimidation of voters, – said MEP Markéta Gregorová at the debate held in the European Parliament about the elections held in Georgia.
“I was an observer at the 2021 Georgian elections and I did not see any direct manipulation. Even then, however, we were careful not to claim that the election was fair because of the inconsistency of voter tracking and coercive campaign financing. Almost three weeks ago, I personally witnessed manipulation in different parts of the country, shocking cases of ballot stuffing, cases of forgery, lack of voter secrecy and intimidation,” she said, going on to claim that all this was part of the democratic backsliding by the Georgian government in recent months.
“If we were careful in 2021, then now we cannot call these elections fair, so we need to investigate these violations, as well as sanctions against those responsible. We must firmly stand by the Georgian people in the fair pursuit of democracy,” said the European parliamentarian.
