Vice-Chair of the Delegation to the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, member of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, MEP Marketa Gregorova has responded to the recent developments in Georgia and stated that the “democracy-backsliding in the country is very alarming to the EU and it does not go unnoticed.”

As for the consequences for Georgia, she told the Accent, that several measures are under consideration.

“I see GD's decision as very disappointing and unconstructive. […] There are ongoing talks, even with the US, but unfortunately I cannot elaborate more on it, as there is no outcome yet. Limiting the micro-financial assistance is one of the most convenient toools of showing that the EU is a partner, not a tool to be used when it is advantageous and otherwise ignored. There are also other measures, however I do not want to cause rumors over sómething that has not been agreed upon. I will thus just say that the democracy-backsliding in Georgia is very alarming to the EU and it does not go unnoticed,” she said.

On July 31Georgian Dream party chair Irakli Kobakhidze said that the ruling party will not return to this agreement:

“It is impossible for us to return to this agreement. If artificial crisis is repeated in the future, we can say from here that we will categorically exclude from signing this type of agreement in the future for one simple reason - such an agreement means a temporary departure from the constitutional framework, which is unacceptable in the future,” Kobakhidze said in an interview with TV Imedi.

According to MEP Gregorova, “If Mr Kobakhidze and his party indeed considered the 19th April Agreement as a temporary departure from the constitutional framework, they certainly did not inform of that the representatives of the European Union, nor the opposition.”

“I start to doubt the sincerety of this government's claims and priorities in terms of the EU accession and European path. It starts to look as if these ambitions are solely on the paper and not in the reality,” she added.