EU FMs condemn growing repression in Georgia

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has joined more than a dozen European diplomats in condemning Georgia’s sharp tilt toward authoritarianism, calling on Tbilisi to reverse its “anti-European” path.

Political repression in Georgia has intensified in recent months, with nearly all major pro-Western opposition figures now behind bars.

Last month, a Georgian court sentenced four opposition politicians to prison for failing to appear before a commission set up by the ruling Moscow-aligned Georgian Dream party to investigate alleged crimes committed by former officials.

Critics say the sentencing is part of a broader campaign to silence the pro-Western opposition and dismantle democratic institutions.

Meanwhile, nationwide protests continue to rock the country, sparked by the government’s controversial decision last year to abruptly suspend Georgia’s EU accession talks until 2028.

In a joint statement published on Friday, foreign ministers from 17 EU countries, along with the bloc’s High Representative and the UK, condemned the recent politically motivated arrests and imprisonment of Georgian opposition leaders, arguing that these acts were “clearly designed to stifle political opposition in Georgia, a few months ahead of the local elections.”