This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
The United States, Canada, and Sweden have voiced criticism following parliamentary elections in Georgia that the pro-Russia ruling Georgian Dream party claimed it won amid reports of widespread irregularities and mass protests by opposition supporters who say the vote was rigged and manipulated by Moscow.
Canada and Sweden announced concrete moves targeting the current Georgian government.
Sweden announced it was ending any direct cooperation with Georgia’s government, while Canada said it was reviewing its ties with the authorities in Tbilisi.
Benjamin Dousa, Sweden’s minister for development cooperation and foreign trade, said in a statement that Stockholm has had “long-standing concerns” about “alarming” political developments in Georgia and that irregularities reported by Western observers confirmed those concerns.
“Therefore, the government is suspending direct Swedish-Georgian cooperation, which is still ongoing, including with the Georgian tax authority,” Dousa said.
At the same time, Sweden will allocate the equivalent of some $2.3 million in funds for Georgia’s civil society, he said.
Canada’s Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, voiced concern in a statement about what it called “the widespread acts of voter intimidation, vote buying, and other election day irregularities” reported by international observers who monitored the vote.
“In coordination with our G7 and European partners, and in light of the conduct and results of this election, Canada will reassess its relationship with the Georgian leadership. Canada remains open to cooperation with Georgia, as long as the Georgian leadership respects democracy, human rights, rule of law, and addresses the recent democratic backsliding,” the statement said.
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the reported irregularities were “troubling and disappointing” and came after Europe and the United States “repeatedly warned” about Georgia’s democratic backsliding.
“I will continue to closely monitor the postelection environment and work with the Biden-Harris administration to determine the appropriate response in the U.S.-Georgian relationship,” Cardin said in a statement.
The Western warnings came as tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets on October 28 after President Salome Zurabishvili, who has been at odds with Georgian Dream, accused the country’s ruling party of employing Russian-style tactics and refused to recognize the results.
Official results of the October 26 election gave the ruling Georgian Dream party more than 54 percent of the vote, enough to maintain control of the government.
“You did not lose the election,” Zurabishvili told the thousands of protesters on the evening of October 28. “They stole your vote and tried to steal your future, but no one has the right to do that, and you will not let anyone do that!”
In calling for the protests, Zurabishvili said that the official result was evidence of a “Russian special operation — one of the new forms of hybrid warfare carried out on our people, our country.”
The West has been voicing growing concern about democratic backsliding by the government of Georgia, an EU candidate country with NATO membership aspirations but which has recently passed a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s “foreign agent law.”
That move has been harshly criticized by Washington and Brussels and prompted weeks of massive protests earlier this year.
