15 Amendments of Sandra KALNIETE related to 2019/2200(INI)
Amendment 15 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the continuous deepening of EU-Georgia relations and the firm support that Georgia’s chosen path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration enjoys across the political spectrum and in society; acknowledges the progress achieved by Georgia, which has made it a key partner of the EU in the region, and reiterates the need to continue implementing reforms under the Association Agreement (AA) and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area; reminds that the EU assistance is based on the principle "more for more" and conditional to reform progress in, but not limited to, areas of democracy and rule of law, independence of judiciary and electoral system reform;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates its full support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders and condemns the illegal occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia by the Russian Federation; emphasises that the AA covers the entire territory of Georgia, including its occupied regions, and aims to benefit its whole population; calls on the Russian Federation to fulfil its obligations under the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008, notably to withdraw all its military forces from Georgia’s occupied territories and allow the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) unhindered access to the whole territory of Georgia; condemns "borderisation" activities along the Administrative Boundary Line by Russian and de facto South Ossetian security actors; asks the Commission and the EEAS to enhance their efforts to resolve the conflict peacefully, including through the EUMM and the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that Georgian citizens have made 900 000 visa-free visits to Schengen and Schengen-associated countries since March 2017; is concerned by the increasing number of unfounded asylum requests by Georgian citizens; calls on all the Member States that have not already done so to recognise Georgia as a safe country of origin in order to speed up the processing of such requests; stresses the importance of continuous implementation of the visa liberalisation benchmarks by Georgia; reiterates the EU and its Member states' readiness to further cooperate with the Georgian authorities;
Amendment 47 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Commends the Georgian authorities for completing the constitutional reform process and the major political parties for signing the Memorandum of Understanding and the Joint Statement of 8 March 2020, which established the key features of the electoral system to be used for the upcoming parliamentary elections; calls on all parties to ensure that the agreement is translated into law and fully implemented and the necessity of addressing actions that could be perceived as inappropriate politicisation of Georgia’s judicial process; calls on all parties to ensure that the agreement is translated into law and into full abandonment of practices of politicisation of judicial processes and fully implemented in letter and spirit as soon as possible;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Georgian authorities to implement swiftly and fully the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations and review relevant legislation to address the identified shortcomings; recalls the assessment by the OSCE/ODIHR-led International Election Observation Mission of the last direct presidential election held in October - November 2018; notes with concern the negative character of the campaign and the use of harsh rhetoric on both sides; highlights that the process had been undermined by undue advantage enjoyed by the government side, use of violent rhetoric and impunity of violence against opposition; notes cases of misuse of administrative resources, undue pressure on voters and intimidation, vote buying, announcement of a massive debt relief offered by a private institution linked to the chairperson of the ruling party; notes that the run-off election day proceeded in an orderly manner, opening, voting and counting were assessed positively, the observed tracking of voters reinforced concern about potential intimidation; urges all stakeholders to fully address the recommendations of the OCSE/ODIHR;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Underlines the importance of media freedom, which should entail equal access for all political parties to the media during the upcoming electoral campaign, pluralistic and non-discriminatory coverage of political views in programmes by public and private broadcasters, clear provisions regulating free and paid advertisements, and improved transparency through strengthened media monitoring; underscores the importance of an independent and pluralistic media landscape, which is free from government or any other state interference; acknowledges that the media landscape in Georgia is dynamic and pluralistic, but also polarised; expresses deep concern that media outlets critical towards the government often become subject of pressure in the form of court cases against the founders (Nika Gvaramia of TV Mtavari), arrest of the shareholders (Giorgi Rurua and TV Mtavari), financial and tax related charges (Avtandil Tsereteli and TV Pirveli) and firing, or resignation of critical TV journalists and editors (Public Broadcaster of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara);
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Urges the government of Georgia to ensure effective handling of information environment in the run up to the 2020 elections; urges the Georgian government to work with the civil society and the private sector to limit and prevent information manipulations, including disinformation and propaganda campaigns against any political group or the country by domestic or foreign actors; urges social media platforms to take effective actions to protect information environment and prevent undermining electoral integrity by misuse of social media platforms; expresses hope that the national public broadcaster will fulfil its obligation of editorial independence, fairness and impartiality in the run-up and during the 2020 parliamentary elections and that concerns raised by the OSCE/ODIHR election observation report of 2018 Presidential election specifically in relation to the bias of the Georgian Public Broadcaster will be addressed accordingly;
Amendment 74 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Reaffirms support to the vibrant civil society in Georgia; expresses hope that in the run-up to the 2020 elections environment for independent watchdogs and activists will be free from any intimidation, interference or verbal attacks;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Expresses its concern about recent court cases against opposition politicians, which contributed to a climate of increased mistrust and heightened tensions between the ruling party and the opposition, and led to a polarisation of politics and society; calls on Georgia to respect the highest standards of judicial independence and fair trial as committed to under the AA; welcomes the decision of President Zourabichvili of 15 May 2020 to pardon two imprisoned leaders of opposition as an important step in the implementation of 8 March agreement and looks forward to the release of Giorgi Rurua; urges to stop any actions of politicised justice or any kind of other illegal or unjustified administrative pressure on opposition leaders;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Strongly condemns the cyber- attacks against Georgian institutions and media outlets widely attributed to Russian actors; calls on all political actors in Georgia to refrain from using social media to attack people, organisations and institutions and spread deliberate misinformation; reminds with concern that in December 2019 and, similarly, in May 2020 Facebook shut down an extensive network of accounts and pages funded by Georgia’s ruling party, which engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” and attacks against opposition, media, civil society and independent activists and spread anti- democratic and anti-Western messages;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Strongly condemns the cyber- attacks against Georgian institutions and media outlets widely attributed to Russian actors; calls on all political actors in Georgia to refrain from using social media to attack people, organisations and institutions and spread deliberate misinformation; emphasizes importance of strengthening capacity and resilience of Georgia against disinformation;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Underlines the importance of reducing antagonism and the polarisation of politics and ensuring constructive cooperation in the country’s democratic institutions, in particular the parliament; therefore profoundly regrets that the ninth meeting of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee of 12 and13 February 2020 in Strasbourg ended without an agreement on a final statement and recommendations being reached;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13 a (new)
Paragraph 13 a (new)
13a. Recommends to give a special mandate to the European Parliament Delegation in the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee to watch and observe preparations and realization of fair and transparent forthcoming October 2020 parliamentary elections in Georgia;
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. In order to implement the principle “more for more”, calls on the EU to consider creating for the three associated countries, including Georgia, an enhanced cooperation strategy of reforms and investments, which would be conditional on the areas including, but not limited to, investment capacity building, transport, energy, justice and digital economy, and paving the way for an ambitious agenda of integration into the EU;
Amendment 165 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 b (new)
Paragraph 18 b (new)
18b. Highlights in this context the need to recommend the EU to: – in order to implement principle “more for more” in an effective way and to have institutional capacity to assist and to evaluate developments on the ground in associated countries to establish a special Support Group for the associated countries, including Georgia, as it was done in the case of Ukraine (SGUA), – to upgrade the EU macro-financial assistance conditionality, which will work hand in hand with upgraded steering mechanisms and detailed reporting on the progress made by Georgia, in particular in the area of justice sector reform, – to boost the EU investment assistance linked with conditionality in a similar manner as it was proposed in Reform Contract for Investment to Ukraine in coordination with International Financial Institutions, – in the context of the huge forthcoming challenges in managing socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in job losses, closures of businesses and keeping in balance the public finances, to invite the Commission in the autumn of 2020 to propose for Eastern Partners, especially for the ones associated with the EU and committed to EU integration reforms, including Georgia, a detailed, conditional and tailor-made economic and investment plan, as it will be also done for the Western Balkans region;