MADRID 29 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Eight countries in northern Europe and the Baltic have called this Sunday for new elections to be held in Georgia before and have condemned the “violence and intimidation” against “peaceful protesters, politicians and journalists” who denounce irregularities in the recent elections.
“We urge the Georgian authorities to take immediate steps (…) to implement the electoral recommendations of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and to consider the possibility of holding new elections based on these recommendations,” indicates the joint statement.
The text, signed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden, states that “Georgia urgently needs a way out of the crisis and restore the population’s confidence in its democratic institutions.”
Furthermore, the eight countries show their “alarm” over the “drift towards polarization and crisis” and reiterate their defense of the need for an “impartial investigation into the irregularities that have been reported before and during the parliamentary elections of 26 of October”
“We have condemned the violence and intimidation against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives and we regret the threats against President Salome Zurabishvili,” they stressed.