EU Parliament demands Georgia drop opposition party ban proceedings

Georgia's Constitutional Court has begun substantive hearings on a lawsuit filed by 88 Georgian Dream-led lawmakers seeking to ban five opposition political parties: the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, Lelo/Strong Georgia, the Federalists, and Giorgi Gakharia's For Georgia party.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the "immediate withdrawal" of the lawsuit, describing the proceedings as "eliminating legitimate political opposition" and part of a strategy to turn Georgia into a "one-party regime." The resolution states the move follows the model of Russia and Belarus and "serves the Kremlin's objective of keeping Georgia outside the European and Euro-Atlantic space."

MEPs David McAllister, Nils Ušakovs and Lina Juknevičienė issued a joint statement rejecting Georgian Dream prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze's call for dialogue with the EU, saying that in November 2024 the ruling party "unilaterally suspended Georgia's accession process, against its own Constitution and the will of its people," and that every subsequent EU recommendation was met with "new repressive laws, violence against peaceful protesters, and the imprisonment of opposition leaders and journalists."

The three MEPs said the EU's door "will reopen to the authorities the day their actions, not their words," show a return to democracy, according to their statement. They described the timing of Kobakhidze's dialogue offer — coinciding with the opening of the ban hearings — as self-evidently not credible.

The Constitutional Court accepted the case for substantive consideration in October and has until June 2027 to rule.