Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-26-Speech-5-061-000"
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"en.20121026.3.5-061-000"2
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".
Mr President, when I was in Batumi in July this year, I said that Georgia would not be the same after the forthcoming parliamentary elections – those elections would change Georgia. I said we would either have, for the first time in Georgian history, a transfer of power through democratic means, or we would have a strong and constructive opposition. I did not know at that time that we might end up with both of those at the same time – a change of power and a strong opposition. I take it as a major sign of democracy.
I would like to thank all those Members who have contributed to this useful and interesting discussion. I want to reassure you of my personal commitment to following through on our promises to Georgia, including the one which you have stressed a number of times – the one related to the territorial integrity of Georgia. Maintaining the pace of our political association with Georgia is vital to the credibility of the Eastern Partnership and to the prospects for stability and peaceful development in the Southern Caucasus.
I would also like to underline the valuable role of this House in supporting Georgia’s democratic development so far. I am confident that you will continue in this work, helping Georgia to build stronger democratic institutions, to implement all the lessons learned from the October elections, and to encourage an effective parliamentary dialogue between government and opposition, in the service of long-term policy continuity, accountability and transparency.
If I may, I would add the two following remarks. Mr Danjean raised an important point, and I wanted to make it absolutely clear that I did not miss the opportunity to make a strong call on the EU authorities to resist the temptation for political retribution. I have to say that I found in Prime Minister Ivanishvili a committed partner, interested in strengthening democracy and continuing to make the best use of the deepening of political association and economic integration.
What I think was the most impressive element of my recent trip last week to Georgia was my individual conversation with Prime Minister Ivanishvili and President Saakashvili, both of them having a positive assessment of the transfer of power so far. I called on them to build on that positive experience and to create a strong basis for being able to address the many challenges this cohabitation will bring – and, make no mistake, there will be many.
If I may also continue a thought Mr Tarand expressed – let me use the Georgia case but I think it is actually an issue which covers more countries – when we face the election in our partner countries, the time before the elections and after the elections is sometimes also an opportunity for the political families in this House to shadow, to a certain extent, the competition of the main political parties in those elections. I believe that this is a normal political reaction of this noble House.
I would also like to make the following plea. The stronger the bipartisan support for strengthening democracy that comes from this House, the more opportunity the High Representative/Vice-President of the Commission and all of us will have to actually deliver our assistance to strengthen democracy in those countries."@en1
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