EU Ambassador to Georgia hopes that the October 26 parliamentary elections will be free, fair, competitive, and transparent, and held up to the highest standards.

“We sincerely hope that the upcoming elections will be free and fair, that they will be competitive, inclusive, and transparent, and that they will be held up to the highest international and European standards. I sincerely hope that this will be the case.

However, in case they are not held up to the best international standards, and this is what will be the opinion of international observers, and local observers, we will be waiting for the assessment from OSCE/ODIHR. Then, of course, we will be ready to respond to any developments, including the worst-case scenario of electoral violence and the possibility of rigging of the elections. This is what we have experienced in the case of Belarus, and I sincerely hope that we will never experience this in the case of Georgia.

On October 26, Georgians will have the possibility to express their opinion. I sincerely hope that the turnout will be really high and that people will go and vote because yes, I agree, this will be historic elections that will decide the future of Georgia. The Georgian government has invited an international long-term observation mission. This mission has already arrived and is composed of observers coming from all OSCE member states, including all 27 EU member states. We will be waiting for the assessment of all, and they will tell us if the elections were free and fair ”, - said Pawel Herczynski.