Member of the European Parliament [EP] Hans Neuhoff criticised the draft report on Georgia as politically biased during a session of the EP’s Foreign Affairs Committee, where the report was approved with 55 votes.

Speaking on behalf of the Europe of Sovereign Nations [ESN] group`s minority position, he firmly rejected several key provisions of the report.

"I want to express the minority position on behalf of the ESN group. Allow me to present three points. We reject paragraph 5 of the draft, which calls for the imposition of personal sanctions without prior legal procedures, violating the fundamental principles of the rule of law and individual rights. Moreover, extending such sanctions to family members constitutes a form of collective punishment, which is a clear violation of the EU`s fundamental rights and international legal norms.

Besides, we reject paragraph 8, which urges the EU not to recognise Georgia`s democratically elected Government, representing a clear violation of the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states.

We reject paragraph 10, which attempts to circumvent the principle of unanimity in EU foreign policy decisions, undermining the EU`s legal norms. Thus, we categorically reject the Commission`s draft report on Georgia, the text of which is clearly politically biased. It also contains several provisions that are legally and institutionally unacceptable under the EU and international law", - said the MEP.

The EP released a statement regarding its annual report on Georgia, which also addressed the upcoming 2025 local elections, calling on the Georgian opposition to take advantage of this opportunity.