Riigikogu liikmed Eerik-Niiles Kross ja Hanah Lahe osalesid Euroopa Nõukogu Parlamentaarse Assamblee (ENPA) Eesti delegatsiooni liikmetena 27. – 30. jaanuaril ENPA talvesessiooni töös Strasbourgis, kus arutleti õiglase ja kestva rahu tagamisest Ukrainas. Ühtlasi võttis ENPA vastu resolutsiooni Gruusia rahva toetuseks.
Neljapäevasel täiskogu istungil arutleti sügisel Gruusias aset leidnud parlamendivalimistest ning vajadusest tagada Valgevenes vabad ja õiglased valimised. Istungil võeti vastu resolutsioon Gruusia rahva toetuseks ja demokraatia kaitseks.
Resolutsioonis seisab, et pärast 26. oktoobri 2024 parlamendivalimisi toimunud arengud, sealhulgas kogunemis- ja sõnavabaduse rikkumised ning opositsiooni ja kodanikuühiskonna mahasurumine, on vastuolus Gruusia liikmekohustuste ja Euroopa Nõukoguga ühinemise kohustustega. Seetõttu soovib komisjon võimudelt selget kinnitust selle kohta, et nad on tõeliselt pühendunud demokraatliku tagasilangemise tagasipööramisele ja oma liikmekohustuste täitmisele.
Euroopa Demokraatide ja Liberaalide ühenduse (ALDE) esindajana pidas kõne Gruusia rahva toetuseks täiskogu istungil riigikogu väliskomisjoni ja ENPA Eesti delegatsiooni liige Eerik-Niiles Kross.
Kross rõhutas oma kõnes Gruusia euroopalikku identiteeti ning ajaloolist püüdlust vabaneda Vene imperialistlikust võimust, olgu see siis tsaristlik, nõukogudeaegne või Putini Venemaa. Ta meenutas 1999. aastal Gruusia parlamentaari Zurab Žvania sõnu: “Ma olen grusiin, seega olen eurooplane”, mis tähistas Gruusia pühendumust Euroopa väärtustele.
Kross kritiseeris teravalt Gruusia praegust valitsust, mida ta kirjeldas kui venemeelse oligarhi juhitavat režiimi, mis viib riiki autoritaarsuse suunas, sarnaselt Lukashenka Valgevenele, Janukovõtši Ukrainale ja Putini Venemaale. Ta tõi esile, et Gruusia on murdnud oma lepingulise kohustuse järgida demokraatiat, inimõigusi ja õigusriigi põhimõtteid.
Kross toonitas, et vaatamata repressioonidele seisab enamik Gruusia rahvast jätkuvalt Euroopa suuna eest.
Avaldame Eerik-Niiles Krossi kõne täismahus.
Me var Kartveli, da mashasadame var Evrop’eli.
I am Georgian, therefore I am European.
This is what Georgian Speaker of Parliament Zurab Zhvania declared in this very hemicycle upon Georgia’s accession to the Council of Europe in 1999.
This belief—this declaration of identity—has been the cornerstone of generations of Georgians who struggled to free their country from Russian imperial domination—Tsarist, Soviet, and now, Putinist.
In 1999, Zhvania, awaiting the vote to accept Georgia into this house, said: “It would not be an exaggeration to say that every Georgian, all Georgian citizens, look forward to an important message from this hall of the European palace.”
It is not an exaggeration today.
But today, 25 years later, a Russian-friendly oligarch and his proxies are executing a textbook state capture in Georgia—as we saw in Lukashenko’s Belarus, Yanukovych’s Ukraine, and, of course, Putin’s Russia.
In 1999 Georgia took on treaty-bound obligations to uphold the core values of this house: human rights, democracy, the rule of law.
Georgia was accepted into the European family.
Yet, in November 2024, the de facto Prime Minister of Georgia when freezing Georgia’s European accession—claimed that calls from the Council of Europe and European Parliament to uphold democracy, stop police brutality, release political prisoners, and revoke Russian-style repressive laws were, and I quote:
“Blackmail and manipulation, which is utterly disrespectful to our country and society.”
I know the majority of Georgians and the majority of European thinks the opposite. What is utterly direspectful to Georgia and its people, what is manipulation and blackmail and worse, is what the regime is doing to it now.
Yesterday, in this house, a representative of the ruling party told us: “There is no police brutality in Georgia, no political prisoners, and no need for new elections before 2028.”
This is exactly what Putin’s representatives told us when Russia was still a member here. We know what happened next.
The ALDE group believes Georgia’s ruling party has crossed the Rubicon toward a one-party autocracy. Yet, we support the ratification of the Georgian delegation’s credentials—not because of faith in the regime, but because of faith in the Georgian people, who even now, are marching, resisting, fighting for their European future.
Our message to them—the message I know they are waiting for in the streets of Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi, and beyond—is in the conditions we set to the regime:
1. Stop police brutality. Investigate all abuses by law enforcement and the judiciary.
2. Release all political prisoners.
3. Announce new parliamentary elections—under strict international observation, in a free and fair environment.
This is the message to the Georgian people and to the Georgian regime..
And to the Georgian regime, our message is also this: You have broken the sacred contract with your people.
These people—who defended their country in 2008, who elected pro-European governments, who now march under European flags, despite being watercannoned, gassed, beaten, tortured—these people have chosen their path.
And we will stand with the Georgian people until this contract is restored.
We thank the rapporteur and the EPP group for their brilliant work in this difficult moment. We urge unanimous support for this crucial resolution.
Gaumarjos Sakartvelos!