Austrian Foreign Minister held in Vienna a joint press conference with her Georgian counterpart, Maka Botchorishvili.

According to Beate Meinl-Reisinger, “Georgia is a focus country of our development cooperation, and we have good economic relations. Further deepening would be beneficial, I’m sure, for both of us.”

“Between good partners, it is also possible to have frank and open discussions. And unfortunately, today we had many difficult topics also on the agenda.

When it comes to Georgia’s EU accession path, Georgia has shifted into reverse gear. This is from an Austrian, also from a European perspective, regrettable. We see a backdrop of reforms in the areas of justice, rule of law, and human rights. We even see backward steps such as legislation targeting civil society or irregularities during the parliamentary elections on October 26, as was identified by OSCE/ODIHR.

As a result, the EU accession process is currently as a halt. But I made it very clear to my Georgian colleague that we strongly condemn the violence against peaceful protestors and media representatives. Georgian authorities must respect the right to freedom of assembly and of expression and refrain from using force. All acts of violence must be investigated, those responsible held accountable.

In response to the violence, the EU has stopped the direct assistance to the Georgian authorities amounting to over 120 million euros. We have also put on hold 30 million Euro support measures for 2024 planned via the European Peace Facility, and we do not plan any support for 2025.

However, the EU and Austria will continue the support for the Georgian people, civil society. We call on those politically responsible to overcome divisions and polarizations. I think there is no other alternative than to have an active dialogue also with the civil society and to keep up the dialogue also with the EU, but also bilaterally. That’s why I think it was really good that we had this talk today.

But also, within Georgia, the dialogue with the political opposition and the civil society is essential”, - said Beate Meinl-Reisinger.