The United Kingdom has declared its readiness to counter attempts by Russia and other external forces to interfere in Armenia's electoral process. Minister of State Lio Doughty emphasized that London is committed to supporting electoral integrity and the security of the information environment during elections.
A new resolution of the European Parliament (EP) condemns the "unlawful persecution" of opposition members by the temporary commission of the Georgian parliament. The authors of the document draw attention to the disproportionately strong criticism of the actions of the government, whose powers expired more than 12 years ago, emphasizing the political nature of the "investigation".
In particular, the resolution "strongly condemns the arrest of Zurab Girchi Japaridze, Mamuka Khazaradze, Badri Japaridze, Giorgi Vashadze, Nika Melia, Nika Gvaramia and other opposition politicians." In addition, the European Parliament again demanded "the immediate release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili on humanitarian grounds so that he can receive the necessary medical care abroad."
As for the local elections scheduled for October 4, the EP believes that they will not reflect the democratic choice of the Georgian people unless the leaders of the political opposition are released and the vote is held in improved electoral conditions under the control of an independent and impartial electoral commission. Among other things, the MEPs are concerned about the de facto one-party nature of the Georgian parliament, formed on the basis of "rigged elections, which is incompatible with pluralistic parliamentary democracy and the standards expected of an EU candidate country." The European Parliament welcomes the termination of the Georgian Dream's mandate in PACE and calls for refraining from political meetings with its representatives. The EP resolution recognizes Salome Zurabishvili as the legitimate president of Georgia.