Tobias Cremer: The Georgian Dream regime appears to have shifted toward a mode of restoring the Soviet past, yet it faces a problem: Georgians no longer want this. We must impose sanctions on Ivanishvili and consign these Soviet fantasies to where they belong

"The Georgian Dream regime appears to have shifted to a peculiar mode of restoring the Soviet past: on the international stage, by distancing Georgia from its European future and returning it to the Kremlin’s orbit; and domestically, by attempting to create a Soviet-style one-party state," the German MEP stated during the European Parliament's debate on Georgia.

"Colleagues, how desperate must a government be to ban every political party other than its own? How great must its fear of its own people be to beat peaceful protesters, arrest journalists, and use chemical agents against its own population? This is precisely what we are witnessing in Georgia, where the Georgian Dream regime appears to have shifted into a mode of bizarrely attempting to restore the Soviet past: on the international stage, by distancing Georgia from its European future and steering it back into the Kremlin’s orbit; and domestically, by trying to establish a Soviet-style one-party state. However, Georgian Dream faces a problem: Georgians themselves no longer wish to revert to being Soviet people. They do not want to simply bow their heads and remain silent," the MEP noted.

He called for the imposition of sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili.

"Georgians have already tasted freedom and experienced Europe, and they will not give up either of them. That is precisely why we must not turn our backs on Georgia; that is why we must stand by imprisoned journalists like Mzia Amaghlobeli; that is why we must impose sanctions on Georgia’s de facto leader, Ivanishvili; and that is why we must consign Georgian Dream’s Soviet fantasies to where they belong—to the darkest pages of our history books—because Georgia’s future lies in Europe," the MEP noted.