Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I raise the question of the ongoing protests in Georgia. As the Minister of State will know, Ireland has very friendly relations with Georgia but we have seen in recent months, in particular in recent weeks, growing protests on the streets of Georgia against the transparency of foreign influence Bill that the Georgian Dream party is trying to introduce, but also against the increasing crackdown on any form of dissent within that country. The fear among many of those who are opposed to what is happening is that, because this Bill is very much based on Russian law, it is an effort on the part of the Georgian Dream party to stifle all opposition ahead of October's parliamentary elections. We saw a similar law introduced in Russia in 2012 and we know what has happened in Russia, with cultural figures, journalists, civil society groups and others having experienced serious efforts to stifle their voices and, in some cases, we have seen imprisonment and worse.

In April, the European Parliament called for sanctions against the founder and leader of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili. The vote in the European Parliament was 425 to 25. This individual is a billionaire oligarch who made his money in Moscow in the 1990s and has parroted Russia's line regularly in Georgia. The laws he is trying to ensure are introduced in Georgia, as the European Parliament and others have pointed out, are very much against EU values. We have seen a crackdown on the LGBT community and journalists and opposition politicians have been targeted, imprisoned and beaten.

I applaud the bravery of the demonstrators in Georgia in the past two weeks. They have been met with tear gas and rubber bullets, even though these are peaceful demonstrations. Given that Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, that polls consistently show over 80% of Georgians would like to join the European Union, and that Ireland has always been a strong supporter of enlargement by following the process, it is a serious concern that we are seeing the oppression of human rights in Georgia.

I believe we should continue to support Georgia in its moves towards membership of the European Union but, as we have done with Belarus and other countries, we need to point out where there are serious abuses of human rights and efforts to undermine democracy. We are 20 years on from the EU’s biggest enlargement when ten countries, mostly in central and eastern Europe, joined the EU family. I am sure the Minister of State would agree that, at some stage, it would be great to see Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia all in membership, having followed the process and having agreed to all of the necessary rules that apply to accession. However, what is going on at the moment in Georgia is not acceptable. It is important we show solidarity with those who are fighting to maintain democracy there and, if necessary, that we ensure sanctions are placed on those trying to crack down on human rights.