“I once again call on all Georgians to go and vote. Upcoming elections will be absolutely essential in determining the future of your country,” said EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski.

According to the EU Ambassador, it is up to Georgian voters to decide which party they will support in the elections.

“Today we are participating in the launch of the so-called Electoral Compass. This is a non-partisan web-based tool, developed by several Georgian civil society organizations with the support of international partners in order to help Georgian voters make an informed choice of what party to support during the upcoming elections. I’m really happy that as the European Union, we have been supporting this project. Again, this non-partisan web-based tool to help to understand better what the party stands for and what issues.

I once again call on all Georgians to go and vote. Upcoming elections will be absolutely essential in determining the future of your country. It is for you, Georgian voters, to decide what party you will support. But it is for me to tell you, please go and vote. Your vote really, really matters. Action is absolutely what is necessary. I sincerely hope that the turnout during the upcoming elections on the 26th of October will be historic high and you collectively will decide the future of your country,” he said.

Pawel Herczynski remarked that the EU is not part of the electoral process.

“European Union is not part of the electoral process in Georgia. We are not running to be elected or reelected. These are political parties, Georgian political parties, that are competing with each other, and it will be for them to decide, based on the outcome of the elections, what government will be formed. On my side, as representative of the European Union in Georgia, let me once again call on all Georgians to go and vote. This is your constitutional right, but this is also your civic duty. Please, go and vote. Your vote really matters. You will decide what to do. Georgia will be your future. The future of Sakartvelo is in your hands,” the EU Ambassador stated.

Pawel Herczynski remarked that the EU will work with any government to be elected after the October 26 elections to “restart Georgia’s path towards EU membership.”

“With a breaking heart, I have to again tell you that 27 European leaders decided in June, so several months ago, to stop Georgia’s EU accession process in reaction to several difficult and troublesome developments that have happened here. I sincerely hope that after the elections, whoever wins the elections, we will very swiftly work together with the newly elected government of Georgia in order to restart Georgia’s accession process. Unfortunately, in the last several months, a lot of time has been wasted. The accession process has been stopped. This is happening in the context of other countries, including Ukraine and Moldova, going fast forward on the EU integration path. We really need to catch up and everything depends on the vote on the 26th of October.

So again, I urge every Georgian citizen eligible to vote to exercise his or her right to go and vote. In the European Union, we have made crystal clear we are ready to work with any government of Georgia to be elected after the 26th of October elections. On our side, we have made it loud and clear. Our doors are open for Georgia. We are waiting for you. Let’s not waste any one more minute, let’s restart Georgia’s path towards EU membership,” he said.