The EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell refused to go to the Georgian parliament, arguing that the hearings of candidates for a Supreme Court judgeship are part of a process that contradicts the April 19 agreement.

The agreement between the authorities and the opposition concluded under the auspices of the President of the European Council Charles Michel, including, among other things, the implementation of judicial reform. International organisations and Western partners have repeatedly called on the Georgian authorities to refrain from appointing Supreme Court judges until reform is carried out.

"As you know, there are gaps in the legislation that do not fully comply with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. We have also seen how the ODIHR assesses the process of representing judges. So, we will remain in this position," Hartzell said.

According to him, before taking any steps, the procedure should be reviewed.

Hartzell stressed that the process launched in parliament does not comply with either the April 19 agreement or the conditions for receiving macro-financial assistance from the European Union. Earlier, he said that the failure to comply with the conditions of the judicial reform deprived Georgia of 75 million euros of macro-financial assistance in September 2021.

The EU ambassador was invited to parliament so that he could personally observe the hearings, but he refused. This time, there are four candidates for the Supreme Court of Georgia, who are appointed indefinitely.

The ruling party, Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia, insists that until 2019, Georgia has never had such a transparent form of appointing judges as it is now. "This process is unprecedented," said Anri Okhanashvili, head of the parliamentary committee on legal issues.

In addition, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, in response to criticism of international partners, said that the Georgian judicial system, after reforms under the "Georgian Dream," is ahead of many EU countries in this matter.