The leaders of three European Union member states -- France, Germany, and Poland -- on November 7 urged Georgia to investigate allegations of widespread voting irregularities during last month's parliamentary elections and called on Tbilisi to reverse Russian-inspired legislation.
Georgia's pro-European opposition, which has refused to recognize the result of the elections, has been holding large daily protests in Tbilisi after the Moscow-friendly Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for the past 12 years, claimed victory with 54 percent of the vote.
SEE ALSO: Georgia's Opposition Criticized For Sluggish Reaction To Flawed ElectionGeorgia's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, also refused to recognize the validity of the results, alleging massive fraud and Russian interference.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in a joint statement that they were "deeply concerned by the numerous irregularities and voter intimidation" reported during the vote.
Georgia has been a candidate for EU membership since last year, but moves by Georgian Dream to adopt legislation to curb foreign funding of NGOs mirroring Moscow's "foreign agents" law and anti-LGBT measures have sparked criticism from Brussels and Washington that the Caucasus country was backsliding on democracy.
Macron, Scholz, and Tusk, in a statement under the so-called Weimar Triangle format, warned that the steps taken recently by the Georgian government were threatening Tbilisi's progress toward eventual membership in the bloc.
"Unless Georgia reverses its current course of action and demonstrates tangible reform efforts, in particular by repealing recent legislation that runs counter to European values and principles, we will not be in a position to support the opening of accession negotiations with Georgia," the three leaders said as they gathered in Budapest for a meeting of the European Political Community, as well as an informal EU summit.
The statement came as Georgia's Appeals Court continued deliberations through the night on complaints filed by two observer groups -- the Young Lawyers' Association and My Voice -- against irregularities in district election commissions during the October 26 vote.
My Voice has said its observers from 1,131 precincts reported more than 900 cases of violations of election procedures.
Nika Melia, one of the leaders of Coalition for Change, has said demonstrations will continue for new elections.
"In the coming days and weeks, our task is to fill Tbilisi with people. All major squares, streets, avenues should be full of people," Melia told RFE/RL.