Speaking to Globalnews.ge, member of the European Parliament Andrius Kubilius notes that "Bidzina Ivanishvili's return to politics shows that he wants to have all the keys to managing both political processes and society." According to his own statement, the European Union and the European Parliament expect from Georgia, as a candidate state, thorough and not formal fulfillment of the criteria. 

"What was the reason why Bidzina Ivanishvili decided to return to politics? What is he afraid of or worried about? Perhaps he thinks that the previous prime minister was going to lose the election. The Georgian government should clearly understand that the European Parliament and the European Union expect a strong political will from the candidate country, that the Copenhagen criteria - democracy, rule of law, protection of human rights - will be ensured. Specific regulations, such as security and economic directions, are also important issues, which require reforms and sometimes even painful changes, but meeting the technical aspects of these criteria is not enough. If the country cannot prove that democracy in the country is mature and that the democracy in the state works according to European standards, where opposition representatives and journalists are not persecuted and that the ruling party is free from oligarchic influence, then such a country will not be able to advance to its final goal. The final goal of the Georgian people is membership in the European Union," - said the member of the European Parliament. When asked whether he expects that further steps on the way to Georgia's accession to the European Union might be delayed, the MEP notes that "everything is possible."

"Everything is possible. First of all, the achievements of Georgia will be evaluated, how the criteria were fulfilled, so that the EU institutions and the European Parliament take another step forward in relation to Georgia. We pay significant attention to such candidate countries as Georgia. We must ensure that it will not be in vain, that resources and time will not be lost, and that the Georgian government will seriously approach its obligations to Georgia. What we see now is that the government of Georgia is trying to fulfill the technical details, but it is doing nothing to implement the basic criteria, which includes the protection of democratic values, the rule of law and, of course, elections. We are not talking about formally implemented changes, but about fundamental reforms," said Andrews Kubilius.

According to him, the West will "seriously observe the elections planned in Georgia in October, not only on the election day but also throughout the entire pre-election process." 

"Monitoring the elections, of course, does not mean only the monitoring of the election day and the ballot counting process, although this is also an important issue. The entire election process must achieve a high level of transparency. This means ensuring equal access to television and communication means for opposition parties, while the opposition and opposition-minded voters should not fear persecution from the government or various groups, and they should not face the use of administrative resources in favor of the ruling party. The presence of the former president in prison also does not contribute positively to the election environment. These conditions as a whole are important for international observers to assess the results of the elections. The Georgian authorities should send an invitation for the observers to come to Georgia for a long period. Long-term observation of the process will be a prerequisite to assess whether the elections will be held in Georgia in accordance with European standards," said European Parliamentarian Andrews Kubilius in an interview with Globalnews.ge.