Although the May 21 parliamentary election was not “free of imperfections” it was a “significant improvement” compared to presidential election in January, German Foreign Ministry spokesman said, according to Deutsche Welle.

Martin Jaeger also said that elections were an “important step” towards democracy.

“The [German] government congratulates the people of Georgia on the peaceful and on the whole fair elections,” the German Foreign Ministry’s spokesman said. “With this, Georgia has made a further important step towards a democratic society… After this intensive and at times strongly polarizing vote we call on all political powers in Georgia to work constructively together in parliament to implement its reform work.”