03/10/2025 Session
PACE has urged the Georgian authorities to immediately reverse the country’s “breakdown of democracy”, pointing out that the very existence of democracy in the country is now in question.
In a resolution based on a report by Edite Estrela (Portugal, SOC), the Assembly condemned the “ongoing and relentless crackdown on political dissent” and the politically motivated prosecution of opposition members, journalists and NGOs. It listed a series of recent laws whose cumulative effect “has been devastating for civil society in Georgia, whose survival is currently at risk”.
It regretted the failure to create an environment for genuinely democratic elections, as well as the intimidation and dismissals of civil servants, among other things.
A possible ban on the democratic opposition, raised by Georgia’s prime minister, would “effectively establish a one-party dictatorship in Georgia, which would be incompatible with Council of Europe membership”, the parliamentarians added.
The Assembly said it still stood ready to engage in open and constructive dialogue with the authorities, and urged Council of Europe bodies to use “all available means” to ensure that Georgia fully honours all the Organisation’s standards and obligations.