The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is set to hold urgent debates on the situation in Georgia during its spring session in Strasbourg, scheduled for 7–11 April 2025, reads the organization’s website.
One of the key topics proposed for urgent debate is titled: “The situation in Georgia and follow-up to Resolution 2585 (2025) ‘Challenge, on substantive grounds, of the still unratified credentials of the parliamentary delegation of Georgia.’”
Back on January 29, PACE adopted a resolution urging Georgia to hold new parliamentary elections in the coming months. While the Assembly agreed to ratify the credentials of the Georgian delegation until April 2025, this decision came with a list of specific conditions.
In the resolution, PACE calls on Georgian authorities to:
- Launch an inclusive dialogue involving all political and social actors—including the ruling party, opposition, and civil society—to address the shortcomings of recent elections and to ensure a democratic environment for new elections;
- Take decisive steps to resume the European integration process, reflecting the pro-European aspirations of the Georgian people;
- Immediately end police brutality and human rights violations, conduct thorough investigations into such incidents, and halt the misuse of legal action against protesters, journalists, and civic activists, while fully respecting freedoms of expression and assembly;
- Strengthen cooperation with the Council of Europe and participate constructively in the process initiated by its Secretary General;
- Urgently address concerns raised in previous PACE resolutions, including the repeal of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence and reforms to the Code of Administrative Offences, taking into account the Venice Commission’s urgent opinion;
- Release all political prisoners before the April 2025 session;
- Continue full engagement with PACE’s monitoring mechanisms, ensuring their effective operation during the pre-election period to detect and prevent democratic backsliding.
The resolution concludes by stating that, depending on Georgia’s progress on these matters, PACE will reconsider the status of the Georgian delegation during the upcoming April session, with the possibility of suspending its credentials.
