Georgia’s delegation refused to participate in the vote on the Hague Declaration during the plenary session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, leaving the chamber in protest.
Ahead of the vote, Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, said the delegation was boycotting the vote because parts of the revised declaration “deliberately distort the political reality in Georgia.”
Samkharadze claimed that the document misrepresents facts, ignores what he described as violent attacks on state institutions, and arbitrarily interprets the findings of both international election observation missions and the Moscow Mechanism report, thereby harming Georgia’s national interests.
“For this reason, our delegation will not participate in the voting process as a sign of protest. It is particularly regrettable that we are forced to make this decision here in The Hague, the capital of international law,” Samkharadze said, asking that the delegation’s position be recorded in the Assembly’s official minutes. He also thanked the Dutch parliament for hosting the session.
Responding to the statement, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Pere Joan Pons said leaving seats empty was “always the worst option.”
“Thank you very much, Nikoloz. As you know, even in your own country, leaving seats empty was not a good decision, and you are doing exactly the same here. I believe that leaving empty seats in parliament is always the worst option because democracy is, above all, a joint effort to resolve conflicts,” Pons said.
Minutes after the Georgian delegation left the session, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted the Hague Declaration, which includes a resolution on Georgia titled “Protecting Electoral Integrity and Fundamental Freedoms in Georgia.” The resolution’s principal sponsor was US Congressman Joe Wilson.
