The draft report from the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recommends that the credentials of the Georgian delegation be provisionally ratified, pending certain conditions.
The Committee suggests that “as a signal of its openness to maintaining dialogue, the Assembly, pending a reconsideration of the Georgian delegation’s credentials at its April 2025 part-session, ratify at this part-session the credentials of the Georgian delegation, while insisting that the Georgian authorities immediately implement a number of conditions.”
“The Monitoring Committee considers that developments since the 26 October 2024 parliamentary elections, including violations of the freedom of assembly and expression and the crackdown on the opposition and civil society, are in contradiction to Georgia’s membership obligations and accession commitments to the Council of Europe.
The committee therefore wants clear assurances from the authorities that they are genuinely committed to reversing the democratic backsliding and fulfilling their membership obligations.
However, the committee suggests that, as a signal of its openness to maintaining dialogue, the Assembly, pending a reconsideration of the Georgian delegation’s credentials at its April 2025 part-session, ratify at this part-session the credentials of the Georgian delegation, while insisting that the Georgian authorities immediately implement a number of conditions, including: initiating an inclusive process; urgently addressing the deficiencies and shortcomings noted during the recent parliamentary elections and creating an electoral environment that is conducive to genuinely democratic new elections announced in the coming months; putting an immediate end to police brutality and human rights abuses; effectively investigating these practices and ending the misuse of legal proceedings as a means of deterring or retaliating against protesters, journalists and civic leaders; fully respecting the right to freedom of expression and assembly; and releasing all political prisoners before the April 2025 part-session.
At the same time, the committee suggests that, as a clear sign of its condemnation of the police brutality and other human rights abuses, which so far have not been addressed by the authorities, the Assembly resolves to suspend several rights of the Georgian delegation,” the draft report states.
The 2025 PACE winter session is held in Strasbourg from January 27 to January 31, and Georgia has been one of the central topics of discussion. The official delegation is composed of GD MPs and one representative from People’s Power, a far-right spinoff of GD.
