On January 31, the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum Steering Committee and the Coordination Council of the EaP CSF National Platform of Georgia issued a joint statement, denouncing the “defamation campaign” carried out by the affiliated media of the ruling coalition member party “People’s Power” and the “dangerous statements” made by members of the ruling party “Georgian Dream” against the Georgian authors of the 2023 edition of the EaP Index.
Following the publication of the 9th edition of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Index Georgia was ranked third out of six countries, lagging behind Moldova and Ukraine, and was said to have “lost significant ground across both democracy and good governance, and policy convergence indicators.” GD members lashed out against the authors of the Index, with Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili slamming and accusing them of sending inaccurate information about Georgia to European structures. In addition, the pro-Government POSTV launched a defamation campaign against the Georgian authors of the Index, accusing them of “sending negative conclusions about Georgia to European structures.”
“Attempts to discredit civil society, diminish our watchdog role, and portray activists as “enemies” of the country contradict the constitutional values of Georgia and its commitments towards European integration,” – the statement reads, emphasizing that a liberal environment is “the backbone of any healthy democracy and country with EU accession aspirations.”
It says that “building trust with civil society, encouraging academic freedom, and enabling constructive discussions on policy recommendations advanced by independent experts and activists can only contribute to a positive agenda of the government” and ultimately to a more robust democracy.
The statement calls the propaganda against the authors a “smear campaign” and urges the perpetrators to stop their “defamatory actions against civil society in general and the EaP Index experts in particular.”
The statement calls on the Georgian government to consider the report’s findings and work to implement them. It urges European institutions to “closely monitor Georgia’s implementation of reforms and commitments towards European integration”. The statement also calls on civil society and international organizations to express their solidarity with all experts subjected to such smear campaigns.
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