Day: July 16, 2025
UK Minister of State for Europe, North America and UK Overseas Territories Stephen Doughty said the United Kingdom continues to “keep the worsening situation in Georgia under close review,” in response to a written question from Labour MP Blair McDougall, who asked about the Foreign Office’s policy on the prosecution of opposition party leaders and the repression of civil society groups in Georgia.
“We continue to keep a range of options under active review, working with our partners to respond to the latest actions,” Daughty said.
On the jailing of opposition leaders, Doughty said he is “seriously concerned,” calling their sentencing “clearly politically motivated and aimed at blocking political opposition from future elections.”
The British official cited several recent steps he has taken and calls he has made regarding the matter.
He said that on May 15, he raised his “wide-ranging concerns” about what he said are “recent repressive legislation on civil society and the media; restrictions on freedom of assembly and arbitrary arrests; and growing anti-Western rhetoric from high-level representatives of Georgian Dream.”
He added that on June 18, he discussed Georgian Dream’s repressive legislation targeting civil society, the media, and the opposition with Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s fifth president, and expressed support “for her work supporting democracy in Georgia.”
Doughty said that on June 23, he called on the Georgian Dream to “end its misuse of the courts to silence dissent, and free all political prisoners.”
Doughty also recalled British Ambassador Gareth Ward’s June 26 meeting with Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili, during which, he said, the ambassador “raised concerns about attacks on civil society, media and non-governmental organizations.” The Georgian MFA reported that Botchorishvili told Ambassador Ward the sanctions imposed by the UK “cast a shadow over the strategic partnership and friendship” between the two countries.
He also recalled the British Foreign Office’s June 30 summoning of the Georgian chargé d’affaires “to make clear the UK’s firm opposition to Georgia’s increasingly harmful trajectory.”
“On 1 July, I chaired an emergency meeting with like-minded European democracies on Georgia to discuss our assessment of the situation and actions in response,” he said.
“The UK’s support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations remains steadfast, and we stand ready to assist in a return to this European values and democratic norms.”
Relations between London and Tbilisi have become increasingly strained after Georgian Dream’s major foreign policy shift away from the EU in November 2024 and the subsequent repression of citizens protesting the move.
On December 19, the UK sanctioned five senior Georgian officials for their role in the protest crackdown, including then-Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri.
On April 3, the UK sanctioned two senior Georgian judges, Mikheil Chinchaladze and Levan Murusidze, over their involvement in “serious corruption.”
On April 10, the UK imposed further economic sanctions on four more senior Georgian officials, including then-Prosecutor General Giorgi Gabitashvili.
On July 8, during a British Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee meeting, Foreign Secretary David Lammy was asked to comment on allegations that Georgian Dream officials used British Virgin Islands-registered companies to hide their wealth, while the British Virgin Islands again missed the deadline to introduce registers for beneficial ownership. Lammy said he was not familiar with the details of Georgia’s case and the “corrupt activity there,” but added he would look into it “closely.”
Also Read:
- 11/07/2025 – EU’s Kallas, 17 European FMs ‘Disturbed, Deeply Concerned’ Over Georgia’s ‘Deteriorating Situation’
- 18/06/2025 – British Embassy Rejects GD’s Accusations of Funding ‘Propaganda and Extremism,’ Urges Invitation of ODIHR Observers
- 11/06/2025 – British Embassy Cancels Planned Grants Citing “Uncertainty” Over New Law
- 16/12/2024 – UK Minister Warns FM Botchorishvili About Police Violence, Arbitrary Arrests in Georgia
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