On December 20, Alain Berset, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, concluded his three-day visit to Georgia with a press conference at which he unexpectedly announced that he received a promise from the GD government about forming a working group to amend the Foreign Agents’ law. During his visit, Secretary Berset met with representatives from the Georgian Dream’s government, including two meetings with GD Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, with GD honorary chair Bidzina Ivanishvili, opposition, civil society and Public Defender.
“Georgia is at a critical juncture. The country is filled with political tension, polarized public debate, and high levels of violence,” he said. Noting that he came to express his support support for Georgia and its people, he announced that the GD has pledged to amend the content of the “Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence” (widely known as foreign agents law). According to him, a working group will be established to elaborate the amendments consisting of the representatives from Georgia and the Council of Europe, including the Venice Commission. “This group will identify the changes needed in the legislation,” Berset added.
The Secretary General concluded by expressing hope that “such processes” could be extended to other areas, including equality, anti-discrimination measures, electoral reforms, and prison and probation systems.
He called on both the ruling party and the opposition to engage in dialogue and adhere to democratic principles. According to him, the Council of Europe is ready to facilitate dialogue, but ultimately, the responsibility lies with the Georgian people and institutions to revive and strengthen their democracy.
Secretary Berset also expressed alarm over the threats faced by journalists calling them “alarming”. As he stated, he appealed to state institutions to avoid the use of disproportionate force and ensure the release of all those detained on administrative charges. He added that he had received certain assurances from the authorities regarding these concerns.
“I am not here to legitimize elections, that is the responsibility of other competent institutions,“ he stated at a press conference. According to Berset, the key reason of his visit was to meet with everyone, as “dialogue is the cornerstone of any functional democracy.”
The visit of Secretary Berset sparked mixed reactions. The Coalition for Change alliance announced that its representative would not meet with Secretary Berset. In the statement, the Coalition said that: “Through propaganda and disinformation purposes, Georgian Dream is using the visit of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Mr. Alain Berset, in Tbilisi. The authors of the state capture aim to mislead the Georgian people with this visit, suggesting that someone in Europe recognizes their legitimacy.”
On the same day as the visit was taking place Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said in the interview with the TVP World that high level meetings with Western partners “are and will be used by the GD party as propaganda and manipulation”. In that context, she noted that the CoE Secretary-General is “not well prepared for” such propaganda.
The Foreign Agents Law was first introduced in 2023 by the GD spin-off People’s Power party. Following mass protests, Georgian Dream withdrew the bill and promised not to reintroduce it. However, it broke its promise and reintroduced the bill in parliament the next year, in 2024. The recommendation of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission not to pass the law was not heeded by the GD government. Despite two months of mass protests in spring of 2024 and condemnation of the highly repressive law, known in Georgia as the ‘Russian Law’, by local civil society organizations and Georgia’s Western partners, as well as warnings that its adoption would harm Georgia’s EU integration, the GD government passed the law over the President’s veto. The Constitutional Court, widely seen as not independent of the authorities, dismissed several legal challenges to the law’s constitutionality. In June, the EU said that the adoption of the law had ‘frozen Georgia’s EU integration’ and that the EU would examine the consequences.
Also Read:
- 20/12/2024 – Secretary General of CoE Visit to Georgia
- 11/05/2024 – Over 50 International Rights Organizations Stand with Georgian CSOs, Call for Withdrawal of Foreign Agents Law
- 12/05/2024 – PM Vows to Adopt Foreign Agents Law, Pledges to Punish Violent Protesters
- 15/05/2024 – Borrell and Várhelyi: Foreign Agents Law ‘Negatively Impacts’ Georgia’s EU Progress
- 17/07/2024 – 121 CSOs, Media Take Foreign Agents Law to the Constitutional Court
- 23/05/2024 – Secretary of State Blinken “Anticipates” US Actions for Foreign Agents Law
- 21/05/2024 – Venice Commission Strongly Recommends Repeal of Foreign Agents Law
- 02/05/2024 – Interview | ODIHR: Georgian Democracy Threatened by Foreign Agents Law