Tbilisi ready to return to PACE

The Georgian authorities insist they will only resume work in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the condition that the legitimacy of the recent parliamentary elections is recognized.

The Georgian delegation will not continue its cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) until the European body retracts its demand for the organization and holding of snap elections, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Nikoloz Samkharadze said.

"The PACE demand to hold snap elections in Georgia, which was fixed in the Assembly's January resolution, is a 'red line'. Georgia will not participate in the sessions until PACE changes its position," Nikoloz Samkharadze said.

The head of Georgia's International Affairs Committee emphasized that the condition set by PACE is "politically motivated," citing a lack of evidence of fraud in the October 2024 parliamentary elections.

This development follows the decision by the organizers of an EU enlargement forum, scheduled for November 18 in Brussels, to exclude Georgia from the list of invitees. Simultaneously, a PACE delegation arrived in the country and met with the leadership of the opposition party.

In January 2025, Georgia suspended its participation in PACE following a resolution adopted by the council that called on the republic's authorities to hold new parliamentary elections and release political prisoners. Commenting on the European body's decision at the time, the country's PM labeled the demands as "insulting."