Georgian Dream Withdraws from PACE After Resolution Calls for New Elections
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Following the adoption of a resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) urging the Georgian Dream government to organize new elections and release political prisoners, GD Minister of Culture and former Deputy Prime Minister, Thea Tsulukiani, announced that the ruling party's delegation would cease its work in the assembly.
"The document of recognition of authority is accompanied by reservations. A number of reservations are unacceptable to us, as they are unfair and groundless," Tsulukiani stated. "Based on all of the above, we, the members of the Georgian Parliament delegation in Strasbourg and Tbilisi, have deliberated and, by the common decision of the Georgian Dream team, despite the fact that our authority has been approved, we are ceasing work in the Parliamentary Assembly from today."
Tsulukiani emphasized that while Georgia remains a member of the Council of Europe, the parliamentary delegation will not participate in PACE sessions until what she described as an "unfair attitude" towards Georgia changes.
"Georgia, of course, remains a member of the Council of Europe as a state. And the members of our parliamentary delegation will resume participation in the Parliamentary Assembly only after the unfair attitude towards the Georgian state and the Georgian people changes, the blackmail ends, and every official and unofficial decision-maker, as well as the forces behind them, understand well that such pressure will not force the government elected by Georgia and its population to take any anti-Georgian steps," she stated.
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze also weighed in on the PACE resolution and Tsulukiani's announcement, reinforcing the decision to withdraw from the assembly. He criticized European institutions, suggesting that the resolution was a product of bureaucratic inefficiency rather than substantive policy concerns.
"Such absurd decisions show that the situation in European bureaucracies is dire. Ultimately, this does not substantially change the overall situation for our country," Kobakhidze said.
He further insisted that the decision to leave PACE was inevitable. "What Mrs. Thea Tsulukiani announced was very important. Of course, this decision was absolutely without an alternative. Naturally, in such a situation, our delegation does not intend to continue working in the Parliamentary Assembly and this delegation will be challenged."
Kobakhidze also left open the possibility of returning to PACE if attitudes towards Georgia shift. "If the attitude towards the Georgian people and our country changes, in this case, of course, we will return to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, although in such a situation, what we see now, of course, working there makes no sense."
Dismissing the importance of the assembly, Kobakhidze described PACE as a minor institution with limited influence. "This is just a parliamentary assembly, which is a much lower-level body than, say, the European Parliament - you know that the European Parliament also does not have any significant role, and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is a body ten times less important than the European Parliament. Naturally, our country remains a member of the Council of Europe," he stated.
