The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has raised “serious doubts” about the Georgian authorities’ willingness to abide by Council of Europe membership obligations – pointing to a “continuing breakdown of democracy” in the country.
Debating a report by Edite Estrela (Portugal, SOC) and Sabina Ćudić (Bosnia and Herzegovina, ALDE) at its summer session in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly warns in its resolution that “democratic backsliding has continued unabated as has the crackdown on civil society, political opposition and dissent”.
Conditions for holding genuinely democratic elections absent
None of the urgent recommendations made in its last resolution in October 2025 have been addressed the parliamentarians pointed out, adding that “the conditions for holding genuinely democratic elections currently do not exist”.
The parliamentarians said the ban on “practically all democratic opposition parties in Georgia and the criminal prosecution of their leadership” was unacceptable. If pursued, this would “effectively establish a one-party dictatorship in Georgia”, which is incompatible with Council of Europe membership.
Nevertheless, the Parliamentary Assembly said it remained committed to an “open and results-oriented dialogue with the Georgian authorities”, while underlining that Council of Europe standards and membership obligations “cannot be put into question or negotiated”.
Parliamentarians called on Council of Europe bodies to use “all available means”, including those under Article 52 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and on Council of Europe member states to consider the use of interstate applications to the Strasbourg Court, to ensure that Georgia fully honours all the standards and obligations stemming from Council of Europe membership.
Georgia is one of ten Council of Europe member states currently subject to the Parliamentary Assembly’s full monitoring procedure, which – through regular debates and visits – assesses how far a state’s obligations and commitments to the organisation are being honoured.
