Georgian Delegation Suspends Participation in PACE Activities Over Calls for New Elections

Georgia announced on Wednesday that it is withdrawing its delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) after the body passed a resolution urging the country to hold fresh parliamentary elections.

PACE adopted the resolution with 114 votes, citing concerns over Georgia’s “continuing and rapid backsliding of democracy” and calling for the repeal of the country’s controversial foreign influence law.

Thea Tsulukiani, head of the Georgian delegation, stated that the decision to withdraw was made collectively by the ruling Georgian Dream party. She criticized PACE’s conditions, particularly the demand for new elections, calling them “totally unacceptable” and an affront to the will of over 1.1 million Georgian voters. She also denounced what she described as “blackmail” against Georgia’s elected government and dismissed PACE’s stance as biased and insulting.

Despite the withdrawal, Georgia remains a member of the Council of Europe, with Tsulukiani emphasizing that the delegation will return only if PACE changes its approach and ceases what she called undue pressure on the country.

The dispute follows Georgia’s parliamentary elections in October, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party secured an 89-seat majority, a result contested by opposition figures, including then-President Salome Zourabichvili, who described it as a “Russian special operation.”