"I firmly believe that the next 12 months will be decisive in terms of seeing which direction it is possible to work in," – said Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, at a press conference held in the framework of the Council of Europe’s ministerial session, regarding Georgia.

Specifically, he responded to a question about Georgia, spoke about recent developments in the country, and cooperation with Georgia. As Berset noted, all the events witnessed in recent months have been negative.

He also stated that he wants to renew dialogue with Georgia “in order to talk about everything, knowing that things are not heading in the right direction.”

“I was in Georgia in December to get a sense of the situation. I spoke to all sides and contacts in Georgia. And what has been said so far is exactly right – 18 months ago, Georgia was granted candidate status for EU membership. Now, 18 months later, we must acknowledge that all recent developments have been negative and not heading in a good direction.

That’s why, in December, I tried to work concretely with Georgia on values and necessary reforms, because we have a team working in Tbilisi, we have an action plan with Georgia, which is precisely aimed at this – to support the European aspirations of the Georgian people. That is what we are trying to do.

Another step forward was the attempt to create a working group to focus on various laws and amendments, and we want to renew dialogue, to work together, to have a structured dialogue so that we can discuss everything, knowing that this is not going in the right direction.

I firmly believe that the next 12 months will be decisive in terms of seeing which direction it is possible to work and move in. Georgia is a member of the Council of Europe. We need to work together. We want development to go in the right direction, we want more dialogue about values, democracy, and the rule of law. That’s exactly what we are doing with the action plan, but what I mean is that the current situation is quite demanding and rather concerning,” stated Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset.