“The PACE delegation only asked questions. The only thing they said was that they want Georgia to return and participate in PACE sessions, and they did not express a position on other issues,” said Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Relations, in a statement to journalists.

According to him, the PACE delegation was informed that the clause in their draft resolution calling for early elections in Georgia is a red line, and Georgia will not participate in the sessions until PACE changes its position.

Samkharadze stated that the Georgian side clearly emphasized that if this position changes, full participation in PACE membership will be restored immediately.

“They had several questions. The first was regarding the ‘Transparency Law.’ The second concerned amendments to the Administrative Offenses Code. The third was about how comfortable we feel in a parliament where part of the opposition is absent. The fourth concerned our pre-election promises related to European integration.

We explained very clearly that we have a strong position regarding the Transparency Law. We adopted this law in accordance with the Constitution of Georgia, and therefore we consider that this law does not violate any rights listed in the European Convention on Human Rights. We also informed them that this law has been challenged in both the Constitutional Court and Strasbourg. So, we will wait for the review processes.

Regarding the second question, about how appropriate it is when part of the opposition is absent from parliament – our response was that this was their decision. Indeed, now they regret this decision. We explained that this decision was motivated by the hope of triggering a revolution. That revolution failed, so they were left empty-handed. Consequently, there is no revolution, and they no longer hold parliamentary mandates. Therefore, they must blame themselves for what happened.

Regarding the EU issue – we responded that there is temporarily a tense situation on several issues. These include, on the one hand, the Transparency Law and, on the other hand, post-election unrest, as well as issues from October. However, we continue the process of European integration on our side and continue fulfilling the obligations under the Association Agreement. We hope that this situation will change in the near future and that dialogue between Georgia and the EU will be restored.

They also raised a very important issue – the participation of the Georgian delegation in PACE sessions. They expressed concern that we are not participating in the sessions, but I believe it was made very clear, both by the Speaker of Parliament and by me several times, that our suspension of participation is due to the fact that one PACE resolution called for Georgia to hold early elections without any justification. We told them that this is a red line for us. They could not provide any evidence of fraud or violations, and therefore we consider this clause politically motivated, and we cannot tolerate politically motivated clauses in resolutions. Accordingly, until they change their position on this specific issue, we will not participate in the sessions. We also made it clear that if this position changes, full participation in PACE membership will be restored immediately,” Samkharadze said.