According to Lasha Tugushi, head of the Liberal Academy, the activation of the OSCE’s “Moscow Mechanism” with regard to Georgia indicates serious human rights problems.

As Tugushi stated on PalitraNews program "Free Studio", the “Moscow Mechanism” is triggered when a country faces large-scale election violations, the existence of political or prisoners of conscience, or systemic and mass violations of human rights.

According to Tugushi, the OSCE initially calls on the country to cooperate, and refusal only further aggravates the situation.

“The mechanism (the Moscow Mechanism) is a well-known instrument that is activated when there are very serious problems related to human rights. It has its own specific features. It is not activated under ordinary circumstances - there must be major violations during elections, political prisoners or prisoners of conscience must exist, or there must be systemic and mass violations of human rights. If we look at history and where this mechanism has been activated, it gives us food for thought to understand what we are dealing with.

Another important specificity is that the consent of the ‘host’ country is not required. If 10 OSCE member states agree to send a mission to a country, they can do so. The OSCE calls on the ‘host’ country to cooperate, but if the country refuses, this only worsens the situation - the mission will still arrive,” Tugushi said.

According to him, opposing the OSCE expert mission and “closing the country’s door” to it would be an irrational and wrong decision.

He also noted that a negative conclusion would lead to serious consequences for the country in many directions.

“It would be an irrational and wrong decision to resist these people and close the door. If a negative conclusion is issued, it will lead to negative consequences in many areas. For example, coalition-type groupings rely on such conclusions. Such assessments directly affect the economy, because this is not the opinion of a single country or politician - this conclusion will directly hit the country’s investment environment,” Tugushi stated.

Beyond foreign policy issues, Tugushi also spoke about domestic politics, particularly the new initiative of Georgian Dream regarding grants. He said the initiative aims to present and control any financial resources coming into Georgia from abroad as part of the political process.

In his assessment, the authorities are “closing every window and eliminating every opportunity” to retain power at any cost.

“Step by step, every possible space and activity related to any form of financial inflow into Georgia from abroad - regardless of how noble the purpose may be - will be tied to domestic politics and framed as interference in the political process. This means that any foreign contact and resource must be shut down.

They are closing every window and eliminating every opportunity in order to retain power at any cost. We are talking about a narrow group that is consolidating its positions and attacking everyone who could pose a threat to their power. Overall, this is a process of building a new Soviet Union in Georgia,” Lasha Tugushi stated.