“There has been considerable pressure brought to bear on the Georgian government in one way or another to join in this confrontation with Russia. The Georgian government refused to do that, not because of a pro-Russian stance, but rather because they feared their country would be destroyed in such a war,” said Andrej Hunko, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, during his speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

“Today we’re talking about the situation in Georgia and the fact that we do not have a Georgian delegation here. In January, we took a decision to sanction the Georgian delegation following which they left, given the querying of their credentials in January.

My group voted against that. In the debate, we said that this parliamentary assembly has found itself in a bit of an impasse, which is where we find ourselves today.

For background, I observed the elections of the 26th of October and the run-up period. From my impression, having observed numerous elections, the level of irregularities was no different than in previous elections or cases, and not very different from some elections held in member states of the Council of Europe.

What has changed in Georgia is the geopolitical orientation of the country following the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine in 2022. There has been considerable pressure brought to bear on the Georgian government in one way or another to join in this confrontation with Russia. The Georgian government refused to do that, not because of a pro-Russian stance, but rather because they feared their country would be destroyed in such a war. Georgian Dream based its election campaign on images from Ukraine with destroyed towns and villages, saying, “We don’t want to find ourselves in a similar position. We choose peace over war.”
You might find that right or wrong, but I think it is extremely urgent for us to respect geopolitical diversity. The Georgian government, obviously with the support of the majority of the population, set out on this path not to be pro-Russian, but rather to keep clear of any confrontation, to remain neutral. I think it is wrong if that is the reason to sanction or punish the Georgian delegation.

We are the only assembly, the only international organization that would be in a position to promote dialogue, but one where Georgia would not be represented—I think that would be wrong. As Max Weber, the German sociologist, once said, there is an ethics of responsibility, and I think we need to revise our position in light of that maxim, ” Andrej Hunko declared.