Georgia’s PM dismisses PACE as “wholly irrelevant”, arguing its resolutions carry no weight following a similar decline to the EP

“We have grown accustomed to all of this; such resolutions, whether from the Council of Europe or the European Parliament, are of no interest to us,” stated the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze.

Irakli Kobakhidze was asked about the debate regarding a resolution on Georgia, scheduled for June 24 in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), which asserts that “democratic backsliding in Georgia continues unabated”.

“We are well aware of the kind of process that precedes the adoption of such resolutions and just how ‘fair’ they are. It is precisely because every single one of these acts is fundamentally unjust that the public no longer even reacts to these documents. Consequently, none of this is of interest to me either.

The definition of an NGO has grown ambiguous; the non-governmental sector encompasses all citizens outside public administration, representing roughly 3.5 million people in Georgia. Everything these individuals are talking about, and everything stated in the resolution, is utter absurdity. As for democracy, Georgia is at the forefront in democratic standards, not just among candidate countries. This is the reality, and whatever else is written in that resolution is irrelevant,” the Prime Minister remarked.

He further asserted that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is a completely uninteresting and irrelevant institution. Kobakhidze noted that nobody cares about either this institution or its resolutions.

“Therefore, from a practical, symbolic, or any other perspective, such resolutions carry absolutely no weight for us. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has completely discredited itself. The European Parliament operates within the framework of the EU, but just as the European Parliament devalued itself, PACE has done the same. Take a look at the state of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and you will see for yourselves,” the Prime Minister concluded.