“In Georgia, where I was also the leader in the previous election, I saw harsh polarisation between the parties but also an election that offered voters a wide choice of options where the candidates could campaign freely,” Pia Kauma, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, stated in an article published by Euronews.

“I recently led two election observation missions in the United States and in Georgia, where we worked with other international partners to issue authoritative statements on the recent elections.

In the US, our observation found that engagement was high across the political spectrum and that the presidential vote was highly competitive, but public trust was undermined by disinformation and political violence.

In Georgia, where I was also the leader in the previous election, I saw harsh polarisation between the parties but also an election that offered voters a wide choice of options where the candidates could campaign freely.

The more than 500 international observers from 42 countries that contributed to this mission have helped the Georgian people gain insight into how their new government got to power and have provided directional guidance on shortcomings in the electoral process to be addressed in the future.

I have already offered the newly elected Georgian authorities the OSCE PA availability to engage constructively to address in the new legislature the recommendation that will emanate from the ODIHR Final report, which will be soon available,” Pia Kauma stated.