Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament / Head of Georgia"s Permanent Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, participates in the OSCE PA’s annual session, where he delivered a strong critique of recent amendments concerning Georgia.

Speaking at the Committee on Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Questions, Nikoloz Samkharadze condemned the proposed changes to the report that relate to Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections, calling them “absurd in many respects”.

“The first two sentences directly contradict the OSCE/ODIHR report’s findings. I would like to ask the Polish MP who introduced this initiative: why is he undermining the credibility of the OSCE/ODIHR observation mission? What is the point of having election observation if some members of this Assembly dismiss the mission’s findings due to political preferences or personal ties to opposition parties?

Georgia remained an active OSCE member and the organisation was held in high regard by the Georgian public. However, the inclusion of such absurd amendments would undermine that trust”, - said Nikoloz Samkharadze.

He also responded to another amendment that described the strengthening of ties between the Georgian Government and Russia as alarming: “I believe most members of this Assembly are aware that, along with Ukraine, Georgia is the only country in the Assembly not having diplomatic relations with Russia due to the occupation of 20% of our territory. What strengthened ties are they referring to? The author of this initiative should present specific evidence”.