Suppression of debate has contributed to the erosion of European democracy, as informal oligarchs successfully silenced differing voices and closed key platforms for public discourse, writes the Prime Minister of Georgia on his Facebook page.

"As a distinctive feature of European civilization, the culture of debate has historically been highly developed on the European continent. Debates have been conducted in all areas of public life - politics, business, environment, culture, sports, and more - allowing the population to remain fully informed and make sound decisions.

Since 2008, the situation in Europe had gradually deteriorated, largely due to the growing influence of the so-called deep state or informal oligarchic governance.

As European countries` sovereignty weakened and democratic standards declined, informal rulers created artificial problems, such as LGBT and gender identity issues, green politics, and others, offering the public pre-packaged solutions. This deprived people of real choice, shifted attention from genuine issues to manufactured controversies, and ultimately undermined healthy debate, a crucial pillar of democracy.

Instead of using weapons, these informal rulers had relied on soft methods - ideological and informational pressure on public consciousness - which directly contradicted open debate, public critique, and analysis.

Significant time, energy, and resources have been spent on maintaining this problem. Particularly since 2020, major European media outlets have shut down popular, high-rating debate programs, eliminating opportunities for discussion and the exchange of differing opinions.

This suppression of debate has contributed to the erosion of European democracy, as informal oligarchs successfully silenced differing voices and closed key platforms for public discourse. Unfortunately, this strategy partially affected Georgia as well, interrupting the long-standing culture of political, economic, and social debate", - writes Irakli Kobakhidze.