Tbilisi Hosts Meeting of the Monitoring Committee of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
At the invitation of the mayor of the capital, Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, the President of the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia, and the head of the Georgian delegation to the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, Marc Cools, along with dozens of delegates from 46 European countries, visited Tbilisi.
Giorgi Tkemaladze, the Vice President of NALAG and Chairman of the capital’s representative body, opened the high-level event along with Thibaut Guignard, Chairman of the Monitoring Committee.
The head of NALAG spoke about the importance of hosting the Monitoring Committee event in Tbilisi and emphasized the significance of close cooperation with the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. This collaboration aims to enhance local democracy through various measures implemented in the country.
According to his statement, Georgia appreciates the opportunity to discuss the challenges posed by Russia’s occupation of 20% of Georgia’s territory to local democracy within the framework of the meeting.
“Georgia is a clear example of the severity of occupation,” said Thibaut Guignard, thanking the hosts for the opportunity to understand the situation firsthand and promising to support Georgia within the committee’s mandate.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Lasha Darsalia, and the mayors of municipalities near the occupation line, Kaspi and Zugdidi, Vakhtang Maisuradze and Mamuka Tsotseria, also spoke at the event.
The speakers expressed gratitude to the representatives of the Council of Europe for their support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the peaceful resolution process of the Russia-Georgia conflict, and the non-recognition policy. They also informed their European colleagues about the challenging situation caused by Russian occupation in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, highlighting security and human rights issues.
According to them, Russia uses the occupation of Georgia’s regions and these provocations as hybrid weapons to destabilize the situation in Georgia. This leads to increased militarization, violations of airspace, infringements on the right to life of Georgian citizens, heightened incidents of illegal arrests and kidnappings, as well as restrictions on freedom of movement and education in the Georgian language. Additionally, it involves integrating the occupied regions into Russia’s political, military, economic, social, and legal systems and transferring strategically important territories and assets to the Russian Federation.
