The British Embassy in Georgia encourages the Georgian Government to extend an invitation to ODIHR/OSCE to observe October’s municipal elections and take forward all recommendations in ODIHR’s final report on the 2024 parliamentary election, - reads a statement issued by the British Embassy.

In addition, as noted in the statement, Georgian legislation makes provision for citizen monitoring, which is an important part of professional and transparent scrutiny of elections.

“UK-Georgia co-operation is built on a joint commitment to strengthening democratic principles and to supporting the role of civil society in our bilateral co-operation.

This commitment is set out in the Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which both Governments signed in 2019. Specifically Article 4 of the Agreement commits the parties to cooperation on increasing the stability and effectiveness of democratic institutions and the rule of law; on ensuring respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; on making further progress on judicial and legal reform. Article 341 of the Agreement also commits both sides to ensure the involvement of civil society in UK-Georgia relations and to facilitate an enabling environment for the development of civil society.

It is on this basis that for many years the UK has supported civil society in Georgia, including voter education activities, funding for local election observation groups working to internationally approved standards and contributed to successive ODIHR/OSCE monitoring missions in Georgia.

The Georgian government itself previously supported this activity and we reject its current description as funding ‘propaganda and extremism’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Georgian legislation makes provision for citizen monitoring, which is an important part of professional and transparent scrutiny of elections.

We encourage the Georgian Government to extend an invitation to ODIHR/OSCE to observe October’s municipal elections and take forward all recommendations in ODIHR’s final report on the 2024 parliamentary election.

The hopes and aspirations of the Georgian people are for democracy and freedom, and we hope that UK-Georgia co-operation, as well as Georgia’s co-operation with European institutions, will further contribute to those goals”, reads the statement.