On Wednesday 18 December, Secretary General of the Council of Europe Alain Berset began the official visit to Georgia that he had announced on 4 December, after a telephone conversation with President Salomé Zourabichvili and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
The aim of this mission is to ensure the conditions for continued co-operation between the Council of Europe and Georgia, “in full compliance with the Organisation’s values and principles”.
The context is particularly “tense and worrying”, stressed the Secretary General, who called on all parties “to avoid any escalation of tensions”, to refrain from the disproportionate use of force and to respect fundamental freedoms, in particular freedom of expression and assembly.
During the first day of his visit, he met with members of civil society, Mr Kobakhidze, Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili and Georgia’s Ombudsman Levan Ioseliani, with whom he discussed the issue of protecting the human rights of detainees and those injured during arrests.
A “2024-2027 Action Plan” links the Council of Europe to Georgia. It aims to strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights and guarantee judicial independence. These priorities must be reflected in the national reform programme.
At the start of his three-day visit, Alain Berset reaffirmed his “support for Georgia’s European aspirations”. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)