Georgian Parliament Speaker calls for international probe into pressure on OSCE election mission following Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday called for an international investigation into what he described as pressure exerted on the OSCE election observation mission following Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections, alleging that attempts were made to force the mission to alter its findings.

In his remarks, Papuashvili noted that the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament’s observation missions were involved in the alleged pressure.

“We know, including from representatives of the OSCE election observation mission themselves, that the day after the 2024 elections, when the mission was due to publish its preliminary findings, a meeting was held involving the OSCE observation mission, as well as the observation missions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. During that meeting, direct pressure was allegedly exerted on the OSCE mission to falsify its conclusions. A mechanism must be found to conduct an international investigation into these events”, the Speaker said.

“I do not know what mechanism may exist, but such an investigation is necessary because this constitutes an international offense involving interference in another country’s elections and pressure on an international organisation’s mission”, he continued.

Papuashvili further commented on whether Georgia would invite an OSCE observation mission to monitor the 2028 parliamentary elections.

“It is a fact that in 2024 there was pressure on both the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the election observation mission to falsify their report, and that pressure did not succeed at the time. However, after reviewing the Parliamentary Assembly’s resolution, we now question whether future OSCE observation missions will be able to withstand similar pressure”, he added.

“This resolution has undermined our confidence that a future OSCE Parliamentary Assembly mission would remain resilient under such circumstances. Before 2028, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly must restore the trust it has lost in the eyes of the Georgian people and demonstrate that it can resist external pressure and produce independent reports”, the Speaker concluded.