Georgian PM defends Transparency and Family Values laws in response to OSCE report criticism

Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Saturday dismissed criticisms in the OSCE report, insisting that Georgian laws - including those on transparency, family values, and protection of minors - serve legitimate purposes and are not repressive.

Responding to journalists’ questions about the OSCE Moscow Mechanism report, Kobakhidze emphasised that his government upholds legal principles based on proportionality and legitimacy.

“There is not a single repressive law in force in Georgia in the sense that certain individuals claim. Not a single repressive law is effective in our country. Every law serves a legitimate purpose and every law is proportional. We are ready to discuss, one by one, any law that these individuals referred to. Every law serves a legitimate aim and is based on the principle of proportionality”, he said.

The prime minister specifically addressed criticisms of the transparency law and legislation protecting minors and family values.

“They do not like the transparency law, which fully corresponds to a legitimate purpose and the principle of proportionality. They do not like the law on the protection of minors’ rights and family values. They simply do not like such legislation”, Kobakhidze noted.

He also criticised specific recommendations in the report, arguing that some proposals were extreme and would impose unnatural changes on Georgian society.

“This lady [Patrycja Grzebyk] directly writes in her conclusion that you can go to the Public Service Hall in Batumi and register yourself as a man. This woman is forcing us to allow such a thing - that if someone wants to go to the Public Service Hall and change their registration to a man, we must grant that right. All of this is abnormal. She is forcing us to rewrite women as men and men as women”, Kobakhidze concluded.

The report issued under the OSCE Moscow Mechanism calls on the Georgian authorities to repeal several laws, including legislation on transparency and the protection of family values. It also recommends abolishing provisions related to foreign grants in the law on grants, revoking amendments to the law on broadcasting that concern foreign funding and content restrictions, and scrapping the so-called Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)-style requirements.