Georgia Faces International Pressure Over Laws and Treatment of Opposition

The Georgian government, under the Georgian Dream (GD) party, is getting criticism from international groups such as the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and United Nations (UN) experts. The issues are laws that limit freedom, the treatment of those who disagree with the government, and a plan that could stop Georgians living abroad from voting.

Calls to Stop Restrictive Laws

After visiting Georgia in November, a PACE group asked the government to stop going after opposition politicians in court. They said that recent charges, some of which could mean long prison sentences for supposed crimes against the state, seemed to be driven by political reasons. Edith Estrella and Sabina Čudić, who were in charge of the PACE group, specifically said that the government should follow the Venice Commission’s advice and get rid of some key changes to the laws.

PACE and the Venice Commission have both said that the foreign influence transparency law (also known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act), changes to the Law on Grants, and some changes to the Code of Administrative Offenses don’t meet European standards. The Venice Commission also said that the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is supposed to governments laws, is not independent enough. Despite these strong criticisms, PACE said they were disappointed that the Georgian authorities wouldn’t let them visit imprisoned journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli.

UN Criticism Over Silence and Human Rights Issues

Separately, UN experts on human rights defenders, freedom of opinion, and freedom of assembly published a confidential message criticizing the Georgian government for not responding to concerns about administrative charges against civil society organizations (CSOs) and human rights defenders, including Baia Pataraia.

The UN experts warned against misusing Article 173 of the Administrative Offenses Code, which has been used against activists, journalists, and politicians for what they say on social media, including posts that are seen as insulting to members of the Georgian Dream party. The experts said that using this rule to punish social media posts is a big threat to human rights and freedom of the press. The government did not respond to the UN’s message, which was sent in July 2025.

Ban on Voting from Abroad and Russian Support

Adding to the controversy, the Georgian government plans to change the Electoral Code to stop citizens from voting in parliamentary and city elections while they are living in other countries. This would mean that Georgians living abroad would have to travel back home to vote. Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that this is meant to protect elections and emigrants from outside interference and foreign jurisdictions.

This decision has been praised by Russian and pro-Kremlin media. They see it as a way to protect sovereignty and prevent a situation where votes from pro-European emigrants have a big impact, as happened in the 2024 presidential election in Moldova, where Maia Sandu won. Pro-Kremlin channels celebrated the move as a sign to Brussels and Washington, saying that it’s necessary to avoid the influence of pro-European voters living abroad.

This proposed law would stop more than 1.5 million Georgian citizens living in other countries from voting. In the 2024 parliamentary elections, GD received only 13.49% of the votes from Georgians abroad, suggesting that this move is aimed at reducing the impact of voters who mostly support the opposition and are in favor of closer ties with Europe.

Since the war in Ukraine started, Russian media has often praised GD for passing laws similar to Russia’s foreign agents law and for slowing down Georgia’s progress towards joining the EU. They often repeat GD’s reasons for these actions, saying that they are protecting sovereignty and national interests—the same language used by Russian President Vladimir Putin.