22 Georgian NGOs urge gov’t to make its position clear to West, Ukraine

Twenty-two Georgian NGOs, including Transparency International Georgia, International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy and others, have called on the Georgian Dream government and the ruling party to express a clear position on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and stand by the West with its actions.

 

In a joint statement released today the NGOs say that the current authorities should ‘openly and unequivocally’ express support for Ukraine, as well as for the pro-Ukraine steps taken by the West, and state that it is committed to the regime of international sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia for its recent invasion of Ukraine.

 

“The Georgian Dream authorities should immediately stop threatening its citizens with war and thus demoralizing them,” said the NGOs, noting that the mood ‘was obvious’ in the statements being made by the ruling party members and the groups affiliated with them.

 

The NGOs urged the government and the ruling party to “renounce hate speech, rise above narrow party interests and do everything possible to reduce polarization in the public.”

 

“The government should regularly inform the public about the steps that are being taken to advocate for Georgia as a candidate for EU membership,” said the NGOs.

 

The NGOs believe that an extended meeting of the Security Council should be held with the participation of the President of Georgia and the opposition to provide information to the public about the challenges facing the country and ways to address them.

 

They also stated that the parliament, with the participation of the majority, the opposition, the government and experts, should  hold a discussion on how the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its retaliatory sanctions could  affect the Georgian economy and what could be the best way out of this situation.