Pawel Herczynski expressed concern over the weak and ineffective oversight by the judicial and parliamentary branches of Georgia‘s security forces, stressing the importance of this for Georgia’s path towards EU membership.
Herczynski stated that an effective oversight of the Georgian security system was one of the most important steps needed to achieve Georgia’s EU Candidate status. He said that despite previous reforms, the supervision remains insufficient.
Herczynski said that the judicial and parliamentary oversight of Georgia’s security services is ineffective and very weak. Improvements are needed to achieve Georgia’s EU ambitions.
The ambassador noted that civil society groups, such as “Social Justice Center”, “CRRC Georgia” and “Georgian Young Lawyers Association,” worked on a European Union funded project to improve oversight in the security sector. He did, however, point out that the environment has become more hostile to civil society in the past three years.
Herczynski noted that “these three years have been marked by an increasingly hostile climate for civil society oversight.”
Herczynski stressed that the civil society is facing disinformation and propaganda at a time when Georgia’s future is crucial, making it even more difficult to monitor. He warned that such conditions are incompatible to Georgia’s EU ambitions and indicate a move towards authoritarianism.
“These are signs of a shift to authoritarianism which keeps Georgia from EU membership,” Herczynski stated, expressing hopes for reforms that bring Georgia’s Security System in line with international standards and European standards.
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