Tbilisi mayor calls OSCE Moscow Mechanism report ‘nonsense’

The mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze, has dismissed a report prepared under the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Moscow Mechanism, describing it as “complete nonsense”.

Responding to a journalist’s question on Friday, Kaladze said the report was politically motivated and insisted that decisions about legislation should be made by Georgia’s elected authorities.

“This is complete nonsense. I think everyone understands why this process began and what stands behind it,” he said.

Kaladze argued that the report calls on Georgia to repeal several controversial laws, including legislation on family values and the protection of minors, as well as the law on transparency of foreign influence, which the government has compared to the US Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“They are asking us to repeal the law on family values and the protection of minors, to abolish the transparency law and even the American FARA. They want us to act not in the interests of our country but according to their wishes,” he said.

Kaladze insisted that the government would continue to make decisions based on what it saw as Georgia’s national interests, stressing that the country’s leadership had been elected by the Georgian public.

“The time has ended when instructions came from abroad and decisions were made with heads bowed. The government of Georgia will do everything necessary for our homeland and the Georgian people,” he added.

Kaladze also welcomed the fact that several countries had not supported the decision related to the report, naming Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Spain, United States and France.

The OSCE report examines developments in Georgia since the spring of 2024, focusing on issues related to human rights and fundamental freedoms, and includes a series of recommendations for the Georgian authorities.