“There will be a number of amendments that are being tabled by the ruling majority here, and I would like to address all of you to support them and in particular, to support those that talk about the situation on the occupied territories of Georgia. These amendments send a clear message that occupation, borderisation and annexation of Georgian territories are not acceptable for the Georgian people'', - Irakli Chikovani stated at the plenary session of the Spring Session of the Assembly.

“I have to underline that these gentlemen, our colleagues, have a very deep understanding of a situation that is ongoing in Georgia. They have been dedicated to the issues of Georgia, and we have always felt the support from their side for Georgia’s democratic reforms whenever necessary and needed”, - the Head of the Georgian Delegation to PACE, Irakli Chikovani stated.

According to him, the report covers a large number of years.

“There is a clear understanding in the report that Georgia has made progress, of course realizing that we need to continue this progress, we cannot revert and we will not revert. The new constitution of Georgia has provided a solid ground, this was a clear transformation of Georgia, where we have a truly European constitution, where checks and balances are introduced at the highest level”, - he stated.

As he clarified, there is a need to assess the four-wave judiciary reform of Georgia.

“Georgian Dream has already initiated a review process and addressed every political party on the Georgian political scene to provide their assessments on what has been done and what should be done for an improved judiciary”.

I. Chikovani noted that hate speech and polarization remain as main challenges.

“Of course hate speech and polarization remain as major challenges. I myself and a number of my colleagues, including from the opposition, were targeted at the hate speech. This is a big problem. I believe we have to work together on these issues”.

As he noted - “It is unfortunate to say that there is one political group – EPP – that did not see any positive progress made by Georgia. I understand why, because it was represented by the UNM representative. I don’t want to bring in the polarization, but I have to say that Georgians are committed to the reforms and EU path”,