Civil society representatives welcome the involvement of the European Union and the United States in the de-escalation of the political crisis in the country. Particularly important in this regard is the role of the Mr. Christian Danielsson, Personal Envoy of President of the European Council, in leading the mediation process between the government and opposition forces.

We appreciate that at the very beginning of his first visit to Georgia, Mr. Danielson met with representatives of civil society and listened to their views on how to alleviate the political crisis in the country. Also, with the assistance and efforts of the Personal Envoy, the political forces returned to the negotiation process and held a series of meetings.

Unfortunately, despite Mr. Danielson’s active involvement, no consensus has been reached yet between the parties. We, the signatory organizations, express our regret that the mediation process takes place behind closed doors and is not very transparent to the public. This allows both the government and the opposition to blame each other for the failure of reaching the agreement.

Given that the EU continues to mediate between the parties, we, civil society representatives, would like to express our wish that impartial and neutral mediators provide the public with more information specifically about the mediation process, the responsibilities of political forces in this process and its consequences.

We believe that conducting mediation in such a manner will help increase public awareness and prevent further speculation, misinformation and anti-European narratives, both in the country and abroad.