Matikashvili: Venice Commission Makes Unsubstantiated Conclusions

Parliamentary majority member David Matikashvili responded to the Venice Commission's opinion, stating that the Commission makes unsubstantiated and fact-free conclusions regarding Georgian legislation. According to him, the Commission once again demonstrates an unhealthy interest in Georgian legislation.

The Venice Commission published its opinion on amendments made in March 2026 to the Law on Grants, the Law on Political Associations of Citizens, the Criminal Code and other related laws. The Commission considers that these laws do not serve the goal of protecting and strengthening Georgia's sovereignty and political parties from foreign influence and external interference. According to its assessment, instead, the laws impose disproportionate and unnecessary restrictions on citizens' fundamental rights and political freedoms, particularly regarding freedom of association and expression, and hinder the formation and survival of political opposition.

Matikashvili told journalists that the Georgian Parliament had adopted a legislative framework in its time that ensures the prevention of interference.

"The Venice Commission's opinions contain the same kind of absolutely meaningless digressions, which are not based on facts and imply only an analysis based on perceptions. This is the commission that the United States left, precisely because it considered the Venice Commission's activities inconsistent with the interests of the United States. The leading democratic countries of the whole world are adopting adequate legislation, which implies restricting and preventing foreign interference in the implementation of a sovereign state's policy. It is precisely in this direction that steps were taken in its time by the Georgian Parliament, and the legislative space and framework that ensures the prevention of interference was adopted. The Venice Commission, absolutely unsubstantiated and without any reliance on real facts, makes erroneous conclusions, which once again demonstrate an unhealthy interest in the legislation created in Georgia," said David Matikashvili.