Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2024 to Question 19695 on Foreign Relations: Elections, what recent discussions has he had with his counterpart in Georgia; and if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of those discussions at reducing political tensions in that country.

On 16 December I spoke with Georgian Dream's Foreign Minister, Maka Bochorishvili, about the instability we were seeing in Georgia, and about Georgia's negative democratic trajectory. I stressed that police violence targeting peaceful demonstrators, opposition figures and journalists was unacceptable. On 19 December, the UK implemented sanctions against the Minister and Deputy Minister of Internal affairs and three police officials responsible for these violent actions. We continue to assess the impact of our actions, and to call on Georgia to realign itself with European values.