Georgian Parliament Speaker slams EaP index on country’s progress “absolutely unfounded”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday criticised the latest Index of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership initiative, which claimed Georgia had “lost considerable ground across both democracy and good governance”, as “absolutely unfounded”. 

In his press comments, the official claimed the document, which ranked Moldova first among the states of the EaP with an overall score of 0.7, followed by Ukraine with 0.66 and Georgia third on 0.63, bore “no resemblance to reality”. 

I sense the organisations behind this assessment harbour resentment towards the Georgian authorities, leading them to unfairly criticise Georgia. This assessment lacks credibility. Comparing Georgia unfavourably to Ukraine and Moldova is totally unfounded”, he said. 

“Instead, these organisations should examine the European Commission's assessments of democratic progress and consider other reputable evaluations and rankings to gauge Georgia's position”, the official added. 

The Index, published on January 24, tracks reform progress in democracy, good governance, rule of law, policy convergence and sustainable development between September 2021 and November 2023, and was produced by the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum with the financial support of the EU

The Forum is rooted into local civil society in the EU and EaP countries via National Platforms and Working Groups.