On the website of the European Council, the assessment report status on Georgia prepared by the Group of States Fighting Corruption (GRECO) is indicated as "confidential." Unlike Georgia, Armenia's assessment report has been available since April 18 in English, French, and Armenian. The Georgian government denies that it is concealing the report.
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From March 18-22, in Strasbourg, at the 96th plenary meeting of GRECO, the 5th round evaluation report of Georgia was approved. This round focuses on preventing corruption and promoting integrity in senior executive and law enforcement agencies. It covers topics such as ethical principles and rules of conduct, conflict of interest, prohibition or restriction of certain activities, declaration of assets, income, liabilities, and interests, enforcement of conflict of interest rules, and consciousness.
Transparency International - Georgia notes that the report is accompanied by recommendations, the implementation of which is part of the European integration process and is also considered a constituent component of de-oligarchization, according to the recommendation of the Venice Commission.
"We are witnessing a dangerous and alarming trend wherein the Georgian government refuses to participate in the monitoring process of the anti-corruption environment and/or publish the evaluations publicly. Last year, for the first time in 20 years, the Georgian government declined to monitor the anti-corruption network of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/ACN). "The European Commission is directly urging us to resume participation in the OECD/ACN monitoring process," stated Transparency International Georgia today.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has launched an attack on the non-governmental organization, accusing it of spreading lies. As the Prime Minister said, the claim that the government is concealing the GRECO report is false.
"This lie was spread by International Transparency, which should actually be called 'national obscurity,' as it is completely the opposite of what it claims to be.
In fact, we have already given approval to the European Council in Strasbourg that this report will be published; it is only a matter of days. This report will be published as soon as it is translated. When “NGOs” spreads such lies, it is clear what their goal is," said Kobakhidze.
The Anti-corruption Bureau explains that the translation of the reports requires a reasonable period of time depending on their volume, which is why "out of the 14 reports approved at the 96th plenary session, only three reports have been translated and published." Countries such as Germany, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Switzerland, Greece, Lithuania, and Kazakhstan have not published their reports. The Anti-corruption Bureau states that the documents will be published on the official websites of both the Bureau and GRECO as soon as the translation process is completed.
