Europe’s watchdog looks to Georgia for solutions against foreign manipulation

The Council of Europe has launched efforts to address the issue of foreign interference and has asked Georgia to share its experience in countering such threats.

According to Caliber.Az, citing Georgian media, the Council of Europe has formally requested that its member states submit information on cases of foreign information manipulation and external interference covering the period from January 1 to April 15, 2025. Georgia is among the countries included in this review.

The Council of Europe’s expert committee on foreign information manipulation and interference is examining a broad range of issues, including disinformation, media concentration and capture, media freedom, organised crime, cybercrime, and corruption.

Levan Makhashvili, head of the Georgian parliament’s committee on European integration, said that the Council of Europe has shown particular interest in Georgia’s experience in this area. He noted that Georgian authorities have already compiled and submitted relevant materials, including accumulated experience, legislation, measures taken, and decisions adopted.

“One can say that the ice has finally been broken. At last, the Council of Europe has acknowledged that this [foreign interference] is a problem. It is not an artificially created issue dictated by certain political processes, but a real problem faced not only by Georgia but also by Council of Europe member states,” Makhashvili said.

He stressed that direct interference by foreign states through manipulation, disinformation, and other methods has become an established reality across Europe, a fact that is reflected in the Council of Europe’s decision.

“The fact that each country, in different processes, encounters direct interference by other states — through manipulation, disinformation, and other methods — is already a reality, which is confirmed by this decision of the Council of Europe,” he said.

According to Makhashvili, the Council of Europe plans to assess the situation across its member states and propose concrete mechanisms to address the problem. These mechanisms, he said, are expected to respect constitutional systems while fully complying with human rights protection standards.

“The Council of Europe has decided to study the situation in this area within its member states, and the discussion is about proposing specific mechanisms for possible solutions that, on the one hand, will respect the constitutional order and, on the other, will comply with human rights protection standards,” Makhashvili said.

He added that it was within this framework that the Council of Europe approached Georgia to inquire about its experience. “There is a wide range of problems — from sabotage to election interference — and we have gathered our experience, legislation, steps taken, and decisions adopted and passed them on,” Makhashvili said.

By Tamilla Hasanova