The Parliament heard the report of the Foreign Minister, Ilia Darchiashvili within the Interpellation. The questions submitted by the Opposition MPs concerned the participation of the Georgian citizens residing abroad in the elections, the number of polling stations abroad and the addition of the consulates.

The question to the Minister was submitted by the Opposition MPs Khatia Dekanoidze, Roman Gotsiridze, David Khajishvili, Teona Akubardia, Rostom Chkheidze, Nato Chkheidze, Bachuki Kardava and Nika Machutadze.

“Ensuring the democratic and free elections in line with international standards is a key priority of the Government in view of which the authorities undertake intensive and diverse activities at the legislative level, as well as in administrative terms, including through the collaboration with our Ministry.

Pursuant to the “Rules of Consular Registration and Withdrawal from the Consular Registration”, the consular registration of Georgian citizens abroad aims at the protection of their rights and legal interests and the efficiency of the consular operation, which implies diverse legal services rendered by the state agencies, and their registration shall not serve for the realization of their suffrage solely. The consular registration data shall be used upon the global regional or local crises in view of the effective consular protection of Georgian citizens. As the reporter added, consular registration is voluntary and the Ministry, in this context, offers numerous opportunities for Georgian citizens.

If desired, the citizens are allowed to get consular registration as through the official website of the Ministry, so in the diplomatic representation/consular agency in their residence country by their personal appearance or through the postal service. The consular registration is free of charge.

The consulates hold intensive communication with our compatriots about their needs, rights and consular services. Hence, the officials of the consulates, upon communicating with the citizens at the meetings with diasporas or in other formats, constantly strive to provide the citizens with explanations about the meaning of consular registration accentuating the circumstance that consular registration and participation in the elections are in no way connected to any unfavorable legal consequences for the citizens but serve for the protection of their rights and meeting their needs.

In line with the practice applied upon the preceding elections in relation to the necessity of consular registration, the Central Election Commission along with the Foreign Ministry intends to undertake an active informative campaign for Georgian citizens abroad. Per his information, the Ministry, back in 2023, upheld a wide-scale campaign about the electronic consular activity system covering hundreds of thousands of citizens.

The campaign aimed at awareness of our society concerning the portal, consular services and consular registration. In line with the applied electoral practice, the Ministry to ensure the suffrage of Georgian citizens, resorts to all legal available mechanisms to simplify the voting of our compatriots abroad.

Prior to the Parliamentary Elections 2020, the Ministry, within the campaign, inserted a special search field on the website allowing the citizens to verify their consular registration. Now, for the upcoming Parliamentary Elections, the Ministry intends to provide similar service to the citizens”, - said the Minister.

In response to the question about the opening of the consulates, he elucidated that the rules and procedures, the type of the consulate, its functions and organizational arrangement are stipulated under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, in line with which, the opening of the consulate on the host state shall be admissible with the consent of the hereof state solely. It is noteworthy that the consent of a host state is also required if any of the general consulates or consulates express their desire to open the vice-consulate or a consular agency beyond the settlement of their location.

“The opening of the consular constitutes a complex issue. It is regulated under internationally applied norms. The geographic specifications of a host state, the national regulations thereof and other aspects are taken into account. Hence, the decision-making terms, rules of selection of the location and other issues may vary. As a rule, various agencies are engaged in the consideration of the hereof issue and consultations may take months”, - noted Ilia Darchiashvili.

As for the opening of a consulate in the city of Bari, the respective procedures have been commenced in 2019, taking about 7-12 months.

“It re-attests the fact that the opening of a consulate is related not only to the elections but carries a wider value. The establishment of precincts in line with the Election Code is attributed to the competence of the CEC. General principles of the establishment of the precincts lie in the concept that the electors among the uniform list within or beyond the country enter the EPs according to their registration address. The registration address of the electors abroad if they have consular registration is the address of respective diplomatic representation/consular body of Georgia”, - the Minister stated elucidating that the EPs abroad are opening in the diplomatic representations/consular bodies similar to many countries worldwide.

“We, on the one hand, communicate with our citizens within the campaign, and on the other hand, keep improving our services in technological terms. We strive to ensure the realization of the voting rights of our citizens and provide them with improved state services offered by the Ministry to those certain countries”, - the Minister stated.