Tea Tsulukiani, Head of the Georgian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe from the Georgian Dream, pledged to “defend the country’s voice and position” as the Assembly prepares to vote on the delegation’s credentials on January, 29.

“At the plenary session, it will be seen whether the extremist Georgian opposition will win and our delegation will be expelled from these walls. If this does not happen, the Georgian voice will continue to be heard”, - said Tea Tsulukiani.

She criticised the process as “rushed”, noting the “fate of the country that has 20% of its territories occupied by Russia should not be decided in a few minutes”, and called for “deeper debates” on the issue.

The Monitoring Committee has since held closed sessions to review the matter, during which Tsulukiani and her colleague Eka Sepashvili presented their defence.

“Everyone was informed that it is prohibited to take positions voiced at this session outside”, - added Tea Tsulukiani. She also underlined the importance of representing the “interests of Georgian voters”: “We are doing everything so that our voters, for whom the homeland and its stability are precious, are represented here with dignity”.

The plenary vote on Wednesday will determine whether the PACE will ratify the credentials of the Georgian delegation, reject them, or impose restrictions on their participation.