Salome Kurasbediani

Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Canada, former MP at the Parliament of Georgia

[Foreign Policy CAN @CanadaFP]

Eighteen years ago, Russia unjustly invaded #Georgia, violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Canada stands with Georgia and reiterates its call for an end to Russia's occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Georgia welcomes the Republic of Naoero's decision to revoke diplomatic relations with the occupied regions of Abkhazia 🇬🇪 & Tskhinvali 🇬🇪. We look forward to establishing diplomatic relations and advancing cooperation based on shared interests and respect for international law.

[Salome Kurasbediani @KurasbedianiS]

Happy Canada Day! 🇬🇪🇨🇦

[MFA of Georgia @MFAgovge]

On the occasion of National day, wishing the People of Canada success, progress and prosperity. Georgia looks forward to further strengthening our cooperation @CanadaFP

[Mariam Lashkhi @LashkhiMariam]

🍁 Proud to represent 🇬🇪 on our first-ever official parliamentary visit to 🇨🇦 — a historic milestone in Georgia–Canada relations.

In Ottawa & Toronto, we held high-level meetings with Speaker Scarpaleggia, Senate & House committee chairs, the Canada–Georgia Friendship Group, and OSCE PA colleagues, Global Affairs, advancing our shared agenda on regional security, trade, education & youth.

The groundwork for a deeper 🇬🇪🤝🇨🇦 partnership is firmly laid.

#ParliamentaryDiplomacy #GeorgiaCanada

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

The #UNGA has adopted the resolution on the status of #IDPs and refugees from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region of🇬🇪 with a record 107 votes in favour.
We thank all states that stood with🇬🇪 & supported the right of displaced persons to a safe, dignified and unhindered return.

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

🇬🇪 remains committed to peace and international law while 20% of its territory remains under Russian occupation and hundreds of thousands are still displaced. International courts have confirmed 🇷🇺 responsibility, yet steps toward further annexation continue.

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Honored to host the Special Representative of the #NATO Secretary General for the Caucasus and Central Asia, @KHamiltonBE, in Tbilisi.
We had a constructive discussion on cooperation, regional security, and the importance of continued partnership between Georgia and #NATO.

[Salome Kurasbediani @KurasbedianiS]

Thank you, Mr. @Rob_Oliphant for the insightful exchange. Looking forward to further strengthening Canada–Georgia cooperation 🇬🇪🇨🇦

[Rob Oliphant @Rob_Oliphant]

Canada is firmly committed to supporting Georgia's territorial integrity, as well as efforts to strengthen democratic institutions and commitments to upholding human rights. We support the Georgian people's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and continued pursuit of European regional integration.

Happy to discuss the future of Canada-Georgia cooperation with Salome Kurasbediani, Chargée d’affaires of the Embassy of Georgia in Canada.

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Georgia’s experience in navigating difficult regional security dynamics positions us to contribute effectively to the #OSCE’s work at the highest level.
#FSC2026GEO

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Georgia assumes the Chairmanship of the #OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) with a clear commitment: to strengthen #dialogue, rebuild #trust & uphold @OSCE principles amid a challenging security environment.
#FSC2026GEO

[IMEDI News @tv_imedi]

For 24 hours, the doors of the Holy Trinity Cathedral never closed. This continuous footage captures an extraordinary moment in Georgian history - a steady stream of thousands coming together to pay their final respects to Patriarch Ilia II.

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Today, the entire Georgia 🇬🇪 bows its head in grief. His #Holiness Ilia II was not only a #Patriarch, but a spiritual pillar and the #conscience of our nation — a guiding light for generations, a guardian of #faith, and a symbol of #resilience.

[Irakli Kobakhidze @PM_Kobakhidze]

Deeply saddened by the tragic mass shooting in Canada. Our thoughts remain with the injured and with all Canadians as they endure this heartbreaking tragedy.

[MFA of Georgia @MFAgovge]

We are closely following developments in Venezuela with the hope that future processes will unfold in line with the best interests of the Venezuelan people. Given that the Venezuelan authorities recognized Georgia’s occupied regions, Abkhazia and the so-called South Ossetia, as independent states in gross violation of international law, we express hope that recent developments will lead to the reversal of this unlawful decision, in line with Georgia’s national interests and international legal principles.

[GEORGIA IN CANADA @OttawaEmb]

Georgia has signed the Convention Establishing an International Claims Commission for Ukraine, reaffirming its support for Ukraine's statehood

[Maka Botchorishvili @MakaB__]

Georgian #Wheat Culture: #traditions and #rituals is now inscribed on UNESCO’s #IntangibleHeritage List. This great achievement represents another powerful global recognition by @UNESCO of our unique legacy and living heritage 🇬🇪

[Salome Kurasbediani @KurasbedianiS]

Honoured to attend the #RemembranceDay ceremony today in Canada. We remember and pay tribute to all who served and sacrificed. Lest we forget. 🇨🇦🌺

[Salome Kurasbediani @KurasbedianiS]

Honoured to meet @robertdsinclair, DG for Arctic, Eurasian&European Affairs, and Olivier Poulin at @CanadaFP
Discussed 🇬🇪🇨🇦 cooperation and future prospects. Grateful for the warm congratulations on my new role as a Minister Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Canada

[Shalva Papuashvili 🇬🇪 @shpapuashvili]

I would like to present the main conclusions of the final report on the parliamentary elections prepared by OSCE/ODIHR, which, as expected, align with the Georgian Dream’s assessments and the criteria for competitive and free elections. It is important to note that the OSCE/ODIHR mission expresses its readiness to cooperate with Georgia's elected authorities to further improve the electoral environment and procedures.

First and foremost, I would like to point out that the final report reiterates the main conclusion of OSCE/ODIHR's preliminary report, which stated that voters on 26 October had a "wide choice” and political parties were able to "campaign freely." It highlights that the campaign took place in a calm environment, while reports of "isolated incidents of violence" were received from both the ruling party and the opposition.

The report particularly commends the election administration for the "well-organized and administered" elections. The CEC was praised by the OSCE for the timely publication of election results, while the Public Service Development Agency was recognized for effectively compiling the unified voters' list. The report also notes that on Election Day, the electoral process was assessed positively in more than 90% of polling stations, and the processing of "electoral documentation" was positively evaluated in all 73 electoral districts.

The report also highlights that the involvement of local and international observers created a dynamic monitoring environment. Notably, the report criticizes attempts by some political parties to present their representatives as election observers and send them to polling stations – you may recall that this was also indicated by our research, which allowed us to expose 37 observer organizations directly linked to the radical opposition.

The most significant criticism, according to the report, focuses on the polarized political environment in Georgia and the political bias of media outlets.

According to the report, the OSCE is concerned about the subordination of television channels to political and business interests. The OSCE emphasizes that commercial television stations were used for political propaganda during the elections, undermining independent journalism and intensifying divisive political rhetoric. The report also highlights that the opposition avoided participating in debates on the Public Broadcaster. It is noteworthy that, unlike other observers, the OSCE/ODIHR report reflects an issue we raised regarding three opposition-affiliated television channels, which unlawfully denied us the use of free airtime for political advertising, ultimately depriving us of over five hours of free airtime. As a solution to this problem, the OSCE/ODIHR suggests that in the future, the corresponding media outlets be required to compensate for the lost airtime in monetary terms.

It is significant that the OSCE/ODIHR report highlights a constitutional violation by Georgia's outgoing President Salome Zourabichvili, who, as stated in the report, "took an active role in the campaign by publicly consulting the opposition on pre-electoral coalitions and government composition, potentially acting outside of her mandate as a neutral arbitrator between state institutions." Let me remind you that we publicly pointed out this violation; however, apart from the OSCE/ODIHR, no other observer organization reflected this fact in their report.

The report also includes the paradoxical behavior of ISFED, which refused to disclose the results of the parallel vote tabulation. Let me remind you that this created fertile ground for the continuation of false narratives regarding discrepancies between printed and uploaded protocols. We are still awaiting the publication of this document, but to no avail. Let me remind you that this fact was also not included in the reports of other observer organizations.

Naturally, like all other OSCE/ODIHR reports, both in Georgia and abroad, it includes critical aspects and recommendations, which we will certainly address appropriately.

Against the backdrop of nearly two months of hysteria from the radical opposition, the main merit of the OSCE/ODIHR report is that it ultimately exposed the opposition's false accusations, through which they have been attempting for two months to declare the election results fraudulent. Therefore, I would like to present the five main falsehoods exposed by the OSCE/ODIHR, which the radicals based their revolutionary scenario on:

1. Unopened polling stations abroad – The false narrative of the radical parties, NGOs, and Salome Zourabichvili about the restriction of voting rights for citizens living abroad has been completely shattered. This claim was even used as one of the pretexts for an appeal to the Constitutional Court. Furthermore, let me remind you that in her communication with foreign actors, Salome Zourabichvili cited this accusation as one of the main reasons for declaring the parliamentary elections invalid. Against the backdrop of this loud false campaign, it is truly devastating for them that the OSCE/ODIHR not only refrains from identifying this issue as problematic but does not mention it at all, thereby putting an end to the speculation about the supposed restriction of voting rights for our citizens abroad.

2. 300,000 fraudulent votes – The OSCE/ODIHR report completely destroyed the false accusation by radical parties, NGOs, and Salome Zourabichvili regarding the alleged falsification of 300,000 votes, which, according to their narrative, appeared out of nowhere and were attributed to the Georgian Dream. Neither directly nor indirectly does the report contain or imply anything of the sort. There is no mention whatsoever of any fraud, manipulation, or the so-called "electoral carousel" during voting, vote counting, or protocol preparation. In this same context, another false narrative was debunked – the claim that by comparing population statistics published by Geostat and the number of registered voters established by the CEC, they could prove ballot-stuffing by non-existent voters, attributing them to this mythical 300,000 votes. The OSCE/ODIHR confirmed that there are no questions regarding the accuracy of the voter list.

3. Seventeen votes cast with one ID – The false accusation by radical parties, NGOs, and Salome Zourabichvili regarding alleged duplication in registration devices and "17 votes cast with one ID" has been completely shattered. The possibility of voter list duplication was ruled out both by the conclusion of an independent audit conducted by an American company and by the OSCE/ODIHR report.

4. Russian special operation – Another shameful lie was dismantled, one that Salome Zourabichvili, together with radical parties and some of their allied foreign actors, was spreading about alleged Russian interference in the elections. The OSCE/ODIHR not only did not establish any such interference but did not even express any suspicion or assumption regarding Russian involvement in the elections.

5. Ballot marking leakage – Lastly, the final desperate attempt by radical parties, NGOs, and Salome Zourabichvili five days after the election was the claim of markings leaking through to the reverse side of the ballot paper. Let me remind you that they used this as grounds to demand the invalidation of 90% of polling stations and thereby prevent the newly elected Parliament from convening. According to the OSCE/ODIHR report, in 94% of their observations, no cases of markings leaking to the reverse side of the ballot paper were recorded. In only 6% of their observations did they note instances of such leakage; however, in their assessment, this could only potentially compromise secrecy. Emphasis must be placed on "could only potentially compromise secrecy" and not "which compromised secrecy." Moreover, the OSCE/ODIHR identifies entirely different factors as the main risks to the violation of secrecy. These include improper placement of the ballot by the voter, overcrowding at polling stations, the internal layout of the polling station, and so on. Thus, the myth of widespread ballot marking leakage has been definitively debunked.

Thus, with a single report, the five main falsehoods propagated by radical parties, NGOs, Salome Zourabichvili, and their foreign supporters – aimed at undermining Georgian democracy and disenfranchising over a million voters – were completely shattered.
Let me remind the public that there is nothing new in the tactics of these individuals. Since 2012, this marks the eighth election that the radical opposition has declared fraudulent. They speak of unprecedented fraud, despite the fact that the opposition had a total of 24,000 commission members and just as many representatives at polling stations, of whom only nine expressed dissenting opinions during the drafting of polling station protocols. They talk about unprecedented violations, even though there were a record 25,000 local and international observers present at polling stations, resulting in just 1,200 complaints being filed – significantly fewer than the over 2,000 complaints filed during the 2020 elections. They claim unprecedented violence, yet across 3,111 polling stations with over two million voters, the Public Defender's report documented only 13 incidents of violence, which the OSCE/ODIHR described as isolated cases.

This is precisely why, as in the previous seven instances, the radical opposition will ultimately have to recognize the will of the Georgian people and return to the democratic framework. The only regrettable aspect is that, in the meantime, valuable time is lost, and the energy and emotions of our people – which should be directed toward the progress of our country – are wasted in vain.

The OSCE/ODIHR report is the clear dividing line where all harmful speculation about the integrity of the elections must end. The opposition has received its share of power and mandates in accordance with what the Georgian people deemed necessary. It is also time for the attacks on Georgian democracy from abroad to cease and for the will of the Georgian people – expressed through the only legitimate means, elections – to be recognized.

Finally, I would like to thank the OSCE/ODIHR delegation for their work and for publishing the final report on the elections. Naturally, the Georgian authorities will thoroughly examine their recommendations and will continue to cooperate with the OSCE/ODIHR to ensure that the next elections are conducted at the appropriate level.

[Irakli Kobakhidze @PM_Kobakhidze]

Congratulations to President @realDonaldTrump on His decisive victory in the election. I am confident that President Trump’s leadership will promote peace globally and in our region as well as ensure restart in 🇺🇸-🇬🇪 relations.