Georgia plans to close an anti-corruption body set up on EU recommendation amid growing tensions between Tbilisi and Brussels, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said, quoted by Reuters, BTA reported.
Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023, but earlier this month Brussels criticized Georgia for "serious democratic regression" and said it was now "a candidate in name only".
Announcing the intention to close the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party said the goal was to optimize state resources. According to Interpress on March 2, the bureau will be merged with the State Audit Office.
Established in November 2022 as part of Georgia's efforts to join the EU, the bureau was supposed to develop anti-corruption policies, strengthen whistleblower protection and monitor political party funding.
More than 50 Georgian NGOs said in an open letter last week that the Anti-Corruption Bureau was not fulfilling its function and was being "used as a tool to persecute independent civil society organizations".
Critics of "Georgian Dream" say the party has become increasingly authoritarian since the start of the war in Ukraine. The government suspended EU membership talks last year, although it has publicly said the country continues to aspire to join, Reuters noted.