Botchorishvili Meets with CoE Secretary General Berset at UNHRC Session
Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili met with Council of Europe Secretary General Alain Berset on February 23 in Geneva, where she participated in the high-level segment of the 61st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
According to an official press release, the two discussed Georgia-CoE “cooperation” and “current issues on the organization’s agenda.” The press release said the talks particularly emphasized the CoE’s support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and the importance of keeping Russia-Georgia conflict-related issues high on the CoE agenda. The press release further said the meeting focused on ongoing domestic political developments in Georgia and regional issues.
The meeting came a week after the CoE Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) published a report on Georgia, which Berset said “raised serious concerns.” He said he planned to discuss those concerns with Botchorishvili at the Human Rights Council session. The report spoke, among others, of allegations of ill-treatment by Georgian law enforcement against protesters during the November–December 2024 protests.
Maka Botchorishvili also met with Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Apart from the security environment in Georgia’s occupied territories, the two also discussed “ongoing developments in Georgia and the security environment in the region” and “expressed readiness to continue cooperation on important issues related to the protection of human rights,” according to an official press release.
On February 24, she also met with Sidharto Reza Suryodipuro, president of the UN Human Rights Council. An official press release noted that the talks focused on cooperation within the Council and the humanitarian situation in Georgia’s occupied regions from a human rights perspective, with emphasis on the need for international monitoring in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region.
Botchorishvili also held a meeting with Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Zheenbek Kulubaev. The ministers discussed bilateral and multilateral cooperation, highlighting “the importance of exchanging high-level visits, the prospects for developing trade and economic partnership, the significance of the Middle Corridor for both countries and opportunities for cooperation across various sectors,” the ministry said.
In Geneva, Botchorishvili also addressed the opening of the UNHRC session.
In her speech, Botchorishvili said the universal principles of human rights are increasingly challenged “not only by conflict and occupation,” but also by what she called “attempts to instrumentalize international organizations for political pressure and to prioritize human rights for narrow interests.”
Botchorishvili said that despite what she described as “significant security challenges” over the past decade, “Georgia has strengthened democratic institutions, the rule of law, and fundamental freedoms,” citing “improved international rankings” and an “85% drop in applications to the European Court of Human Rights.” She said the Georgian Dream government views human rights “not only as an international obligation,” but as the “foundation” of its vision.
Botchorishvili also spoke about the “grave challenges” she said still persist in Georgia’s Russia-occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali/South Ossetia. She also addressed Russia’s war against Ukraine, saying that Georgia “reaffirms its firm support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for upholding a rules-based international order rooted in the UN Charter and accountability for violations.”
“Honored to address the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of Georgia. We reaffirm our commitment to human dignity, democratic governance, and accountability. While advancing reforms at home, we stand firm for sovereignty, justice & a rules-based international order,” she wrote on X.
Also Read:
- 05/12/2025 – Georgian Dream FM Botchorishvili Attends OSCE Ministerial in Vienna
- 26/09/2025 – Kavelashvili, Botchorishvili Attend 80th UN General Assembly in New York
- 15/05/2025 – GD FM Botchorishvili Attends Council of Europe Session in Luxembourg
- 25/02/2025 – GD FM Botchorishvili Meets UN Secretary-General, Addresses Human Rights Council