Georgia will close the anti-corruption office established on the basis of EU recommendations

The authorities in Tbilisi announced on Monday the termination of the activities of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, which was established in 2022 on the basis of recommendations from the European Union in connection with Georgia's pursuit of membership in this organization.

“On March 2, 2026, the Anti-Corruption Bureau will be liquidated. Its functions will be transferred to the State Audit Service” – said the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, quoted by the Georgian Interpress news agency.

On November 12, the Georgian opposition channel Formula announced the dismissal of the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Rajden Kuprashvili. On the same day, the Bureau's spokesman and Kuprashvili himself denied these reports.

The Anticorruption Bureau was established three years agoand its creation was one of the conditions for Georgia to receive candidate status for EU membership. In 2025, human rights organizations drew attention to cases of harassment by anti-corruption structures.

At the end of October, the ruling Georgian Dream party submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal a request to ban the three main opposition parties. Independent observers and opposition groups warn that the authorities in Tbilisi are increasingly moving away from Western standards, and The regulations adopted by the government bring Georgia dangerously closer to the standards in force in Russia.

The European Commission noted in early November that since the de facto suspension of Georgia's accession process in December 2024, the situation in that country had deteriorated significantly, with a serious democratic backsliding marked by a rapid erosion of the rule of law and serious restrictions on fundamental rights. According to the EC, the Georgian authorities limited the possibilities of developing civil society at that time and also adopted regulations that violated freedom of expression and the right to assembly.

The EC emphasized that it “recognizes Georgia as a candidate country only in name”. She also called on the government in Tbilisi to take decisive action to reverse its policy course and return to the path of EU accession.

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arch.