On Thursday, January 29, 2026, 24 OSCE participating states announced the activation of the “Moscow Mechanism”. Consequently, their representatives are launching an “expert mission to investigate the deterioration of the human rights situation in Georgia”. This fact-finding mission will assess “Georgia’s implementation of its OSCE commitments, with a particular focus on developments since spring 2024”. Georgia retains the option to select one expert for the mission from the ODIHR’s “Human Dimension Mechanism” list.

“They want to activate the Moscow Mechanism; they want a Russian mechanism,” Shalva Papuashvili responded to the invocation by the OSCE member states. “Whatever mechanism they want, let them activate it... It’s good that they don’t call it the Russian mechanism,” he remarked on the pro-government Imedi TV channel. Papuashvili did not specify whether his team intends to utilize the opportunity to select an expert, describing the term “Moscow Mechanism” as purely “symbolic”.

He argued that while auditors previously came from Moscow, they now arrive through this mechanism, claiming this shift led to the current situation. Furthermore, he criticized EU High Representative Kaja Kallas, asserting that Brussels has ceased to be a geopolitical actor. The mission is tasked with:

1. Documenting recent developments regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms.
2. Assessing the impact on civil society, media freedom, the rule of law, and judicial independence.
3. Issuing recommendations to address identified concerns.

The “Moscow Mechanism” allows OSCE states to investigate “serious allegations of human rights violations” independently of the host country's official authorization.