Nino Kalandadze, Founder and Executive Director of the Chavchavadze Center and a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, took part in a panel discussion in Brussels on November 3 titled “Closing Doors, Shrinking Freedoms: Georgia’s Warning for Civil Society in Europe.” The “Pretzels & Politics” event was organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) and the 4liberty.eu Network, and held at FNF Europe’s Liberal House.
Kalandadze was joined by Didrik de Schaetzen, Secretary General of the ALDE Party, and Boris Strečanský, a civil society expert and lead author of the 4liberty.eu Civic Space Report 2025/2026. Barbora Krempaská moderated.
The discussion addressed the recent forced closure of FNF and Konrad Adenauer Foundation operations in Georgia and the sharp shrinking of space for civil society and for civic and political participation in the country. Participants called for keeping solidarity with Georgia, and the visibility of its case, in the public eye. They also drew parallels between Georgia and Slovakia in how governments restrict civil society, and recommended earlier political pressure, linking EU funding to the quality of civic space and the rule of law, legal action through European courts and the Venice Commission, anti-SLAPP legislation, and support for activists forced into exile.
