Georgia’s pro-government media outlet TV Imedi has been banned from working in the European Parliament for a year due to violation of the institution’s media rules. In addition, Imedi and two other Georgian pro-government TV channels were reportedly denied press accreditation in Moldova to cover a Council of Europe event.
Imedi first announced the ban on Wednesday, noting that it had received an official letter from the European Parliament regarding the decision.
In a letter dated from Tuesday, which Imedi displayed on screen, it is stated that during its last visit to the Parliament on 6 May, Imedi crew approached and filmed a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) without permission, and aired footage of the incident four days later.
The letter — authored by a representative of the Parliament’s Directorate for Media, Jesús Carmona — further mentioned that Imedi had already received a similar warning on 22 April regarding a comparable incident in March.
‘I have decided to refuse all applications for accreditation and/or recording permit by yourself or by the media organisation you represent (Imedi TV) for a period of one year, counting from the day this letter is signed’, Carmona concluded.
The letter did not specify which MEPs Imedi approached without permission. However, the latest incident clearly refers to the MEP Rasa Juknevičienė, a strong critic of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party. Footage of Imedi’s unsuccessful attempt to interview her was aired in the channel’s flagship programme Imedis Kvira (‘Imedi’s week’) on 10 May.
Imedi suggested that the earlier incident may involve another critic of Georgian Dream, MEP Markéta Gregorová. According to the broadcaster, when Imedi approached her for an interview in March, she told them that they should not have been allowed to be present in the European Parliament at all.
Mikheil Gvadzabia
The segment featuring Juknevičienė’s footage was produced after the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a critical report on Georgia on 5 May. The report, drafted by MEPs from various political groups, was presented to the committee by Juknevičienė in her role as rapporteur on Georgia.
During its preparation, Juknevičienė and another MEP, Miriam Lexmann, introduced an amendment in which Imedi, as well as pro-government TV channels Rustavi 2 and POSTV, were condemned as entities ‘disseminating systematic disinformation and hostile propaganda against the EU’. The amendment also called on EU member states to consider imposing sanctions on them, as well as on EU institutions to review their accreditation status.
Another amendment concerning the Georgian pro-government TV channels was introduced into the report by MEPs Krzysztof Brejza and Michał Szczerba. They condemned all three media outlets for what they described as ‘systematic disinformation, smear campaigns and hostile propaganda’. The amendment called on EU institutions and member states to consider ‘appropriate and proportionate restrictive measures against individuals and entities responsible for orchestrating and financing these disinformation campaigns’.
Shortly after Imedi’s report about the ban aired on Wednesday, Brejza told the Euroscope media outlet that the ban was a ‘concrete result’ stemming from his amendments to the Georgia report, together with ‘five months of hard work’ by his office, ‘alongside the President of the European Parliament and the press accreditation unit’.
‘This is only the beginning of the Georgian people’s victory over Russian influence and authoritarian regime together with propaganda’, he said, echoing the widespread view of Georgian Dream critics that the party, aided by these pro-government channels, are dragging the country into Russia’s political orbit.
Brejza added that, alongside Imedi, similar restrictions had also reportedly been imposed on Rustavi 2 and POSTV, although the broadcasters themselves have not yet confirmed the information. OC Media has contacted the European Parliament’s press service for clarification.
Parallel to the ban in the European Parliament, Imedi said that Moldova’s Foreign Ministry had denied it, as well as Rustavi 2 and POSTV, press accreditation needed to cover the 135th session of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers. The event is scheduled to take place in Moldova’s capital, Chișinău, on 15 May.
Imedi condemned both incidents as an ‘attack on the media’ and a ‘restriction of media freedom’. The condemnation was echoed by the ruling party and its allies, with Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili saying that Brussels fears ‘the truth’. He also noted that the Georgian Parliament would ‘think’ about adopting media regulations similar to those in force in Brussels.
‘The EU spent thousands of euros on a campaign to discredit the accreditation rules operating in the Georgian Parliament’, he claimed, referring to criticism of regulations introduced in the Georgian Parliament in 2024, after which a number of opposition-leaning journalists had their accreditation suspended for attempting to interview members of the ruling majority.
Shota Kincha
Earlier, in what was the most wide-ranging international restriction imposed on it so far, Imedi, together with POSTV, was sanctioned by the UK government. In February, London listed both as ‘entities involved in Russian disinformation’ and accused them of spreading ‘deliberately misleading information’ about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to their audiences.
Over the past few years — following the passage of a slew of restrictive laws by Georgian Dream, violence against anti-government protesters, and the disputed 2024 parliamentary elections — relations between Georgia and its traditional international partners — including the EU and its member states — have sharply deteriorated.
Georgian government officials have been subjected to individual sanctions by a number of EU member states, while visa-free travel to the EU by Georgian diplomatic and service passports was banned.
In response to the EU’s criticism, the ruling party has repeatedly accused Brussels of blackmail, lying, funding ‘radicalism and disinformation’, and deviating from European values.
