On October 6, TDI held a public discussion “Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) in Georgia in the Context of EU integration” at Ilia Chavchavadze Literary-Memorial Museum.

The speakers, Mr. Nicholas Cendrowicz, head of Cooperation at the European Union, Mr. Beka Mindiashvili, head of the Tolerance Center under the auspices of Public Defender and the Most Revd. Malkhaz Songhulashvili, the Bishop of Evangelical-Baptist Church of Georgia talked about FoRB and Georgia’s EU integration aspirations and perspectives from different angles.

The participants of the discussion underlined the importance and value of protecting freedom of religion or belief and equality; raised the systemic problems in the policy and legislation of Georgia regarding FoRB; the challenges of countering anti-Western propaganda which takes place often in the name of religion and discussed future perspectives and the ways of overcoming present challenges.

Gigi Bregadze, Democratic Governance Team Leader at UNDP gave the welcome speech and the discussion was moderated by Eka Chitanava, TDI director.

The event gathered experts in the field, representatives of civil society, academia, international organizations and political parties.

The event was held with the support from UNDP Georgia and the Norwegian Embassy in Tbilisi under the initiative: “LEAD: Leadership, Equality, Advocacy, Democracy.”