The Public Defender of Georgia congratulates all veterans on the Veterans' Day and thanks them for their service and dedication to the homeland. Every veteran is important for the country and represents an example for future generations.

The Public Defender of Georgia pays particular attention to the protection of the rights of veterans; tries to identify various types of human rights violations related to veterans and to find solutions.

The Public Defender addressed an important issue such as increased tax benefits for veterans of war and defense forces in her parliamentary report in 2018. The Parliament of Georgia considered the recommendation and instructed the Ministry of Finance of Georgia to implement it in its Resolution on the Report of the Public Defender of Georgia on the Situation of Human Rights and Freedoms in Georgia in 2018. Despite this, unfortunately, this issue has not been resolved so far.

In addition, the Government of Georgia made changes to the Resolution No 222 of May 14, 2019 and allowed all persons with veteran’s status to enjoy subsidies. It should be noted that the Public Defender has been addressing the Government of Georgia with the above recommendation for many years and the legislative changes were carried out after we appealed to the Constitutional Court.

We would also like to draw your attention to the fact that the amount of household subsidy has not increased since 2007. A number of social guarantees were provided for veterans in the initial edition of the Law on Veterans of War and Defense Forces, which created decent conditions for them, but the list of guarantees has decreased over the years and today veterans get only the minimum assistance package, which cannot meet their needs.

The Public Defender of Georgia will actively continue to protect the rights of veterans within her mandate.