On March 27, 2024, Levan Ioseliani, Public Defender of Georgia, and Irine Chikhladze, Deputy Public Defender of Georgia, met with Meline Arakalian, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Georgia, and Bea ten Tusscher, DutchSpecialEnvoyfor Freedom ofReligionandBelief, who is on an official visit to Georgia.

The Public Defender introduced the mandate and activities of the Office in the direction of freedom of belief and religion to the guests, spoke about the main challenges, including the financing of religious organizations, legislative norms related to various religious associations, and investigation of alleged hate crimes committed on religious grounds.

Bea ten Tusscher spoke about the importance of protection of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities for European integration and the role of the Public Defender as an independent and objective institution in this process. Levan Ioseliani emphasized the possibilities of the platforms created on the Public Defender’s initiative for the establishment of a tolerant environment and discussion of the topics of religious and ethnic minorities.

The Ambassador and the Special Envoy expressed their support to the Public Defender and his office. At the end of the meeting, the parties agreed on future cooperation.