On October 29, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), the Council of Europe's independent expert body, published its findings on the implementation of its 2023 recommendations by Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.

For Armenia, the first priority recommendation called on authorities to conduct awareness-raising activities on the importance of diversity and tolerance, supporting concrete actions in cooperation with the Human Rights Defender and civil society representatives from ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities to prevent and combat racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech, violence, and discrimination. ECRI acknowledged Armenia’s initial efforts, including steps within the framework of the Action Plan on the National Human Rights Strategy 2023–2025, but concluded that the recommendation has only been partially implemented. The second priority recommendation urged Armenia to adopt an Integration Strategy with sufficient financial resources and capacity building to support refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants. Authorities informed ECRI of measures taken in response to the large-scale displacement of over 100,000 Karabakh Armenians following Azerbaijan’s military operation on September 19–20, 2023. While ECRI praised the rapid humanitarian response, including cash assistance, access to social protection, healthcare, and education for displaced children, it concluded that this recommendation has not yet been fully implemented.

For Azerbaijan, the first priority recommendation focused on strengthening the independence, competence, and effectiveness of the Ombudsman by ensuring a transparent selection and appointment process, establishing a dedicated unit for non-discrimination and equality-related work, and increasing staff capacity. ECRI noted that electing the Ombudsman through Parliament is a step forward, but the procedure remains insufficiently transparent, with executive influence possible during candidate pre-selection. Some measures were taken to strengthen the office, but the recommendation was considered only partially implemented. The second priority recommendation called for a comprehensive data-collection system on racist and LGBTI-phobic hate speech and hate crimes, with public availability of such data. ECRI noted that no steps have been taken to establish this system and concluded that the recommendation has not been implemented.

For Georgia, the first priority recommendation asked authorities to significantly increase teaching hours of Georgian as a second language in minority schools at primary and secondary levels. ECRI noted that the Bilingual Education Programme, launched in 2020, had been expanded, with preschools increasing from 15 to 34 and non-Georgian-language schools from 35 to 169 out of 300. ECRI commended the authorities for their efforts and concluded that this recommendation has been fully implemented. The second priority recommendation urged the formation of an inter-agency committee including the Public Defender’s office, international organizations, and civil society to implement the equality component of the National Human Rights Strategy 2022–2030. ECRI received no information about the establishment of such a body and concluded that this recommendation has not been implemented.