adoption of the law on “foreign agents” may close Georgia’s path to the EU

Adoption of the law on so-called foreign agents in Georgia may become an obstacle for the country’s entry into the European Union. This was stated by the representative of the Chancellor of Germany, Christiane Hoffmann. She reminded that last year the European Union already demanded that Georgia refuse to adopt the draft law, and the country’s leadership promised to remove it from the agenda.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany took a similar position. His press secretary, Sebastian Fischer, said that the law on “foreign agents”, if adopted, could become an instrument of pressure on the independent press, and freedom of the press is one of the foundations of any democracy and a mandatory prerequisite for joining the European Union.

Fischer pointed out that if the draft law is adopted, the EU countries will hold a series of consultations among themselves, as a result of which Georgia may lose the chance to join the union.

German mass media assume that the draft of the Georgian law on “foreign agents” will be one of the topics for discussion during the visit to Germany of the new Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, which is scheduled for April 12.

The draft law on the establishment of the status of so-called foreign agents in Georgia was introduced to the country’s parliament for the first time in the spring of last year. It was adopted in the first reading, but rejected in the second after mass protests. The draft law “On the transparency of foreign influence” required any organizations whose activities are financed from abroad by 20% or more to officially register as “foreign agents”. Critics of the document, joined by President Salome Zurabishvili, believed that the bill was drawn up on the model of the Russian one, which the Kremlin uses to fight against independent civil organizations and dissidents.

On April 3 of this year, the ruling party “Georgian Dream” announced that it would introduce the bill to the parliament again. According to Mamuka Mdynaradze, the leader of the Georgian Dream parliamentary faction, the text of the draft law will remain unchanged, only the term “agent of foreign influence” will be replaced by “organization carrying out the interests of a foreign state”.

The initiative to adopt the law was condemned by the US State Department. The Georgian political opposition issued a unified statement against it.

• Georgia received the status of a candidate for joining the European Union at the end of 2023.