Deputy Minister of Justice: foreign funding transparency register not stigmatizing

Deputy Minister of Justice of Georgia, Beka Dzamashvili, emphasized on Friday the name “pursuant of foreign interests”, in relation to domestic organizations under the controversial Foreign Influence Transparency Law, was not inherently stigmatizing.

“We do not believe that the name, taken in isolation, is in any way stigmatizing. The register will not only reflect 20 percent or 25 percent of foreign funding but the entire amount,” Dzamashvili said.

He further elaborated, saying, “When someone accesses the register, they will see objective information – if an organization is funded 20 percent from abroad and 80 percent from Georgia, it is simply factual data. How can it be stigmatizing when both sources of funding are transparently displayed? The register aims to provide clear information, not to label any organization as a carrier of foreign power interests. It’s impossible for it to be stigmatizing.”

Georgia’s Constitutional Court is now reviewing four lawsuits against the legislation, which is labeled as a “Russian law” by domestic actors, allegedly impeding the country’s European integration.