Gov’t targets Georgia’s EU candidacy by foreign agents bill – For Georgia member

The Georgian Dream authorities aim to hamper Georgia’s receiving the European Union membership candidate status, fabricate elections and prolong its stay in office through backing the foreign agents bill, Natia Mezvrishvili, a member of the For Georgia opposition party said on Monday. 

 

The former official’s comment came on the heels of a recent proposal of the bill on transparency of foreign influence by the People’s Power, a movement composed of former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party who still remain in the parliamentary majority. 

 

The bill envisages registration of “non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they obtain more than 20 percent of their income from abroad”. 

 

“In this critical phase [when the country is on the verge of obtaining the EU membership candidate status] even opening a discussion around the draft bill is a betrayal of the country’s interests by the government”, Mezvrishvili said, urging the authorities to “stop violating the country’s constitution” through discussing the initiative. 

 

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the GD, last week said the bill was in “full accordance” with democratic standards, slamming its American “analogue” as a “complete disaster”. 

 

The US Department of State and domestic civil organisations have condemned the bill, calling on the authorities to reject it. 

 

The country’s opposition describes the People’s Power as an “integral part” of the ruling party, created in a bid to “voice the current government’s anti-western sentiments”.