Georgian Dream majority leader accuses Britain of 'double standards' over political funding rules

Georgian parliamentary majority leader and Georgian Dream faction chair Irakli Kirtskhalia has accused Britain of treating Georgia unfairly after the UK tightened rules governing political funding from abroad.

"They can apparently make everything transparent, but we cannot. This is precisely the dirty attitude towards us," Kirtskhalia said.

He argued that the British government's decision demonstrated what he described as double standards towards Georgia.

"Recently, unfortunately, Britain, its government and its diplomatic mission in Georgia have become the so-called flagship of this approach," Kirtskhalia said.

He further noted every country, including Britain, had the right to introduce legislation to respond to current security challenges, but claimed Georgia was criticised for adopting laws it considered necessary for its own security.

"They can apparently have different laws, for which they criticise us, because those laws are important for their country's security, while Georgia is apparently not allowed to have security challenges," he said.

Kirtskhalia said the Georgian government's position reflected demands from the public and argued that its refusal to change course was behind increasingly critical statements from foreign governments.