MEP Viola von Cramon slams Georgian Parliament speaker for reintroducing foreign agents bill

European Parliament member Viola von Cramon has voiced criticism against Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, following the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream party to reintroduce the contentious foreign agents bill.

In a tweet on Wednesday, von Cramon raised concerns about Papuashvili’s previous affiliation with the German organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), where he worked on Rule of Law projects in Georgia. She questioned the wisdom of Western donors in hiring individuals who the MEP claimed seemingly disregarded the Rule of Law, infringed upon the rights of MPs, and advanced Russian interests.

“This is the guy that German organization Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) employed for many years on Rule of Law projects in Georgia.How can western donors be so misled by hiring people who do everything but respect Rule of Law, violate the rights of the MPs in the Parliament and enforce Russian interests? Shame!”, she tweeted.

Papuashvili had been associated with GIZ from 2007 to 2020, holding roles such as deputy head of the programme and head of the Georgian team.

Despite facing widespread protests and previous withdrawal in March 2023, the ruling party, Georgian Dream, announced its intention on Wednesday to proceed with the enactment of the foreign transparency bill, which aims to brand domestic organizations obtaining more than 20 percent of their incomes from abroad as “organization carrying the interests of a foreign power”. 

During a briefing, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the executive secretary of the party, accused donors of neglecting responsibility for what the party perceives as “anti-state actions” and the allegedly radical political agendas of non-governmental organizations, which Mdinaradze referred to as “rich NGOs.”

The previous attempt to pass the law in March 2023 was met with failure due to mass protests in Tbilisi.