Opposition leader: Georgian Gov’t receives much more EU funding than civil sector

Gigi Tsereteli, Chairman of the Political Council of the European Georgia opposition party, on Tuesday claimed the Georgian Dream authorities had received much more funding from the European Union than domestic non-Governmental organisations. 

The statement came amidst the claims by the ruling Georgian Dream authorities that the EU has spent substantial amounts on Georgian NGOs, which they labelled as “intransparent” and justified the adoption of the controversial foreign influence transparency law. 

“The government receives ten times more funding than the civil sector. We cannot change the mentality of the government; the government must be changed,” Tsereteli said and cited the Director General of the European Commission, who earlier this week revealed that the ministries of Georgia have been allocated significantly more money from the bloc than the civil society. 

“The European Union has given a very clear answer to the misinformation spread by the government, which attempts to justify this so-called transparency. The numbers speak for themselves, showing that the Georgian government and its authorities receive significantly more funds than the civil sector,” Tsereteli explained.He further added “the only solution here is that we cannot change the government’s mentality; the government and its attitude towards our main partners must be changed,” Tsereteli concluded.