US slams draft proposed by former members of Georgian ruling party on foreign agents

The US Department of State has criticized a bill on foreign agents proposed by the Popular Force earlier this week, that is composed of former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party who are still remaining in the parliamentary majority. 

 

The State Department stressed the bill that concerns all non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entities, including all non-governmental organizations, whose more than 20 percent of annual income coming from abroad, had been based on similar Russian and Hungarian legislation and not the American, as the authors of the bill had claimed. 

 

“We are aware of the draft legislation in the Georgian parliament and are deeply concerned about its implications for freedom of speech and democracy in Georgia.  We have expressed these concerns [directly] to [our interlocutors in] the Government of Georgia”, the US embassy in Georgia cited the State Department Spokesperson Ned Price as saying on Thursday. 

 

Price noted the proposed law would “stigmatize and silence independent voices of citizens of Georgia who are dedicated to building a better future for their communities”, and stressed  such a law could potentially “undermine” Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.“Statements that this legislation is based on the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) in the United States are patently false.  In fact, this draft legislation appears to be based on similar Russian and Hungarian legislation [not on FARA or any other American legislation].” Price said. 

 

The Popular Force created last year often criticizes the west and the US, accusing them of attempts to “drag Georgia” into the ongoing Russia -Ukraine conflict. 

 

The domestic opposition claims the founder of the ruling party, former prime minister, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili is behind the movement, with the latter voicing the current government’s “anti-western” sentiments.