“The decision to join the EU is the sovereign choice of Georgia and its people. It is the duty of the Georgian authorities to fulfill the prerequisites if the country wants to join the European Union. The anti-Western rhetoric of the Georgian authorities seriously threatens the European choice made by Georgia. The EU candidate status was granted to Georgia on the condition that nine implemented [Eiropas Komisijas] recommendations. Currently, the Georgian authorities have not made general progress in implementing these recommendations,” the statement said.
The Baltic States and the Nordic countries express their desire for Georgia to succeed on the path to European and Euro-Atlantic integration, as the majority of Georgians want. Also, the countries express the hope that the Georgian government will take advantage of this historic opportunity created by the EU enlargement process and return to the process of joining the EU.
Tens of thousands of people reportedly took to the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi last week to protest against the “foreign agents” law.
The aforementioned law, which was approved by the Georgian parliament in the second reading, has been criticized by the EU, the United States and the United Nations.
The “Georgia Dream” party announced that it wants to get the bill signed by mid-May. In order for the bill to become a law, it must be considered by the parliament in three readings and signed by the president of the country.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has announced that she will not sign the bill if parliament approves it. The ruling party, however, has enough members in parliament to override the president’s veto.
The law would require non-governmental and media organizations receiving more than 20% foreign funding to register as organizations “acting in the interests of a foreign country”. That phrasing is the only difference from the draft withdrawn last year, which said the groups in question would have to register as “agents of foreign influence”.
Opponents of the bill refer to it as “Russia’s law” and argue that the adoption of the law would prevent Georgia from realizing its goal of joining the European Union (EU), which granted the country the long-desired candidate status last year.
The EU has called on Tbilisi not to accept the bill, saying it runs counter to the democratic reforms the country must undertake to move towards EU membership. The President of the European Council Charles Michel stated that the draft law moves Georgia away from the EU instead of bringing it closer to it.
Tags: Baltic Nordic countries condemn foreign agents law pushed Georgian parliament
