In its current form, the draft law on transparency of foreign influence is “incompatible with EU values and standards” and “goes against Georgia’s stated objective of joining the European Union”, said High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell in a statement on Tuesday 7 March in the evening.
“Its final adoption may have serious repercussions on our relations”, he stressed, “urging” the Georgian authorities to respect their commitment to the Rule of law.
Approved on Tuesday in its first reading in the National Parliament, the draft law, which is modelled on Russia’s 2012 law on ‘foreign agents’ (see EUROPE 12997/19), imposes registration requirements on media outlets and NGOs with links to foreign stakeholders.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili supported her compatriots who demonstrated on Tuesday, vowing to veto the future law, according to AFP. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)