A few minutes after the Georgian Parliament adopted the law on the transparency of foreign influence, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, called on the Georgian authorities on Tuesday 28 May to return to the European path, recalling that the EU was standing with the Georgian people, who had voted “by an overwhelming majority in favour of a European future for their country”.
Deeply regretting that the Georgian Parliament decided to override the Georgian President’s veto and the opinion of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission (see EUROPE 13414/19), Mr Borrell noted that the enactment of the law represented a step backwards on “at least three of the nine criteria “ – on disinformation, on polarisation, and on fundamental rights and the involvement of organisations set out in the European Commission’s recommendation on Georgia’s status as an EU candidate country (see EUROPE 12978/1).
This law will “negatively impact Georgia’s EU path”, warned the High Representative. He was also of the opinion that there has so far been insufficient political attention mobilised to progress substantially on the nine criteria.
“We urge the Georgian authorities to reverse this trend and to return firmly on the EU path. There is still time to change the dynamics, but a strong commitment by the governing authorities is needed”, he warned.
Mr Borrell also warned that the EU and its Member States are considering all options to react to these developments (see EUROPE 13417/5). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)