Georgian Parliament Speaker: Council of Europe local office involvement in law circumvention would be catastrophic scandal

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said it would be a “catastrophe and scandal” if the Council of Europe’s local office in Georgia were involved in circumventing Georgian legislation, adding that such a development could require a review of the relevant laws.

Papuashvili was commenting on a seminar held in Bakhmaro and questions surrounding its foreign funding.

He said the Georgian Government’s position was that no one had applied for authorisation to provide a grant, while the Council of Europe’s media office had stated that the funding in question did not constitute a grant.

“We have seen a direct admission that this seminar is funded from abroad. We have seen the position of the Government Administration that no one had applied to them for permission to issue a grant, and we have seen the Council of Europe’s media office explain that this grant was not a grant. So what was it then? It appears that we may be dealing with exactly what we had previously been talking about”, Papuashvili said.

He recalled that when Georgia adopted its law on grants, the initial version required all foreign expenditure to receive government approval.

According to Papuashvili, diplomatic missions subsequently requested an exemption for direct public diplomacy activities, such as promoting French culture and cuisine or introducing Tbilisi residents to German architecture in the city.

“Accordingly, this was reflected in the law: if it is a direct expense, it does not require approval. However, we immediately said that this applied to activities that were directly the business of an embassy or organisation, and we hoped that this would not be used to circumvent the law”, he said.

Papuashvili said he had concerns that the Bakhmaro meeting could involve an attempt to circumvent Georgian legislation.

He added that the law contained safeguards against arrangements being presented as service contracts rather than grants.

“I have suspicions regarding this Bakhmaro meeting that we may be dealing with an attempt to circumvent Georgian legislation. However, given that we have lost trust in donors, the law contains a safeguard stating that if there is an agreement which is called a service contract rather than a grant, but in substance it is a grant, it constitutes a sham transaction, will be considered a grant, and the same principles will apply”, the Speaker continued.

He said the circumstances appeared to resemble an attempt to circumvent the law and stressed that Council of Europe involvement would make the issue particularly serious.

“Let us see. In any case, all of this looks like an attempt to circumvent the law, sewn together with very white thread, and it would be a catastrophe and a scandal if the Council of Europe’s local office were involved in this. We are a member of the Council of Europe, and if it violates laws in a member state, this would be a catastrophic scandal for the local office”, Papuashvili said.

He added that if the allegations were confirmed, a review of the legislation could be necessary.

“If this turns out to be true, it may be necessary to review the legislation as well. This would be an absolute trampling underfoot of the laws of our people. Let us see what results these investigations will produce”, the Speaker concluded.