NATO Sec Gen rejects reintroduction of bill on transparency of foreign influence in Georgia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said he was opposing any attempt by the Georgian Government to reintroduce the bill on the transparency of foreign influence.

Stoltenberg’s comments followed after the parliamentary majority on Wednesday decided to resubmit the bill on the transparency of foreign influence to the legislative body. The bill provides for a single requirement that organisations receiving foreign funding publish their annual financial reports.

In his remarks, Stoltenberg noted that the bill would actually “contradict the whole effort of strengthening democratic institutions in Georgia”.

“I oppose any attempt by the Georgian government to reintroduce the draft legislation on foreign agents or foreign influence, because this will actually contradict the whole effort of strengthening the democratic institutions in Georgia. And Georgia should work on reforms to move closer to NATO and to move closer to the European Union. And therefore also the European Union has been very clear on this”, Stoltenberg said.

“I visited Georgia, Tbilisi, just a few weeks ago. And, of course, one of my main messages was the importance of reforms, of strengthening democratic institutions. And the Georgian people have also made it clear that they want a democratic prosperous future within the European and Euro-Atlantic family. So any law that introduces this idea of foreign agents, that I'm also afraid will actually have an impact for a lot of media outlets, operating also internationally but also then in Georgia, will undermine the whole idea of making Georgia a stronger democratic society”, he concluded.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said the Georgian Government had already established a European standard of transparency, and now it was the time for domestic non-governmental organisations and their donors to follow a European standard.