Georgian Parliament official says amendments to Grants Law aim at actors seeking to weaken national independence

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, on Friday said the proposed amendments to the Law on Grants targeted individuals and organisations that received funding aimed at undermining Georgia’s independence and statehood.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Ionatamishvili stressed that the initiative was not directed at society at large, but specifically at preventing foreign-funded political extremism and the inflow of so-called “dark money” into Georgian politics.

“We saw that democracy prevailed in Georgia through the transparency law, while political extremism was defeated. This is a process that constantly requires vigilance, because various forces attempt to find ways to bypass the law and bring black money into Georgian politics. This directly contradicts the country’s national interests, and therefore it will not be allowed”, he said.

The official dismissed the current criticisms as baseless and propagandistic, noting how the initial transparency law was falsely branded “Russian”, and now the new amendments were misrepresented as affecting all citizens.

“The arguments we are hearing now most clearly show that there are no real arguments on their side, and that they are once again trying to advance through lies and disinformation. One transparency law was labelled a Russian law, and now this one is being presented as affecting all citizens. In reality, this concerns specifically those individuals who receive funding in order to undermine our country’s independence and statehood”, Ionatamishvili concluded.

Parliament is set to begin reviewing the amendments to the Law on Grants and related draft legislation next week.

Under the proposed changes, receiving a grant will require prior approval from the Government of Georgia.

Any funding that is used or may be used for political processes will be considered a grant, and organisations registered abroad but operating in Georgia will also need Government approval to receive such funding.