We share the immense concern of our colleagues in Georgia about the bill initiated by members of the Georgian parliamentary majority: “On Transparency of Foreign Funding.” We believe that the attempt to adopt this Russian inspired law is aimed not only against free civil society organizations and critical media, but also against the population of Georgia.

The bill, in principle, would force  civil society organizations and media to register in a central register as ‘foreign agents”, if they receive 20% or more of their funding from foreign sources.[1] After a similar law was adopted in Russia, many organizations refused to implement it and they closed. Those who continued to function became victims of increasing control, harassment and repression.

The intention of the bill is to keep civil society organizations and independent media from learning and reporting on issues within the country. Enforcement of this law will therefore undoubtedly cause immeasurable damage to hundreds of thousands of citizens of Georgia.

Moreover, the adoption of the bill will seriously harm the process of the country’s integration with Europe, including preventing Georgia’s move to EU membership, since no member country has such a law in place.

Russian law is not Georgia’s choice. WECF Georgia, our local partners and other civil society organisations have been fighting for decades to prevent this from happening – and they will continue to do so with our full support.

 

 

[1] Georgian Dream Will Vote for the “Foreign Agent” Law – Civil Georgia