United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the law on so-called Foreign Agents adopted by the ruling Georgian Dream is "directly taken from Moscow's manual." Blinken criticized the Russian Law during a hearing in the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
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“we're very concerned about the foreign agents law that was passed. I think it's right out of Moscow's playbook, unfortunately, and I think it clearly counters the desire of the overwhelming majority of Georgians to move toward the EU and EU integration.
So looking very hard at what we can do in response to that. I anticipate we will take action as the EU is looking at the impact on the accession process for Georgia. So I would anticipate that there will be things to come because of the impact this law may have,” Blinken said.
The Venice Commission concluded that the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents, adopted by the Parliament on May 14, has fundamental flaws and will lead to significant negative consequences for the rights to association, freedom of expression, privacy, participation in public activities, and the prohibition of discrimination. The Venice Commission categorically called on the Georgian authorities to cancel the law in its current form. However, Georgian Dream is not going to consider the recommendation to cancel the law and plans to override the president's veto next week.
James O'Brien, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, warned the authorities that if the law comes into force without aligning with European norms, we will see restrictions from the US side.
