The Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Values and Transparency, Vera Yurova, discussed the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents during her meeting with the Georgian Foreign Affairs Minister, Ilia Darchiashvili, in Brussels.
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“I recommend to the minister to look into our defense of democracy directive which also seeks to increase transparency of foreign financing. But I believe the EU is planning to do it in a way which will not stigmatize and put the label of foreign agents on the NGOs,” Vera Yurova said this before a journalist from the Imedi television company asked her about the main message of the European Union directive.
“Main message of our directive is we need to know who does what kind of lobbying for whose money. And the difference between the European and Georgian law is that we do not define those entities like NGOs. We speak about the entities operating on the European single market, number one. know the contracts with the third country governments, not just money from outside. These are big differences. So my message was - could you please look into how we propose it because this is something which should not stigmatize NGOs.” said the European Commissioner.
When asked whether stigmatization is the primary issue with the Georgian law or if there are other concerns, Vera Yurova stated that it depends on how the law is interpreted and implemented.
“Well, it depends how the law is interpreted and how the law is enforced. It can look good on the paper and we agreed on the need to achieve more transparency on foreign financing. And at the same time, I believe that we can, by this kind of law, avoid the potential stigmatization of those who are registered,” Yurova pointed out.
In addition to her statement, Vera Yurova wrote on the social network X that the correct approach is to emphasize transparency, and Georgia should draw inspiration from the European Union. "Focusing on sanctioning/labeling /restricting actors' operation is in contradiction w/ EU approach," she wrote.
Georgian Dream deputies often cite the European Commission's directive, which was initiated at the end of last year and has not yet been approved, to justify the Russian Law they initiated. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, during a meeting with Prime Minister Irakli Kokhidze on April 12, stated that "this is a completely different concept," and a decision on the matter has not yet been made.
On April 3, 2024, Georgian Dream once again initiated the Russian Law on so-called Foreign Agents in parliament, which had been withdrawn a year ago due to thousands of protests, with a promise to never accept it again.
The Russian Law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations that receive grants from international funds and cannot be controlled by the government or related groups to register as Foreign Agents. More than 150 non-governmental and media organizations have stated that they will not register in the "defamation register" under any circumstances.
On April 17, 83 deputies supported the Russian law in the first reading, and today, April 30, Georgian Dream will attempt to pass it in the second reading.
Massive protests against the Russian law have been held in Tbilisi every day since April 15. Tens of thousands of people participated in the April 28 demonstration.
