Levan Berdzenashvili, the Georgian Dream member and the legal affairs commission chairman in the Telavi municipality council, appeals to the ruling party not to violate the constitution, not to betray the country, and not to accept Russian Law.
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"As a lawyer, a father of two children, a former lecturer at Telavi State University, and a defender of your children, I am unequivocally against the implementation and adoption of this law.
The White House, the European Union, the European Parliament by 425 votes to 25, all partners, representatives of the leading EU countries are telling us that if you accept this law, you may lose visa liberalization, you will lose your candidate status and everything related to Europe. Therefore, I unequivocally disagree with this and disobediently ask the Georgian government and parliament to withdraw this law. I swear before you, if this does not happen, I will leave the Georgian Dream, the faction, and the position.
Please, disobediently, do not violate the constitution, do not betray your country. There is still a chance. Please, do this humanely. As one deputy of Georgian Dream from Telavi City Council appeals to you, please, disobediently, withdraw this law," said the MP at today's session of the City Council, which was met with applause by some of the people in the hall.
On April 25, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that categorically condemns the "Transparency of Foreign Influence" bill initiated by the Georgian Dream and considers it incompatible with the values and democratic principles of the European Union and against Georgia's ambitions to join the European Union. The European Parliament calls on the Georgian authorities to stop discussing the Russian law and declares that until it is part of the legal order of Georgia, negotiations for the country's accession to the European Union should not be opened. In addition, the European Parliament calls on the European Commission to immediately assess the impact of the law on Georgia's fulfilment of visa liberalization criteria.
The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, assessed the resolution as "the last straw of the members of the European Parliament towards the Georgian people," and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that it "is not even worth a straw."
On April 3, 2024, Georgian Dream once again initiated the Russian law on so-called foreign agents in the parliament, which was withdrawn a year ago as a result of thousands of protests, and promised that it would never be adopted again. The Russian law requires independent media and non-governmental organizations that operate with grant support from international organizations and cannot be controlled by the government or related groups to register as foreign agents.
On April 17, 83 members of the Parliament supported the Russian law in the first reading. Protests against the law are held in Tbilisi, near the parliament, every day. In contrast, Georgian Dream is holding a "universal public meeting" in front of the parliament building on April 29 in support of the Russian law. Employees in public services are obliged to participate in the action.
