Irakli Kobakhidze, the Georgian Dream Prime Minister, accused the British Embassy of attempting to finance "extremist organizations" and stated that, based on the new law, they were denied permission to issue grants.
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"Based on the Law on Grants, the British Embassy submitted information indicating that it planned to finance extremist associations in Georgia, which directly and openly encourage radicalization in our country. Based on the new law, we refused to finance these extremist organizations. The fact itself is very regrettable and unfortunate, when the British Embassy directly planned to finance specific extremist associations," Kobakhidze said on Adjara Public Broadcaster.
According to Irakli Kobakhidze, the restrictions stipulated by the Law on Grants have "seriously come into force" and "this has even stabilized our country."
"There is more peace. In conditions where less funding comes in the direction of extremism, our country has calmed down more. Therefore, these laws work. However, all three laws – the Law on Grants, FARA, and Law on Transparency – are yet to be fully implemented," Kobakhidze said, adding that the main measure provided by the new legislation in response to violations is fines.
"Fines and fines, however, we have also copied the US legislation, which provides for stricter sanctions. [...] This legislation will be implemented even more effectively, and the results are already visible. The main result is that today, extremists can no longer radicalize to the extent they used to. Today, the entire extremist flank is practically dead. 50 to 100 people gather every day, and that's it, these people are directly discrediting themselves," Kobakhidze said.
On June 11, it became known that the United Kingdom was trying to obtain consent from the Georgian Dream government for the approval of grants for "several projects, including voter education activities and monitoring of elections by citizens." According to the Embassy's statement, after discussions with the Georgian government, they were informed that the Government Decree establishing a procedure for grant approvals wasn’t finalised.
"Due to this uncertainty, we have reluctantly had to cancel our grant plans to support the transparency and competitiveness of the upcoming municipal elections," the British Embassy said in a statement.
Later, on June 18, in response to accusations from Georgian Dream leaders, the Embassy stated that “the Georgian government itself previously supported this activity” and that they categorically disagree “its current description as funding ‘propaganda and extremism’.”
As reported by the government propaganda TV company "Imedi", such organizations as Tabula online publication, Young Lawyers Association, Center for the Rule of Law, and Future Academy of Georgia should have received a grant from the British Embassy. These are the organizations that Irakli Kobakhidze referred to as “extremist associations.”
