BRUSSELS, May 15. () –
The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, and the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, have issued a warning this Wednesday to Georgia about the approval of the foreign agents bill, noting that this regulation “has a negative impact” on Georgia’s progress towards accession and remember that the European Union granted candidate status understanding that Tbilisi was going to undertake the reforms that would bring it closer to the community acquis.
“The approval of this law has a negative impact on Georgia’s progress on the path to the EU,” warned the joint statement from those responsible for Foreign Affairs and Enlargement of the EU regarding the regulation, harshly criticized by opposition sectors for considering it related to Russia, and which has generated alarm in the international community and sparked significant citizen protests.
In this sense, they assure that the steps to follow now depend on Georgia and emphasize the demand that the authorities “withdraw the law, maintain their commitment to the path of the EU and advance the necessary reforms” for its European integration.
The EU regrets that Tbilisi has ignored the warnings of the international community, including the European bloc that has insisted “clearly and repeatedly” that the spirit and content of the law “do not conform to the fundamental norms and values of the EU.”
“It will undermine the work of civil society and independent media, while freedom of association and freedom of expression are fundamental rights at the heart of Georgia’s commitments as part of the Association Agreement and any accession path.” to the EU”, underline Borrell and Varhelyi.
In this sense, they denounce the repression of protests and the intimidation of journalists and activists, insisting that the path to the EU requires that Georgia protect human rights and that civil society and the media can operate freely, at the same time emphasizes that the necessary reforms are also linked to “the need for depolarization and the fight against disinformation.”
The legislation, called the Foreign Influence Transparency Law, is similar to Russia’s “foreign agents” legislation, with which Moscow marks critics of the government. The law requires organizations, media outlets and similar entities that receive at least 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “agents defending the interests of foreign forces.” Failure to register will be subject to heavy fines.
The Georgian authorities, who have promoted this measure, continue to defend that it only complies with the principle of transparency and that, therefore, it will improve sovereignty and bring the country closer to the European Union. However, the international community has criticized the law and promised a “response” considering it a step towards “authoritarianism.”
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