RFE/RL: EU Top Diplomats Ask for Commission’s Oral Update on Foreign Agents Law Effects

Foreign ministers from 12 EU countries have asked the EU Commission for an oral update on the impact of Georgia’s adoption of a foreign agents law on the country’s EU integration path, according to a letter distributed by RFE/RL’s Georgian bureau.

The letter, dated May 10, is addressed to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell and European Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi, and signed by 12 top European diplomats, including German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Minister for European and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné.

“Sending a direct and clear message now is of great importance to secure Georgia’s European future tomorrow,” the letter reads. “Concrete consequences ought to be indicated, should Georgia’s governing party proceed with the adoption of the law which is not in line with EU core norms and values.”

The ministers ask HR/VP Borell and Commissioner Varhelyi to provide an “oral update” on the law’s impact on the implementation of the 9 steps identified by Brussels as reform conditions upon granting Georgia the candidate status. The letter asks to make preparing the “public assessment” a  “priority” and “make sure” to deliver it before the final vote on the bill. 

“This proposed law is yet another sign of a concerning trajectory of democratic and human rights backsliding in Georgia,” the Ministers say. “The use of violence against peaceful protesters and journalists covering the protests, suppressing fundamental rights and freedoms, are not compatible with democracy and the values Europe stands for.”

The letter also mentions the recent speech by Bidzina Ivanishvili, the ruling Georgian Dream party founder and honorary chairman, which Ministers say reinforced “the government’s pivot away from the democratic West and its standards.”

The letter follows numerous warnings by EU officials and diplomats that the adoption of the controversial law would stand in the way of Georgia’s EU aspirations. However, Brussels has so far refrained from specifying the concrete consequences of the adoption of the law on Georgia’s European integration.

“We should look for further ways to send an unequivocal message to Tbilisi that this legislation is incompatible with Georgia’s progress on its EU path,” the diplomats say. 

The foreign ministers reiterated their support for Georgia’s European aspirations, affirming they “continue standing with the Georgian people and their European choice – the choice for democracy, rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Georgian Dream plans to pass the bill in the third reading on May 14. President Salome Zurabishvili has promised to veto the bill, while GD leaders have in recent days expressed openness to discussing possible amendments with Western partners after the presidential veto. The President however said on May 12 that she “will not enter into this game of embellishing this law. It is Russian and will stay Russian…”

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