President Seeks Repeal of Foreign Agents Law in Constitutional Court; CSOs, Opposition to Follow Suit
Salome Zurabishvili, the President of Georgia, appeals to the country’s Constitutional Court in an effort to repeal the foreign agents law. The President’s appeal challenges the law on the basis of Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which requires the constitutional bodies to take all measures to ensure Georgia’s full integration into the EU and NATO, as well as other constitutional rights.
“With this appeal, the President is requesting the suspension of the implementation of this law and ultimately its final abolition,” said Giorgi Mskhiladze, the President’s Parliamentary Secretary, at the July 15 briefing.
Local CSOs and opposition MPs are also preparing separate appeals to the Constitutional Court, likely with the same demand for the law’s repeal and citing the same constitutional article.
The Public Defender of Georgia, Levan Ioseliani, endorsed the President’s appeal to the Constitutional Court and vowed to engage in the court’s proceedings.
Opposition politicians also welcomed the move by the President Zurabishvili to further challenge the law.
“The constitutional appeal regarding the 78th article [of the Constitution], i.e. [regarding] the foreign course [of the country], is absolutely logical and fair,” said Teona Akubardia, opposition MP from the Parliamentary Reform Group, stressing that the results of the law’s adoption are already “visible” in the country’s deteriorating relations with the EU and NATO.
“I very much want to believe that at least now the Constitutional Court will act on the principles of the country and the law, and not on those of the oligarch Ivanishvili,” she added.
It did not take long to see the very first results of the enactment of the foreign agents law, as the country finds itself further away from the West.
On July 5, the U.S. Department of Defense announced the indefinite postponement of the Noble Partner exercise, initially scheduled for July 25, to August 6 of this year.
On July 9, Paweł Herczyński, the European Union’s Ambassador to Georgia, stated that the EU accession process had been halted and that the EU’s 30 million Euro aid to the Georgian Defense Ministry had been frozen. The Ambassador regretted the low level of EU-Georgia relations, saying that they could have been at an all-time high.
On July 10, Peter Fischer, the German Ambassador to Georgia, announced Germany’s decision to stop any new financial commitments to Georgia, to halt its military participation in the Noble Partner exercise, and to cancel an important legal conference because of the GD’s recent anti-Western decisions.
For the first time since the 2008 Bucharest Summit, NATO’s Washington Summit Declaration, adopted on July 11, made no reference to Georgia’s membership path.
Meanwhile, leaders of the ruling Georgian Dream party claim that the law only serves the transparency of NGOs, that it actually increases Georgia’s chances of joining the EU, and vow to bring the country into the European Union in a few years.
Also Read:
- 11/07/2024 – FM Ilia Darchiashvili Told to Reconsider Foreign Agents Law at NATO Summit
- 08/07/2024 – On Cancelled U.S.-led Drills, GD SG Kaladze Says Georgia “Cannot be a Vassal to Anyone”
- 28/06/2024 – European Council Calls on Georgian Authorities to Clarify Intentions on the EU Path
