PM Kobakhidze: New Bill to Help “Europeanize” NGOs, Donors
On April 3, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze predictably issued a statement supporting the ruling party’s reintroduction of the Foreign Agents Law. PM Kobakhidze claims that the Georgian government is fully, “European-style” transparent and hopes that this law will also help to Europeanize also NGOs and their donors.
Kobakhidze claims that “full transparency of the Georgian government” was the first decision he made when he took office, noting that from the first day of his premiership he has publicly announced every decision of the Government and called on Ministers and state institutions to do the same.
“When you’re right and you don’t plan to ruin anything, transparency and accountability are the best ways to avoid flaws and mistakes. To me, transparency is European, and non-transparency is un-European. It is extremely un-European to avoid the minimum standard of transparency and not even want to publish the annual financial statement. At times like that, it’s obvious that you’re ruining something and that you have something to hide,” – reads the PMs statement.
Kobakhidze says that he believes the new law will “effectively insure donors against a number of inconveniences” caused by the NGOs and media they fund, whose decisions exacerbate “radicalism and polarization in Georgia, support for revolutionary processes, falsification of the parallel vote count, war propaganda, spreading of pseudo-liberal ideology, actions against the national and religious identity of Georgia, and attempts to weaken state institutions by means of disinformation.”
PM notes that public opinion polls show that people have the least trust in CSOs, which affects the reputation of their donors, adding that he believes this law “will make a significant contribution to overcoming this flaw.”
In addition, Kobakhidze notes that non-European powers in Georgia are lobbying for Georgia not to be granted EU candidate status, which he sees as an “Orwellian absurdity” that aims to make people believe that “war is peace, construction is destruction, progress is regression, and the non-transparent is Europe,” adding that these actors have lost the trust of the public because they wanted to sell “Animal Farm”-style lies to Georgians.
“I would like to repeat once again that for me Europe means transparency and accountability to society. The Georgian government has already established the European standard of transparency. And now it’s time for NGOs and their donors to Europeanize, and the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” will undoubtedly be of great help,” – concludes the statement.
Also Read:
- 03/04/2024 – Domestic Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
- 03/04/2024 – International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
