German Ambassador: Agents’ Law Bars Georgia from EU Accession Talks

In his interview with BMG, on May 29, a day after the final adoption of the controversial Foreign Agents Law, German Ambassador to Georgia Peter Fischer stressed that the European Union will not start the accession talks with Georgia as long as the mentioned law is in effect.

He also reiterated the Venice Commission’s opinion on the law that this legislation goes against the fundamental rights of Georgians, and emphasized that Georgia needs to meet the EU standards in order to continue on its integration path.

As for the anticipated sanctions against the responsible Georgian officials, the Ambassador noted that the sanction is a “broad” term which involves the negative assessments which have already come from the country’s partners. He gave no further details on this topic.

The Ambassador was also asked about the EU’s nine recommendations to Georgia and said that he did not see any progress in this regard, but that on the contrary, steps had been taken backwards. He also said that the Foreign Agents Law violates these very recommendations. In this context, he added that Georgia used to be a leader among the ten EU candidate countries, but has fallen to the bottom.

Asked about the upcoming Parliamentary elections in Georgia, he noted that the failure to hold them in a proper manner will lead to the EU’s assessment of them as yet another violation of EU standards and called on Georgian citizens to use their opportunity to cast a vote.

During the interview, the German Ambassador also talked about the positive impact that the EU integration process has on the business environment in a country, noting that any decision that hinders this process has a negative impact on business.

He also touched upon the current political mood in Europe which favours Georgia’s integration, but also mentioned that this chance may not last forever, including because different governments that may come to power in Europe may have different perspectives on the enlargement.

Also Read:

• 29/05/2024 – International Reactions to Presidential Veto Override, Final Adoption of Foreign Agents Law

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