The region’s ambitions to join the bloc may be hampered by the controversial “foreign brokers” law, which the European Union urged Georgia to repeal on Wednesday.
According to EU international policy chief Josep Borrell and extension director Oliver Varhelyi,” the implementation of this regulation adversely impacts Georgia’s improvement on the EU path.”
” The choice on the way forward is in Georgia’s hands. We urge the Georgian government to renounce the law.
The third and final reading of the bill, which would require organizations receiving more than 20 % of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, impose stringent disclosure requirements and impose severe penalties for violations, was approved by Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday.
Borrell and Varhelyi said,” The EU has consistently stated that the spirit and content of the law are not in line with EU core norms and values.”
While freedom of association and freedom of expression are fundamental rights at the core of Georgia’s commitments as part of the Association Agreement and of any EU accession path, it will undermine the work of civil society and independent media.
The statement from the two members of the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, followed days of wrangling between EU member governments and officials.
Officials initially tried to reach a statement with the bloc’s 27 member governments, but it failed, according to diplomats, because Hungary and Slovakia rebuffed their efforts.
It then took more time to agree a Commission statement between Borrell, a Spanish social democrat, and Varhelyi, a Hungarian nominated by his country’s nationalist government.
