The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, has called on political leaders in Georgia to withdraw the “foreign agents” draft law and “not to divert the country from its European path”.
“Over the past weeks, thousands of citizens of Georgia have taken to the streets to exercise their right to peaceful demonstration, demanding once again that authorities withdraw the law on transparency of foreign influence.
We have seen impressive scenes from Georgia last year already. Citizens of all ages holding Georgian and European flags showing their strong attachment to democracy, to our shared European values and to Georgia’s path towards the European Union. At the time, the ruling party and the government made a public pledge to the Georgian citizens that such legislation would never come back.
I urge the political leaders of Georgia to withdraw the draft law. As it was the case last year, it is clear that this legislation is incompatible with the EU norms and values. If adopted, it would jeopardise Georgia’s progress on the EU path.
Georgians have a future in the European Union. The candidate status that was granted last December has brought our relations closer than ever before. Our door is open, so I urge the Georgian leaders to mirror the expectations of the citizens and not derail the country from the EU path,” Borrell said.
The European Parliament has published its final draft resolution on Georgia, which will be voted on April 25th. The resolution strongly condemns the bill on “foreign agents” and declares that it does not comply with the values and principles of the European Union.
According to the resolution, this bill damages Georgia’s international reputation and threatens the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration. The resolution calls on the Georgian parliament to halt the consideration of the bill, and urges the authorities to respect the population’s right to freedom of assembly and peaceful protests.
