Bureau statement on Georgia’s law on the transparency of foreign influence
26 May 2024
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s important partnership with our Associate Member Georgia turns 25 years in a few days. The importance of this relationship is exemplified through our dedicated Georgia-NATO Interparliamentary Council.
The NATO PA remains firmly committed to Georgia's sovereignty, territorial integrity, democracy and aspiration to join NATO. We recognised Georgia as a candidate country on the understanding that NATO membership is the path that Georgia and the Georgian people have chosen and enshrined in their Constitution.
However, shared democratic values are the very foundation of the NATO Alliance and respect for these values is an essential condition for becoming a NATO member.
The law on the so-called “transparency of foreign influence” is a step backwards for Georgia’s democracy and runs counter to its NATO as well as EU aspirations and values. If this bill becomes law, it will severely damage freedom of speech and association and undermine Georgia’s vibrant civil society and media landscape.
By resubmitting and passing the law, Georgian authorities broke their promise to their own people and to their international partners. They have responded to peaceful protests with unacceptable violence, and they have chosen to ignore the clear and consistent calls from their closest partners.
Georgia stands at a crossroads.
If the government and parliament want to demonstrate Georgia’s readiness to join NATO in the future, they must return onto the path of democratic reform and democratic consolidation. This law, which the Georgian president has vetoed, must now be withdrawn.
The Georgian people have demonstrated again and again that they want a democratic Georgia – in the EU and in NATO. They have protested with courage against this legislation. We will continue to support them and their aspirations.
As we did this weekend, we will continue to engage in dialogue with the Georgian delegation to the NATO PA to convey these firm messages but also to offer our full support to Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic path.
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