TBILISI, April 17. /TASS/. The Georgian authorities will not abandon the draft law on foreign agents despite criticism from other countries, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said.
"As for the statements of American and European politicians, it’s a pity that none of these statements included a single argument (against the foreign agents bill - TASS). You’ve seen these statements, for example, those of [NATO Secretary General Jens] Stoltenberg, [German Chancellor Olaf] Scholz, a diplomat working here in Georgia. <…> In such conditions, the corresponding statements will not be a reason for us to reconsider our decision," the prime minister said at a briefing.
Kobakhidze once again reiterated that the draft bill will not distance Georgia from the EU, but on the contrary will bring it closer, as transparency is the main priority of the European Union.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Georgian parliament approved in the first reading a bill on foreign agents, which the country’s president Salome Zourabichvili, the opposition and Western diplomats are firmly against. They argue that it is an obstacle to the country’s integration into the European Union. Eighty-three MPs voted in favor of the initiative.
The ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party announced in early April that it had decided to reintroduce the bill ‘On the Transparency of Foreign Influence’ to parliament. This happened a year after a similar initiative triggered mass protests, forcing the authorities to abandon the bill. Its text remained identical to last year’s, except for the term "agent of foreign influence." Instead, the term "organization promoting the interests of a foreign power" is used.