NATO official says alliance “concerned” over Georgian bill on transparency of foreign influence
“This draft is a step backwards and does not further Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration”, he said in a social media message. Photo: NATO
Tweet 
Share
Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, on Friday said the bloc was concerned about the bill on the transparency of foreign influence, which passed its first reading in the Georgian Parliament this week.
In his comments over the bill, which calls for the registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad, Colomina said the “key” for Georgia as a NATO aspirant state was to “have the right framework to ensure media freedom and civil society participation”.
“This draft is a step backwards and does not further Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration”, he said in a social media message.
The first reading of the legislative piece was supported by 83 MPs in the 150-member lawmaking body, on the backdrop of public protests and criticism by some of the country’s foreign partners.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said a joint critical statement by several members of the European Parliament on the reintroduction of a bill on the transparency of foreign influence in the country was “cynical”.
Matthew Miller, the Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, on Thursday said the US joined their European allies in urging Georgia not to enact the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence, which “goes against the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Georgian citizens - the desire to integrate fully into the EU”.
Mark Clayton, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Georgia, on Thursday told local media civil society was a “crucial component of democracy” and anything that hindered its ability to function was “concerning”, in comments on the controversial Georgian bill on transparency of foreign influence that sparked public protests this week.
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, on Tuesday said the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence “is not consistent with” Georgia’s European Union aspiration and its accession trajectory.