Paweł Herczyński, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, on Sunday said the bloc was and would continue working with all democratically elected Georgian Governments to move the country forward on the European integration path.
In his comments to the media, Herczyński expressed “sincere hope” that the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence would not be adopted by the Parliament in its current form and emphasised several high-level visits, which would still continue to be engaged in “constructive work” with the Georgian authorities regarding the law.
He stressed the adoption of the proposed draft bill would create obstacles for Georgia on its path to joining the EU and pointed out that the legislative piece, 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, was “not compatible with the EU norms and values”.
The EU official said laws in Georgia should be adopted by the country’s legislative body and not anyone else, but emphasised his “duty” as the Ambassador was to “explain what consequences” the adoption of the bill could bring.