Nordics, Baltics urge Georgia to reconsider foreign influence law

A statement issued by the nine Nordic and Baltic countries calls on Georgia's leaders to drop a draft law which "is incompatible with European norms and values".
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Iceland are urging politicians to drop the draft law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which has led to huge protests in the capital Tbilisi.
The statement said the countries back the country's path to European Union accession but "recently the Georgian authorities have chosen a concerning trajectory disrupting Georgia's European future."
"If adopted, the law could be used to silence media and civil society organizations that play a vital role in helping Georgia on its way to EU membership. The claims by Georgian authorities that the proposal resembles EU draft legislation are unfounded and misleading. We urge Georgia's political leaders to reconsider adoption of the draft law," it said.
The anti-Western rhetoric of Georgian authorities seriously risk undermining Georgia's European choice, it continued.
Despite huge protests, the prime minister has vowed to pass the legislation, news agency Reuters reported on Sunday.
The bill, under debate since mid-April 2024, prompted harsh criticism from Georgia's bilateral and international partners and led to some of the largest peaceful protests in the country in recent decades, Human Rights Watch has said.
There have been multiple, credible reports of unjustified police use of violence to disperse them. The bill has passed two readings and is scheduled for its final adoption the week of May 13.
The statement is published in full below.
We, the Nordic-Baltic countries have supported the democratic and economic development of Georgia ever since its restoration of independence.
By granting Georgia EU candidate status in December of last year, the EU showed that it supports the aspirations of the Georgian people. Georgia was given a clear path to start accession negotiations and later on join the European Union. However, recently the Georgian authorities have chosen a concerning trajectory disrupting Georgia's European future.
The draft law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, currently under consideration in Georgia's parliament, is incompatible with European norms and values. If adopted, the law could be used to silence media and civil society organizations that play a vital role in helping Georgia on its way to EU membership. The claims by Georgian authorities that the proposal resembles EU draft legislation are unfounded and misleading. We urge Georgia's political leaders to reconsider adoption of the draft law.
The decision to pursue EU membership is the sovereign choice of Georgia and its people. It is the responsibility of the Georgian authorities to fulfill the preconditions if it wishes to join the European Union. The anti-Western rhetoric of Georgian authorities seriously risk undermining Georgia's European choice. The EU candidate status was granted to Georgia on the understanding that 9 steps would be fulfilled. At this point, Georgian authorities have not made overall progress in fulfilling those steps.
We have a strong wish to see Georgia succeed on its European and Euro-Atlantic path as desired by a large majority of the Georgian people. We hope the Georgian government will use this historical window of opportunity created by a reinvigorated EU enlargement process and revert to the course towards EU membership.
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Editor: Helen Wright