French President, German Chancellor are “deeply concerned” about situation in Georgia

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday published a joint statement, expressing “deep concern” about the ongoing situation in Georgia.

It is with deep regret that we take note of the decision of the Georgian Government and ruling party to deviate from this [European integration] path by acting against our common European values and the aspirations of the Georgian people, such as through the adoption of the so-called law on transparency of foreign influence”, the officials said in the statement.

Macron and Scholz noted both of their countries “have been staunch supporters” of Georgia's European path and had “actively supported” the decision of the European Council to grant the country the European Union membership candidate status last year.

Georgia’s European path has been chartered – but speed and direction of moving forward depend on Georgia”, the joint statement read.

The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday adopted the law on transparency of foreign influence, 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.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Saturday vetoed the controversial law, reintroduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party against the backdrop of ongoing public protests and criticism from Georgia’s foreign partner states.