US State Department welcomes transparency bill withdrawal, encourages Georgia’s political leaders to work together for EU bid

Ned Price, the Spokesperson for the United States Department of State, on Thursday said the US welcomed the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream party to withdraw the draft law on transparency of foreign influence and encouraged the country’s political leaders to work together “in earnest” on reforms “urgently needed” to obtain the European Union membership candidate status.

The American official noted the developments around the controversial bill had shown “very clear” that the Georgian people had “once again” spoken clearly that the “only choice” for Georgia was a “secure and prosperous European future”.

While we welcome the decision to withdraw the draft law on ‘foreign influence’, we urge the ruling party to officially retract this bill and not to further this type of legislation, precisely because it’s incompatible with Georgian and Euro-Atlantic values and the protection of fundamental freedoms”, Price said. 

“We encourage Georgia’s political leaders to work together in earnest on the reforms urgently needed to obtain the EU candidate status that Georgia’s citizens overwhelmingly desire”, he continued.

The ruling party on Thursday announced it was “unconditionally” withdrawing the controversial bill, proposed by the People's Power movement and met with a backlash by domestic opposition, civil sector and diplomatic representations in the country, as well as public rallies outside the legislative body.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday confirmed the bill, which passed its first hearing at the Parliament on Tuesday, would fail at the second hearing as prescribed by procedures for withdrawn legislation. 

The legislative initiative called for registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “agents of foreign influence” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad.

The State Department, EU officials and the United Nations Office in Georgia all spoke out in criticism against the draft law before it was recalled.