Georgian PM: “specific NGOs” involved in efforts to “fail strategic, economic projects”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday claimed “specific” non-governmental organisations operating in the country had been involved in efforts to ensure failure of “strategic, economic projects” to “harm the interest of the country’s energy independence”, in comments on the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence. 

Speaking at a press briefing at the Government Administration, Kobakhidze alleged a presence of the bill during an unspecified recent period would have “made it very difficult for NGOs to act so audaciously against state interests on energy independence” and would have “acted more carefully regarding their donors”. 

The newly reintroduced bill calls for 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.

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He also alleged attempts to “discredit state institutions”, with the domestic judiciary and police having being “objects of particular attacks” by the unspecified organisations, and added the NGOs had “tried to stigmatise these institutions by crude Soviet methods”. 

The PM said the NGOs were "well-aware” that “undermining law enforcement structures is a prerequisite for overthrowing the state”, and noted if the law had been in effect at the time and the organisations’ funding transparent, the groups “would not have dared to openly attack state institutions or place the donors in a humiliating situation”. 

The Government head also claimed the NGOs were also “openly involved in LGBT propaganda” in the country, which was being “promoted in a rather crude form”, adding the law would have “made it difficult for NGOs to engage in this propaganda and protected the interests of the state and society”. 

If the NGOs had achieved what they were actively trying to do in 2020-2022, which was to change the Government through a revolution, today Georgia would be in a worse situation than Ukraine, which means that both peace and European integration would be left behind”, he claimed. 

The PM also said the current bill was “primarily aimed at protecting Georgia from Ukrainisation and for strengthening the sovereignty” of the country and “ensuring stable development” as a “necessary condition” for integration into the European Union. 

Kobakhidze also claimed the legislative piece would “qualitatively bring the country closer to achieving its main foreign policy objective” of the integration.