Parliament Speaker denounces European Parliament’s resolution on Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said the resolution adopted on Thursday by the European Parliament against the domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence “damages the reputation” of the European Union.

In his remarks over the resolution, which among other points, called for release of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, ​​Papuashvili said the domestic public was “used to the fact that there is a certain group in the European Parliament that takes the side of criminals”.

“This is a political statement and nothing else. We have seen such entries before, both on the sanctioning and the release of Saakashvili. There is nothing new in this regard”, he said.

It is regrettable that the process of [Georgia’s] integration into the European Union is used by several MEPs as a tool for their own political agenda, which first of all damages the prestige of the European Union among the Georgian people”, he concluded.

The domestic bill 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, and has been met by criticism by some of Georgia’s foreign partners.

It has passed the first of its hearings at the Parliament, with further readings to follow before its potential adoption.