Georgian Parliament Speaker calls US senators’ letter on transparency bill “surprising, disappointing”

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday called a letter, sent by the bipartisan group of the United States senators to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Friday stating the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence undermined the country’s relations with the US, “somewhat surprising and disappointing”.

Papuashvili noted the senators’ stance on the Georgian transparency bill was unusual as the US, itself, had a “stricter” law on foreign influence, and stressed it was “crucial” for Georgia to have transparency in this area.

Instead of so many appeals, it would be easier for the US Congress or the Senate to publicise the [origins of the] incoming money in Georgia from the American budget”, Papuashvili said in his remarks over the letter, in which the senators noted the adoption of the transparency bill would “force” the US to change its policy towards Georgia.

There were several cases when the US citizens’ money was “by accident” used to finance radical groups and disinformation campaigns in Georgia, which was “certainly not good for Georgian society and, in the end, casts a shadow on American aid to the country itself”, the Parliament official also pointed out.

The letter of the 14 US senators also read that the adoption of the transparency law could force the US to include sanctions against individuals responsible for hindering Georgia's democratic development or limiting its Euro-Atlantic development trajectory, revising direct US financial aid, and expanding US visa bans.

The domestic legislative initiative, which passed the first of its hearings at the Parliament on April 17, 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.