EU works, will continue working with all democratically elected Gov’ts to move Georgia forward on European integration - bloc’s Ambassador

Paweł Herczyński, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, on Sunday said the bloc was and would continue working with all democratically elected Georgian Governments to move the country forward on the European integration path.

In his comments to the media, Herczyński expressed “sincere hope” that the controversial domestic bill on transparency of foreign influence would not be adopted by the Parliament in its current form and emphasised several high-level visits, which would still continue to be engaged in “constructive work” with the Georgian authorities regarding the law.

He stressed the adoption of the proposed draft bill would create obstacles for Georgia on its path to joining the EU and pointed out that the legislative piece, 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, was “not compatible with the EU norms and values”.

The EU official said laws in Georgia should be adopted by the country’s legislative body and not anyone else, but emphasised his “duty” as the Ambassador was to “explain what consequences” the adoption of the bill could bring.

Herczyński noted he hoped the legal opinion of the Venice Commission on the transparency bill would be published soon, adding it would be “up to Georgian Parliament” to decide how to act on this opinion.

He highlighted that the “vast majority” of Georgian society wished for European integration and said he was “impressed” by the number of people who marched on Saturday to “express their opinion about the current situation” in the country.