EU High Representative calls on Georgian authorities to follow Venice Commission’s recommendation on transparency law

Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Wednesday called on Georgian authorities to follow the recommendation of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe regarding the domestic law on transparency of foreign influence.

The Venice Commission has strongly recommended Georgia to repeal the Law on Foreign Influence in its current form. We call on the authorities to follow the recommendation in view of safeguarding the fundamental elements of Georgia's democracy”, Borrell noted in his social media post.

The Venice Commission published its urgent opinion on the controversial law yesterday, which said “fundamental flaws” of the legislative piece would involve “significant negative consequences” for the freedoms of association and expression, the right to privacy, the right to participate in public affairs, as well as the prohibition of discrimination in the country.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on May 18 vetoed the law, adopted by the Parliament last week, on the backdrop of ongoing public protests against the law and criticism from Georgia’s foreign partner states.

The legislative piece 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.