Ruling party official “does not expect” sanctions over controversial transparency law

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said he did not expect Government officials to be sanctioned over the adoption of the domestic controversial law on transparency of foreign influence, which requires 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.

“How can one impose sanctions on people who make laws in their own country and the majority of the country's citizens have given them the right to do so?”, Kaladze said.

I do not see a problem at all. I do not expect anyone to be sanctioned either, because we have not done anything to be sanctioned”, he continued.

The official further added that “we should deepen our relations [with partners], make them even more friendly, strengthen our partnership and continue moving towards Europe and European future with this attitude”.

The United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month announced a new visa restriction policy for “those responsible for undermining democracy” in Georgia, including in connection with the law adopted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, as well as a comprehensive review of the cooperation between the two countries.