Georgian, Canadian MPs review transparency laws adopted in countries
The Canadian Senate on Wednesday passed the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, intended to help deter, investigate and punish foreign interference. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Members of the Georgian parliamentary majority on Monday met with their Canadian counterparts on the sidelines of a summer session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to discuss laws on transparency that have been adopted over the recent period in the two countries.
The Georgian officials shared information with their colleagues about the political and economic situation in the country and preparations for the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 26.
They also suggested opening of a Canadian embassy or representative office in Georgia for deepening ties between the states, the Georgian Parliament said.
The Canadian Senate on Wednesday passed the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, intended to help deter, investigate and punish foreign interference.
The Georgian Parliament in May adopted the 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.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Thursday called the “campaign” by the domestic opposition and non-governmental organisations against the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence a “complete farce” after the Canadian Senate on Wednesday passed the Foreign Influence Transparency and Accountability Act, intended to help deter, investigate and punish foreign interference.
Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Monday said the Georgian Government was “bringing the country away from its EU integration path” after the adoption of the controversial law on transparency of foreign influence.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party in the Parliament, on Monday highlighted the country’s progress in reforms and freedom in an index by the Atlantic Council, an American international affairs think-tank, which recognised Georgia as one of the top 50 states in the measure.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament on Monday said she hoped “events developing in Georgia” would be “correctly evaluated” at a European Union ministerial meeting in Luxembourg and that EU member states would “not repeat the mistake” of the bloc denying its membership candidate status to the country in 2022.