Parliament Committee Chair says Gov’t “has done its utmost” for European integration

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said the country’s Government had “done its utmost” to ensure Georgia’s European integration, after 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 its adoption of a controversial law on transparency of foreign influence.

The Committee Chair said the domestic authorities had “done everything” for the country to progress within the framework of the 2014 Association Agreement with the EU and become a candidate country for EU membership.

She added the Government would “do everything necessary to ensure that when the time comes, Georgia is ready for EU membership”. 

On Monday, the Foreign Affairs Council of EU held a discussion on the “worrying political developments” in the country, including the transparency law, with Borrell pointing out the bloc had recognised the “dynamics went against the will of the overwhelming majority of the Georgian population” in the process of the adoption of the law amid public protests against it.

He further stated the bloc “stands with the Georgian people and their overwhelming choice in favour of democracy and Georgia's future inside the EU”.

The law 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.