Parliament official emphasises importance of adopting law “similar” to US FARA

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee, on Thursday expressed strong support for a legislative initiative of the ruling Georgian Dream party aimed at adopting a law “analogous” to the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Ionatamishvili’s comments came after Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhize on Wednesday said new legal amendments, specifically a “domestic adaptation” of the  Act and media legislation, would be introduced in the Parliament to “enhance effectiveness of governance and safeguard national interests”.

This is an American law, and in the United States, it has ensured transparency. This means it has protected democracy from covert and shadowy actions”, the Parliament official claimed.

He further highlighted the relevance of the law in Georgia, “especially in light of recent global discussions regarding foreign influence”.

We see that this issue remains relevant in Georgia today. The ongoing debate in the United States has revealed that the USAID  funded initiatives that undermined democracy in various countries”, the lawmaker alleged.

“Naturally, this makes the need for such legislation even more pressing. It is in our shared interest, both for Georgia and the United States, as it will ultimately contribute to the policy of rebooting relations”, he concluded.

The Georgian Parliament is set to introduce multiple legislative proposals aimed at countering what the ruling party describes as “externally funded destabilisation attempts”. One of the key initiatives includes transparency regulations, modeled “directly after” the US FARA law.