European Greens call for sanctioning Georgian regime responsible for the ‘foreign agents’ bill
The Georgian Dream party yesterday overruled the veto of President Salome Zourabichvili, and adopted the controversial ‘foreign agents’ bill, despite tens of thousands of Georgians protesting for over a month.
This Kremlin-inspired law obliges non-governmental organisations and media that receive more than 20% funding from abroad to be registered and monitored as organisations "bearing the interests of a foreign power".
European Greens strongly condemn this attempt of the Georgian government to stifle dissent ahead of October's parliamentary elections, as well as all the unjustified police violence towards the protestors in the past weeks. We call for sanctions targeted on the members of the regime who are responsible for the threats to democracy, not broad sanctions on the visa of all Georgian citizens.
Terry Reintke, European Green lead candidate said: “Georgia belongs in the European Union. The European Greens support the people of Georgia who are defending their rights for a month and a half now. We call for the European Union to hold accountable the Georgian government and its actions. This bill is Kremlin-inspired and aims to silence the media, non-governmental organisations and the democratic opposition, threatening Georgia’s democracy and rights. The Georgian people have clearly chosen a future in the EU, and the European Council must take measures to help them in this difficult time.”
Bas Eickhout, European Green lead candidate, reacted: “We call for sanctions by the European Union for all those responsible for adopting the ‘Russian bill’ and the attacks on civil society and democracy. This includes the acts of police violence against the protestors, as these are another violation of civil rights and democratic principles. The European Greens condemn this scandalous police behaviour and stand in full solidarity with the tens of thousands of Georgians that courageously show that they want a European future for their country.”
The European Council president Charles Michel announced yesterday that he “will add Georgia to the agenda of the next European Council”, while the U.S. State Department announced on Friday travel bans and other sanctions for the politicians and officials behind the bill.