The West increases its pressure on Georgia. After the country’s parliament, controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream party, approved the controversial foreign influence transparency law on Tuesday, the European Union, the United States, NATO and even the United Nations condemned the Georgian initiative and called on the authorities to correct their decision, which has already led to… Weeks of mass protests by activists and opponents in the streets of Tbilisi. And the demonstrations that were repeated yesterday.
“We urge Georgia to change course […] This legislation takes away [el país] Farah Dakhlallah, spokeswoman for NATO, confirmed that this initiative is “extremely disappointing,” as she agreed with the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Maria Pijscharon-Boré, who also focused on “European and Euro-Atlantic integration.” The fact is that the initiative received parliamentary approval even before the Venice Commission, the body that helps countries meet European standards, decided on the proposal.
From the United States, the tone was even higher. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre warned of possible changes in its relationship with Georgia if it implemented the so-called Russian law. In a similar context, the US Under Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O’Brien, warned of possible sanctions against Georgian politicians who support the proposal. “If the law goes ahead it does not comply with EU rules and democracy will be undermined here and there will be violence against peaceful demonstrators […]Then we will see restrictions coming from the United States. “These are typically financial or travel restrictions on the individuals responsible for these acts and their families,” O’Brien said.
Police violence
Unusually harsh words also came from the United Nations itself. The High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stressed that the legislative proposal “seriously undermines the freedoms of expression and association.” Türk added that the consequences of this decision “risk being significant,” also calling for an investigation into allegations of police violence against protesters, some of whom were arrested yesterday. The European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell, stressed that “intimidation, threats and physical attacks on civil society representatives, political leaders and journalists, as well as their families, are unacceptable.” and Hungarian Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi.
Some of the news, coming from abroad, was received in Tbilisi with some euphoria by demonstrators opposing the government initiative.
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