“The necessity of making the NGO sector transparent to protect the country’s sovereignty and stability becomes apparent due to the numerous cases,” Givi Mikanadze, head of the permanent delegation of Georgia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, announced this during his speech during the PACE debates on Georgia.

“Today, when it is 4 months prior to the upcoming parliamentary elections and we discuss the situation in Georgia, let me emphasize several points on circumstances around the law on transparency that caused hot debates and generated controversial positions.

The necessity of making the NGO sector transparent to protect the country’s sovereignty and stability becomes apparent due to the numerous cases of which for example there was a case when one of the NGOs introduced false data on parallel voting turbulence at the parliamentary elections. This disinformation became ground for manifestations with the request to annul the election results. Later, this NGO had to admit that their PVT results were indeed in line with the official figures.

The second widely publicized case was connected to the EU Candidate status, which was unfairly denied to Georgia in 2022. NGOs then organized protests, blaming the government and requiring its resignation. This process made clear that some NGOs had crossed the neutrality line and had become involved in politics.

There were several cases when NGOs and Media organization had been used for indirect funding of opposition parties, particularly, during the recent years when opposition parties established a number of so-called NGOs that got big amounts of funding. NGO sector in Georgia became the most non-transparent as stated in Money Val 2020 Report. Consequently, the law on transparency was adopted, which requires the NGOs and media organizations to declare once a year their financial funding if the foreign funding exceeds 20% of their funds. As the majority of opposition and NGOs were against such transparency, protests have taken place which further escalated into violent ones. As for the police action, it was following the legislation and in a number of cases policemen were injured. In a number of cases, the Independent Investigation Agency is holding investigation on possible excessive use of force and all information on this matter has been communicated to the European Committee for Prevention of Torture (the CPT).

The First article of the law guarantees to the NGOs and media organizations that the law will not harm or impede their activities. The only sanction introduced by the law is a fine. The special survey conducted country-wide has highlighted that the majority of the Georgian population is in favour of the law.

Currently, we face the reality, where similar and even stricter laws in other countries are regarded as the protection of the security and independence of these countries. However, it is the opposite in the case of Georgia, which also urgently needs to respond to global threats and it’s protect sovereignty.

Today we are considering a draft resolution which highlights issues related to the adopted legislation on transparency and accountability. What is interesting, is that this law has not even entered into force and will not be operational before the end of July. It means we are considering and going to adopt a resolution about the legislation without waiting to see the outcome of the law. A similar situation is with regard to the LGBTQI+ propaganda draft bill, which is only on its first hearing and will be adopted by the end of September.

As for the composition of the Central Election Commission, out of 17 members of the Commission, the ruling party is presented only by 1 member, while there are 8 opposition members and 8 natural members in CEC. We have directed an invitation for the election observation mission to the PACE 6 months prior to the elections, therefore welcoming the observation mission.

I want to assure you that Georgia remains committed to the principles and values of the Council of Europe and is eager to continue reforms and discussions,” Givi Mikanadze declared.

1tv.ge