New Law ‘Pushing Georgia Away from EU’: Borrell
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned Georgia that its potential accession to the bloc is in jeopardy after Tbilisi adopted a controversial ‘foreign agent’ law earlier this month.
The US has also indicated it will not hesitate to penalize the former Soviet republic unless it walks back the legislation, RT reported.
Known officially as the Transparency of Foreign Influence Act and spearheaded by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the law came into force earlier this month despite opposition protests and a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili.
The legislation requires NGOs, media outlets, and individuals who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “promoting the interests of a foreign power” and to disclose their donors. Those who fail to comply will face fines of up to $9,500.
On Monday, Borrell said the foreign ministers of EU members had held “a lively debate on Georgia” for the second time in less than a month. Citing “worrying political developments,” the diplomat warned that “this law and all the negative developments around it are pushing Georgia away from the European Union.”
“If the government does not change the course of action, Georgia will not progress on the European Union path,” Borrell insisted.
According to the EU foreign policy chief, the law goes “against the will of the overwhelming majority of the Georgian population.” Brussels is planning to “increase our support to civil society and media” in the former Soviet republic, he added. The EU will also downgrade political contacts with Tbilisi and consider “putting on hold our financial assistance to the government,” Borrell stated.