EU suspends Georgia’s accession process after adoption of law against ‘foreign influence’

The European Union has suspended Georgia’s accession to the Union, EU Ambassador to Georgia Pavel Gerchinsky said on Tuesday, July 9.

“The EU heads of state and government do not understand the intentions of the current Georgian government,” said Gerchinsky.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status on 14 December 2023 and simultaneously started negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

“On June 27, exactly ten days ago, the heads of state and government of the European Union made several very important decisions in Brussels… they also agreed to suspend Georgia’s accession process to the EU,” Gerchinsky said, calling this “regrettable.”

However, other EU candidate countries are making rapid progress, he said.

The European Council’s decision followed the adoption of the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” by the Georgian Parliament.

Despite massive protests and the president’s veto, the Georgian parliament passed the law, which deviates from the commission’s recommendations on candidate status.

The new law requires non-governmental organizations and media that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations that promote foreign interests” and submit annual financial reports that are made publicly available.

If they fail to register or submit these reports, they face a fine of 25,000 lari (about $9,400).

If the law comes into force, the Ministry of Justice would have the power to conduct checks at any time to ensure compliance, including access to required information and personal data.

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Human rights activists have raised concerns about the law’s surveillance provisions, arguing that the lack of such restrictions allows unrestricted access to all types of information within organizations and media.

“The European Council calls on the Georgian authorities to clarify their intentions and reverse the current course, which is jeopardising Georgia’s path to the EU and de facto halting the accession process,” the decision said.

The law, which critics say is modeled on Russian legislation to suppress dissent, led to weeks of daily protests in the capital Tbilisi and fierce criticism from Georgia’s Western partners.

“The law ‘On Transparency of Foreign Influence’ clearly distances the country from fulfilling the nine steps, and the anti-Western, anti-European rhetoric is also completely incompatible with the declared goal of joining the European Union,” Gerchinsky said.

Despite the suspension, the European Council reiterated its support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and its solidarity with the Georgian people. It committed to continuing to support their European aspirations.

In addition to passing the controversial law, the ruling Georgian Dream party also introduced a package of family values ​​amendments in June, including bans on transgender transitions, adoptions by same-sex couples and the dissemination of LGBTQ+ information.

This draft law is similar to the Russian law banning “LGBT propaganda.”

On June 27, the Georgian Parliament passed the bill in first reading.

What risk lies behind the “foreign influence‘ Law?

Local and foreign experts warn that the new law will restrict the activities of opponents of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

With parliamentary elections due on October 26, the law allows the ruling party to tighten control over election observers and journalists. Critics say this will help the party secure electoral victories.

And further: “Accession negotiations with the EU may simply not begin. The country will lose the financial support that the US, for example, has given us since independence,” predicted Georgian journalist and activist Khatia Khasaia in an interview with the Kyiv Post in May.

The NGOs will be closed because almost all of them have declared their disobedience and do not intend to register as “foreign agents.” The ruling party will then initiate repressive measures, Khasaia said.