Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, spoke to journalists about the lack of transparency regarding lobbying and funded campaigns in the country. He pointed out that, unlike America, Georgia does not have a law ensuring transparency in these matters.

Papuashvili said that the documents published by the US Department of Justice demonstrate that the campaign related to Mikheil Saakashvili was both orchestrated and financed.

“The campaign surrounding Saakashvili, using various slogans like ‘Free Misha’ and advocating for humanitarian transfers, as well as speaking about torture and poisoning, was orchestrated and financed. Such campaigns involve bribing the media and politicians to disseminate desired information, leading to the spread of disinformation. The documents published by the US Department of Justice revealed a list of activities associated with this orchestrated campaign. These tactics are the ugliest form of politics and hybrid instruments, where methods such as influencing media outlets and using lobbyists to draft resolutions were employed. We also saw that lobbyists and MEPs communicate constantly,” he said.

Papuashvili emphasized the need for increasing transparency in the country’s political landscape.

“The mentioned information became known thanks to the fact that the Foreign Agents Registration Act is in force in the US, whose analogy was labelled as ‘Russian law’ in Georgia,” he added.