“No one was genuinely interested in the contents of the proposed legislation; from the beginning to the end, a shallow campaign based on lies was carried out with labels and stigmatization that had nothing to do with reality,” ruling Georgian Dream Chair Irakli Kobakhidze remarked on the development concerning the adoption of the draft law on Transparency of Foreign Influence in its first reading.

The radical opposition was running a campaign based on lies against both the Georgian and the American versions of the bill.

According to him, the proposed law approved by the ruling team envisions only the transparency of non-entrepreneurial legal organizations and media outlets functioning with foreign funds, and only those who have something to hide can be aggressive about this very issue.

“This is the only issue that is regulated by this bill. According to Georgian legislation, a register must be created that contains an annual report of all such organizations’ revenue and spending. This is the only provision of the draft that we passed,” Kobakhidze explained.

The GD Chair went on to say that the ruling team cares about the concerns of all those people who, due to large-scale misinformation, have acquired a mistaken perspective towards the draft law, expressing readiness “to provide them with detailed information about the content and tasks of the bill.”

Kobakhidze also stated that linking the proposed legislation with the country’s European course is the worst misinformation that has been heard these days.

“Europe implies transparency and de-radicalization, which the draft legislation we adopted serves. We will undoubtedly go forward, towards Europe, while preserving the dignity of our country and state,” Kobakhidze stated.

The GD Chair also touched upon the EU candidate status issue.

“We are doing absolutely everything for Georgia to obtain candidate status in December and to continue its uninterrupted progress towards Europe,” he stated, adding that there are baseless suspicions about the country’s foreign policy.

Georgian Parliament on Tuesday approved the proposed legislation On the Transparency of Foreign Influence in its first reading, followed by a street protest outside, where police fired water cannons and tear gas at demonstrators.