“Regrettably, what the current EU bureaucracy considers acceptable is prohibited in Georgia, and the so-called transparency law is branded as Russian. It appears that the EU itself now intends to adopt this ‘Russian law,'” stated Archil Gorduladze, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee, speaking to journalists.

He explained that the EU had suspended the adoption of its transparency law for a year, citing the reason that, should the EU pass such legislation, it would be unable to criticise the Georgian government.

“Now, it seems that the discussion on this matter is ongoing. It’s as if transparency is of paramount importance to the EU. Yet Georgia, as a candidate country, is denied the right to have information about the flow of funds into its borders. They claim that transparency is a fundamental value for the people. We share this conviction, which is precisely why we adopted our law,” Gorduladze added.

For context, the European Parliament has supported legislation aimed at increasing transparency regarding lobbying by third countries within the EU, including the creation of a relevant registry.