Seven opposition parties released a joint statement on the Foreign Financing Transparency bill initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party.

The authors warned that if the Georgian parliament passed the law, it would deviate from the European path.

“The Russian law is a betrayal of Georgia’s European path. We, the Georgian pro-Western political forces, condemn the resubmission of the Russian law by the Georgian Dream. It means breaking the promise given to the Georgian citizens and our strategic partners and sneering at the youngsters who protected our historical choice one year ago and retained a chance for Georgia to become a member of the European Union.

The only goal of the Georgian Dream is to preserve power and property seized as a result of anti-state, corrupt actions.

While the government itself has become the main cause of poverty, corruption, catastrophic price increases and the exodus of citizens from the country, Ivanishvili (GD Honorable Chair) is attempting to silence critical voices and suppress a free society in a manner reminiscent of Putin.

The ruling power is now completely empty of European values and principles. If the government adopts Russian law, Georgia will get off the European track, and the door to the security, peace and prosperity guaranteed by EU membership will close to Georgian citizens for a long time. Now, more than ever, at this moment in history, change must be a top priority for each of us.

This change, which will bring multi-party and democratic rule, will be a guarantee for Georgia’s return to the European family,” reads the statement.

New, Girchi-For More Freedom, Droa, United National Movement (UNM), Lelo for Georgia, Republican Party and Strategy Aghmashenebeli signed the joint statement.