Speaker: Konrad Adenauer Foundation claims it wants a political mission in Georgia, leaving because it cannot deliver; they have no mission here

“Foreign political parties and their affiliated foundations have no political mission to perform in Georgia,” Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili declared on Friday, describing recent statements by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation as “perplexing and bizarre.”

Commenting on the German organisation’s decision to shut down its regional office in Tbilisi, Papuashvili pointed out that the foundation is affiliated with Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a member of the European People’s Party (EPP) and a sister party to Georgia’s opposition United National Movement (UNM).

“In their own statement, they revealed the real reason for their departure. They claim they have a political mission, and because they can no longer deliver it, it is no longer worth their while remaining in the country. That is rather astonishing,” the Speaker said.

“Imagine if Georgian Dream started carrying out party-political missions across Germany. I highly doubt the authorities in Berlin or any other city would permit Georgian Dream to run partisan operations on German soil. It is utterly incomprehensible,” Mr Papuashvili added.

The Speaker explained that the foundation had approached the Georgian government regarding its projects. The government invited them to drop political undertakings while offering full clearance for any purely academic or educational initiatives.

“It appears they have zero interest in academic or educational fields. As their own statement shows, their sole interest was pursuing a political agenda. Now they say, ‘Since we cannot execute this political mission, we are leaving.’ That is their choice,” Papuashvili noted.

The Parliament Speaker asserted that the Georgian public lost trust in foreign-funded organisations after seeing international donations used to bankroll radical political agendas inside the country.

“This was confirmed by the new US administration, which fully exposed the harmful USAID schemes used to finance violence and radicalism in Georgia. That is precisely why we enacted our legislation on grants and transparency—laws that the public overwhelmingly endorsed in the 2024 elections, which served as an effective referendum,” the Speaker stated.

“The Georgian people delivered a clear message to the Konrad Adenauer Foundation and all other organisations: if you wish to operate in Georgia, especially on projects with political undertones, you must seek permission from the public via the government. Operating in a sovereign nation is a privilege, not a right. Anyone wishing to enjoy that privilege must abide by the rules of the Georgian people,'” he emphasised.

“The public is no longer willing to blindly trust foreign donors to finance whatever they please,” Papuashvili concluded, noting that while one or two German foundations are leaving, cooperation with others continues as normal.

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) officially closed its Tbilisi office on 30 September.