“Foreign actors express readiness to speak with the Georgian people about the content of the bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence instead of offering just branding of the law if we agree on certain issues,” said Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

According to the Speaker, following the bill’s initiation, the government has attempted to engage both the opposition and foreign actors in detailed discussion.

“Regrettably, the draft bill has encountered a wall from the beginning including on the part of foreign actors. Instead of discussing the bill and the idea that acts in different countries, including the European Union, there were attempts to brand the law and manage the processes with emotions rather than rational judgment. 

Fortunately, lately, we have seen some tendencies and readiness to discuss it in detail. I had meetings with EU representatives and said that the Georgian parliament would pass the bill with the third reading. We know that the President intends to veto it. If there is the wish to discuss it in detail and foreign actors are ready to speak with the Georgian people about the content, and if an agreement is reached over some issues, the veto is the mechanism to reflect those in the bill,” Papuashvili said.