“I call on political parties to close fake NGOs and accounts where they receive donations from abroad and serve Georgian people. I also tell donors, who are directly or indirectly involved in financing political parties, that financing Georgian parties is an infringement of Georgia’s sovereignty,” said Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

According to the Speaker, accepting foreign donations is prohibited in Georgia and is a violation of law. He said he heard from opposition MP Sandro Rakviashvili that political parties had established fake NGOs to attract foreign funds.

Earlier today, the Speaker described “meddling of foreign money in politics” as “problematic.” He said the opposition Droa was both the party and a non-governmental organization founded by the same person Elene Khoshtaria.

According to the Speaker, Khoshtaria admitted herself that her NGO was financed by the European Foundation for Democracy. Shalva Papuashvili went on to say that the same Foundation financed Shame Movement and paid bail for the release of the UNM’s former chair, Nika Melia.

“Accepting foreign donations is prohibited in Georgia, as in all countries. This is not only a violation of the law, but also an affront to sovereignty. They do not realize that states act in their interests, and in the interest of their people, and political parties are obliged to act only in the interests of their people, and the country. When a political party benefits from the wages of a foreign organization, it carries the interests of another organization or country,” he said.

Shalva Papuashvili stressed that foreign finances and money from foreign countries have “nothing to do with Georgian politics.” He urged the international donors to respect the Paris Declaration and underscored that all donors were “accountable and responsible for their actions.”