The people of Georgia, especially the students and the young people, spoke loud and clear, and the ruling party finally listened. Now we all want to see every single Member of Parliament click on the red button and reject these laws, formally reject these laws, said US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan when commenting on the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party’s decision to withdraw the Transparency of Foreign Influence bill.

“Georgia does not need these laws. There are already ample protections and transparency to ensure that all of the financial system assistance flowing into Georgia is being used for Georgia’s best interests, to help Georgians who are working hard to improve their communities all over this country. That’s what foreign assistance has been doing in Georgia for 30 years. And I think all you have to do is look around in almost any community in this country and you will see very good positive work.

The people of Georgia now want to see their Government fulfil its pledge to achieve European Union candidate status and I hope that now will be where all of the energy and attention is going. This is a tremendous opportunity to improve the lives of every single Georgian, and it’s the people of Georgia who are holding the Government accountable to that pledge to achieve candidate status,” Kelly Degnan said.