Ruling party Sec Gen says transparency remains “fundamental principle” for Georgian Government

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said transparency was important for the country, in his comments over a bill mirroring the United States Foreign Agents Registration Act.

In his remarks, Kaladze noted that the new legislative package was mirroring an effective US law and aimed to ensure greater transparency regarding foreign funding.

“We had initially initiated the transparency law, which the local agent network, with the involvement of external forces, labeled as Russian. It had nothing to do with Russian law. For years, we have witnessed the inflow of vast sums of money from foreign countries, fueling polarisation, internal conflicts, and even attempted coups”, the ruling party official said.

“Hundreds of millions were spent to fund the agent network in the country, to create an agent network line and to carry out a coup d'état whenever they needed to. We witnessed this, but of course, our Government, the state with its institutions, is very strong and we will do everything in the future to maintain our independence and strengthen our sovereignty”, he continued.

Kaladze further emphasised that transparency remained a fundamental principle for the Georgian Government.

“Accordingly, we are implementing exactly the same law that has been successfully working in the US for years, and we will have the same attitude towards organisations or specific individuals funded from abroad”, he concluded.