Georgian Parliament official says EU audit echoes USAID, NED funding issues

Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Committee on European Integration of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday responded to the findings of the European Court of Auditors, according to which, the European Union spent over €7 billion on funding the non-governmental sector between 2021 and 2023.

In his remarks, Makhashvili noted that these findings were a continuation of the issues previously observed with USAID and NED funding.

He further added that following the “USAID and NED scandal”, legitimate questions now were arising regarding European funding as well.

“Following the American experience, we have legitimate questions regarding European funding as well and serious doubts that this funding was used in the same way in Georgia. This fact also indicates that, apparently, there are certain funds being used in Georgia not for the publicly stated purposes, but to bring discord and confrontation into society”, the Parliament official said.