“No revolution elsewhere” - Georgian FM hits out at double standards in foreign funding laws

Georgian Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili has said that while many countries have laws regulating NGOs and foreign funding, there has been no precedent elsewhere for such regulations to spark attempts at revolution, as seen in Georgia.

Botchorishvili made the remarks in response to a journalist’s question concerning the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme, which came into effect in the United Kingdom on October 1.

"It’s very simple - many countries have similar laws or regulations concerning NGOs and foreign funding. Yet in no case do such rules provoke the kind of outrage and agitation that we saw in Georgia. When we raise this issue with our European colleagues, who may not be fully informed about what happened in Georgia over the past two years, and refer to transparency laws, it often causes surprise”, the FM said.

“This is because such laws exist in many states, but nowhere else have we seen attempts at revolution based on them, as we have witnessed in Georgia. Once again, this is a matter of double standards and the use of any issue against Georgia’s national interests”, she concluded.