Georgia’s ruling party Sec Gen: transparency was criticised only after we began monitoring foreign funds to NGOs

Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday defended the Government’s transparency measures regarding foreign-funded NGOs, criticising international actors who labelled such efforts as negative.

Responding to an EU report suggesting Georgia should avoid statements contrary to EU positions, Kaladze emphasised that the Georgian public deserved accurate information about which organisations receive foreign funding and how these funds were used.

“Today, the Government of Georgia, our country, is in a defence mode. When we hear false statements and attacks, do you think we should remain silent and not tell the people the truth? On the contrary, people need to know the truth. If those claims are valid, why do they then oppose the law on transparency? Since when did transparency become a bad thing?” he said.

The official added that after the Georgian Government adopted the law on transparency, some EU representatives criticised it as a wrong step.

“We were always told that transparency was important. Once we decided to monitor the funds coming from abroad to subsidised NGOs - and we were told that these funds were supposedly used for good projects and charitable work - we began controlling them. We said that everything should be transparent. Then, suddenly, transparency became bad, and apparently, the Georgian Government was not supposed to speak about it”, Kaladze noted.

“In reality, these funds were being used to influence Georgian politics, create division among Georgians, deepen polarisation, and promote extremism and violent groups. This is the unfortunate reality”, he concluded.