Georgian Parliament official on foreign funding: attempts to evade law will be stopped

Rati Ionatamishvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights Protection and Civil Integration, on Friday said the Georgian Government would not allow attempts to circumvent the law through covert schemes and stressed that safeguarding state sovereignty remained a top priority.

In his interview with Imedi TV, Ionatamishvili commented on remarks by EU Commissioner Marta Kos, who stated that the Government of Georgia closely monitored recipients of foreign funding and that caution was therefore required when financing media and civil society organisations.

Ionatamishvili argued that such statements demonstrated a departure by EU structures from the principle of the rule of law.

“An interesting practice has emerged. We always knew that one of the European Union’s fundamental values was the rule of law. Today, however, what we see from Eurocrats is that they trample on the principle of the rule of law. They imagine themselves to be judges, prosecutors, lawyers - everything all at once. But the fact is that such statements have lost their value for our society, because the public clearly sees that in reality they are not interested in the media or the civil sector at all. They have completely different interests, and behind these labels stand certain organisations that truly have no connection to media activity, human rights protection, or the promotion of democratic principles”, he said.

The official highlighted that foreign funding for internal political processes was strictly prohibited in any country serious about its democracy and sovereignty - a principle Georgia upholds rigorously.

“Of course, everyone knows very well that in reality these are organisations that think day and night about only one thing - how to change the government in Georgia through violence. That is their sole goal and objective. In reality, they represent neither the media nor NGOs. Therefore, when such hypocritical approaches appear in politics, they will be prevented. Foreign funding in the internal political processes of any self-respecting country is prohibited, and this prohibition is upheld to a very high standard everywhere by those who care about their democracy and sovereignty”, he noted.

He vowed that no “dark and obscure” schemes to bypass the law would succeed, as protecting national sovereignty remained paramount.

“That is why, no matter how hard anyone tries to bypass the law through dark and obscure means, we will not allow it. We must safeguard and protect our country’s sovereignty”, Ionatamishvili concluded.