Georgian Parliament official: EU realises neither transparency nor family values laws trigger public protest

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the chair of the foreign relations committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said the European Union was well aware that neither the law on transparency of foreign influence nor the law on family values was causing protest among Georgian citizens.

In his remarks, Samkharadze noted that the ongoing critical rhetoric from Brussels was a calculated attempt to maintain constant pressure on the Georgian government.

“This rhetoric is aimed at exerting permanent pressure on the Georgian authorities. We see that they effectively have nothing left to say; they are repeating the same things over and over”, the official said.

The official further argued that despite various formal justifications, the core of the EU's criticism always returns to these two specific legislative acts, which are being framed as a “democratic backslide”.