On May 28, the Georgian parliament voted to override Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of a bill that she and other critics regard as a blow to democracy. U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan called the bill “a Kremlin-style foreign agents' law that runs counter to democratic values.”
The bill requires that if a non-governmental organization receives at least 20 percent of its funding from overseas, the NGO must register and declare it is “carrying out the interests of a foreign power.” It must also provide detailed financial information.
Promoted by Georgia’s ruling Dream Party, the bill has given rise to weeks of protests by thousands of Georgians opposing the bill. Prior to the parliament’s latest vote of approval, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in a statement that such a law “would stifle the exercise of freedoms of association and expression, stigmatize organizations that serve the citizens of Georgia, and impede media organizations working to provide Georgians with access to high quality information.” He deplored Georgian authorities’ “repressive tactics used to quell legitimate dissent” and announced the United States is implementing a new visa restriction policy for Georgia “that will apply to individuals who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia, as well as their family members.”
After the vote, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller condemned the action of Georgia’s parliament, which effectively turned the bill into law:
“In passing this law, the ruling Georgian Dream Party moved the country farther away from the European integration path and ignored the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people who have taken to the streets for weeks to oppose this law. ... The ruling party’s actions and anti-Western rhetoric threaten Georgia’s democratic trajectory, future economic security, EU membership, and also put the U.S-Georgia relationship at risk.”
Spokesperson Miller noted that the United States has also launched a comprehensive review of bilateral cooperation between the United States and Georgia:
“As Secretary Blinken said last week, we will take Georgia Dream’s actions into account as we decide our own.”
“The United States,” declared Spokesperson Miller, “continues to stand by the Georgian people as they work for a democratic and Western future. It is unfortunate that Georgia’s leaders are choosing to forgo the steps needed to advance Georgia in the Western direction that its people want.”
