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The EU is trying to intimidate Georgia over its foreign agents law, Georgian PM Irakli Kobakhidze has said
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PM Kobakhidze has claimed, an EU commissioner told him he could end up suffering the same fate as Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who survived an assassination attempt last week.
EU Threats to Georgia
In a Facebook post on Thursday May 24, 2024, PM Kobakhidze said, the unnamed EU commissioner warned him during a recent phone call, the West would take “a number of measures” against Georgia, if his government pressed ahead with a transparency law requiring foreign NGOs, Media Outlets and individuals in Georgia to disclose their funding.
“While listing these measures, he mentioned: ‘you see what happened to Fico, and you should be very careful’,” he wrote.
US Threats to Georgia
Commenting on the adoption of the ‘foreign agent’ law in Georgia in early June, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller warned that the developments “fundamentally alter the US relationship with” Georgia, which has long been seeking to join the EU and NATO."
The official stressed that Washington “would not hesitate to impose” sanctions on Tbilisi.
US/EU/NATO Measures
Stop Georgia's EU and NATO member applications;
Stop EU, IMF, World Bank development loans;
Impose US sanctions on Georgian officials, if democracy was undermined in the country.
The above is an ultimatum to a free, sovereign country to do what we want, or else.
It looks like the gloves are off. Georgia is being shown the sharp edge of the color "revolution" blade.
Image shows mostly employees of foreign-financed NGOs demonstrating against the Transparency Law
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Attempted Assassination of Slovakian Prime Minister
PM Fico of Slovakia, was shot multiple times, as he met with supporters outside a government meeting in the town of Handlova on May 15.
He was rushed to hospital, underwent emergency surgery, and is currently recuperating from his injuries.
His would-be assassin – a 71-year-old poet, who allegedly disagreed with Fico’s suspension of military aid to Ukraine – has been charged with attempted murder.
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Georgia’s Parliament Passed the ‘Transparency of Foreign Influence Act’
The law requires NGOs, media outlets and individuals which receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “promoting the interests of a foreign power” and disclose their donors.
All countries should have such a law.
The Georgian government would like to know who's running the country, especially if foreign governments are using Georgian NGOs to instigate a color revolution against the Georgian people.
While the act has been vetoed by Georgia’s pro-EU president, Salome Zourabichvili, parliament is expected to override her veto.
With the passage of Georgia's Transparency of Foreign Influence Act, the many years of US bribery payments to the NGOs owned by Georgian government politicians (a way to pay bribes; don't pay me, pay my NGO), and hundreds of other NGOs, ended.
Those politicians and thousands of other bribed people, along with the US/EU/NATO, had opposed the act's adoption, and were demonstrating in the streets, but fortunately for Georgia, they lost.
Despite the opposition of the US and those politicians, who are using lapdog news media, and propaganda against the act, it has been adopted.
At least, Georgia has retained its independence and sovereignty, for the time being. Georgia dodged the sniper's bullet.
Partial List of Countries with Foreign Agent Laws
Despite, even more stringent foreign influence laws existing, for many years, in the US, etc., Georgia’s foreign agent law has been strongly condemned by US and EU officials, with Washington considering unspecified “actions” against Georgia and multiple EU members threatening sanctions, according to media reports.
United States, very strict, since 1939.
Russia.
Georgia.
Hungary.
Australia.
Canada.
European Union.
Ukraine
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Republika Srpska
US Scraps Annual Military Drills with Georgia
https://www.rt.com/news/600551-us-suspends-drills-georgia/
The US has suspended this year’s ‘Noble Partner’ military exercise with Georgia due to a “comprehensive review” of bilateral relations by Washington.
The maneuvers, which have previously involved troops from multiple NATO member states, had been held annually since 2015, a year after the US-instigated/financed coup d'etat in Kiev!
The United States Government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia,” the Pentagon’s press release concluded.
NOTE: The US spent $5 billion on such payments before the violent Kiev coup d'etat in 2014, according to Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State.
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Despite, even more stringent foreign influence laws existing, for many years, in the US, UK, and other Western nations, Georgia’s foreign agent law has been strongly condemned by US and EU officials, with Washington considering unspecified “actions” against Georgia and multiple EU members threatening sanctions, according to media reports.
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The Georgian law requires NGOs, Media Outlets and individuals to register as ‘pursuing the interests of a foreign power’ if they receive over 20% of their funding from abroad, similar to the 1938 US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Agents_Registration_Act#:~:te....
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The Georgian law was approved in three parliamentary votes, but was vetoed by Pro-EU President Zurabishvili, a ‘traitor to the Caucasian nation’ in the words of Georgian PM Kobakhidze.
The Parliament is expected to overrule the Presidential veto in yet another vote.
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The EU Commissioner Making Threats:
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One of the EU Commissioners, the Hungarian Oliver Varhelyi, Commissioner for "Neighborhood policy and Enlargement", threatened Georgian PM Kobakhidze with the fate of Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who recently suffered an assassination attempt.
This was posted in the Georgia government Official Facebook page: “Even against the background of years of blackmail, the threats that were voiced in a telephone conversation with one of the EU Commissioners were striking.
In particular, in his conversation with me, the EU Commissioner listed a number of "measures" Western politicians could take after overriding the veto on the transparency law, and said while listing these measures – ‘You saw what happened to Fiсo, you should be very careful’, the post claims.”
President Zourabichvili vetoed the law on May 18, but according to Parliament speaker Papuashvili, lawmakers plan to override the veto next week.
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From the EU Commissioner:
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“Oliver Varhelyi, EU commissioner for Neighborhood policy and Enlargement: “I would like to express my very sincere regret that a certain part of my phone conversation was taken out of context,”Varhelyi said in a statement released on Thursday, addressing PM Kobakhidze’s words.
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There you have it: the EU using scare tactics to increase pressure on Georgia to drop the law, then acting like it was ‘misunderstood’.
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“Varhelyi said in a statement he wanted to tell PM Kobakhidze not to further inflame the already-fragile situation in Georgia, which could lead to further polarization and to possible uncontrolled situations on the streets in Tbilisi (which is what Western-financed NGOs, etc., had been doing). and the assassination attempt in Slovakia “was made as an example, and as a reference, to where such a high level of polarization can lead in a society, even in Europe”.
‘I regret that a certain part of my phone call was not just fully taken out of context, but was also presented to the public in a way which could give rise to a complete misinterpretation of the originally intended aim of my phone call’, Varhelyi said.” ( however, he does not mention his listing of "measures" )
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Response from PM Kobakhidze:
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“We have long been accustomed to this kind of insulting blackmail,” PM Kobakhidze wrote.
“The parallel drawn with the attempted assassination of Robert Fico reminds us, in the form of the Global War Party, we are dealing with an extremely dangerous force, that will do anything to bring chaos to Georgia.”
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In an interview with Georgia’s Channel 1 on Wednesday, PM Kobakhidze argued, without a transparency law, foreign-funded NGOs, Media Outlets and individuals operating in Georgia could easily foment a revolution akin to the US-backed ‘Maidan’ coup in Ukraine in 2014, (and the recent attempted Coups in Belarus in 2021, and Kazakhstan in 2022).
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“We want transparency.. We don’t want to have outsiders muddy the waters in Georgia, because a ‘Georgian Maidan’ could lead our country to very serious consequences, it could lead to its ‘Ukrainization’. We cannot agree with this. That has to be avoided like the plague” he said.
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PM Kobakhidze stated Georgia still wants to join both the EU and NATO, but the transparency law is necessary to protect Georgian sovereignty.
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However, the US will increase pressure, because it wants to use Georgia as a second front against Russia.
The US will impose sanctions on the Georgian leadership.
The EU is likely to withdraw its decision to grant Georgia the status of a candidate for accession
The West is hoping to cause an even greater wave of protests, an even greater mobilization of the pro-Western factions, which might make it possible to overthrow the current Georgian government by hook or by crook, as happened in Ukraine, etc.."
https://tass.com/politics/1793239
NATO deceives Georgia for years by mistranslating its treaty — pro-government party
https://tass.com/world/1798571
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TBILISI, June 5. /TASS/. Throughout the past years, NATO has been misleading the people of Georgia with the help of an inaccurate translation of the North Atlantic Treaty, which omits a reservation that the alliance’s members help one another only if they deem it necessary, the Georgian party People’s Power said in a statement.
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Being part of the parliamentary majority, People’s Power supports all initiatives of the country’s authorities.
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"Unlike the original [text], an essential part that says about the use of armed force was removed from the Georgian version.
The key article stipulating that each country makes its own decision on whether to use, or not to use, military assistance, as it deems necessary, has vanished from the original treaty in its translation.
The Georgian version presents it in such a manner that if an attack against NATO members occurs, all the countries must engage in military confrontation and to protect the ally from this aggression.
There is a question who believed it necessary to conduct propaganda based on lies for years and to persuade the people of Georgia that NATO membership, a priori, means security and guaranteed peace," the statement said.
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The party cited the English and Georgian versions of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty.
As the TASS correspondent found out, the translation of Article 5 into Georgian reads that "if such an armed attack occurs, each of them <…> will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith <…> such action, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." .
However, the English version contains a reservation that the countries will take "such action, as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force."
The People's Power Party assumes that the answer to a question, who has benefitted from deceiving the Georgian people by mistranslating the Treaty is that "the global party of war has for years been exploiting the EU and NATO issue as a tool of influence on people."
The PPP pointed out that people were made to believe that salvation was only through NATO membership, and this manipulation was used against the country’s authorities.
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In addition, the statement said that over the past decades, Georgia has been listening to "the empty promises" and the urges to do more and more for NATO membership.
As another reason for nihilism concerning integration into the alliance, the party cited US President Joe Biden who said that he had not been prepared to support the "NATOization of Ukraine."
The statement emphasized that "the choice is simple" when the West reiterates that the two revolutions have brought democracy to Ukraine, whereas in fact, Tbilisi sees "a ruined country bogged down in the misery of war."
It looks like NATO was trying to put one over on Georgia, and the Georgian leadership called a foul.
I wonder, if that game was played with other newish NATO countries
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Georgia has parliamentary elections In September, which the West will try to influence with its paid-for NGOs and its paid-for Media to get the “right people” in place; a “soft” coup d'Etat
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Those NGOs and Media are now identified and curtailed by Georgia’s new law, to increase transparency, meaning, find out what the hell is going on, before it is too late.
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The West aims to turn Georgia into a second front against Russia, another Ukraine, but the Georgians are not buying the prospect of that ruination
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I am surprised people are closing their minds against these NATO/EU/US misdoings.
Now you have some background that most people do not have.
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The EU/US Media will definitely not write about it, so their people are being hoodwinked as well.
TBILISI, June 28. /TASS/. The Georgian government has prevented external attempts to turn it into a second Ukraine and will do its utmost to keep this from happening in the future, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told the parliament.
"As far as the Ukrainization is concerned, the attempt to turn Georgia into a second Ukraine, including the ‘Maidan’ and then ‘the second front’, we have talked about this many times.
Sadly, certain political forces were overtly involved in such propaganda and openly demanded that ‘the second front’ be opened in Georgia.
Of course, this has increased pressure on our country, but over these years, we have been able to successfully avoid such a scenario and, of course, we are sure that we will be able to cope with this in the future as well," Kobakhidze said.
The prime minister emphasized that Georgia has dealt with similar threats in the past and the government will not let anyone bring the country "to such a dire condition" as Ukraine has been put in.
The Georgian authorities have made numerous statements about determined external attempts to drag the country into a "second front" of confrontation with Russia, especially right after the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine.
Moreover, the leaders of the ruling party ‘Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia’ emphasize that any involvement in the conflict will end disastrously for Georgia, while the government’s mission is to preserve peace in the country.
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EU suspends accession process for ex-Soviet republic
The Georgian ‘foreign agent’ law is “incompatible” with membership of the bloc, its ambassador in Tbilisi has said
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The European Union has suspended the process of Georgia’s accession to the bloc, the EU’s ambassador to the former Soviet republic, Pavel Gerchinsky, told Russian media on Tuesday. A €30 million ($32.5 million) payment allocated to the Georgian Defense Ministry has also reportedly been frozen.
The envoy cited Tbilisi’s controversial ‘foreign agent’ law as the reason behind the move. After the legislation was adopted last month, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned Georgia that its potential accession to the bloc was in jeopardy.
Formally titled the Transparency of Foreign Influence Act, the new law requires NGOs, media outlets, and individuals who receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities “promoting the interests of a foreign power” and to disclose their donors. Those who fail to comply will face fines of up to $9,500. The bill came into force despite opposition protests and a veto by Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili.
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“The intentions of the current Georgian government are unclear to EU leaders. The Transparency of Foreign Influence Act is clearly a step backwards. [...] Also, the anti-Western, anti-European rhetoric is completely incompatible with the declared goal of joining the European Union. Unfortunately, as of now Georgia’s accession to the European Union has been suspended,” Gerchinsky said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.
While opponents of the law have described it as at attack on democracy and “Russian” because Moscow has similar legislation, its supporters have noted it is similar to what numerous Western nations, including the US, have in place.
Borrell said last month that Georgia will not progress with its EU accession unless its government changes its policies.
Georgia will hold parliamentary elections in October, and Gerchinsky expressed hope that a new government in Tbilisi, “whatever it may be,” will again “begin serious work” toward EU integration.
The former Soviet republic applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after the start of the Ukraine conflict. In May of last year, the European Council agreed to allocate €30 million to boost Georgia’s defense sector. The European Council granted Tbilisi candidate status last December.
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