NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said he opposed any attempt by the Georgian Government to re-submit the draft bill on transparency of foreign influence, and stressed it would “contradict the whole effort” of strengthening the democratic institutions in the country.
NATO Chief believes “Georgia should work on reforms to move closer to NATO and to move closer to the EU. Also, the EU has been very clear on this.”
“I visited Georgia, Tbilisi, just a few weeks ago and of course, one of my main messages was the importance of reforms, of strengthening democratic institutions and the Georgian people also made it clear they want a democratic, prosperous future within the European and Euro-Atlantic family.
So, any law that introduces this idea of foreign agents, that I am also afraid that it actually have an impact on a lot of media outlets operating in Georgia [that it] will undermine the whole idea of making Georgia a strong democratic society,” he stated.
The draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence was re-submitted to the Parliament of Georgia, and the amendments will be discussed further in the Bureau session next Monday.
