The European Union has already said that the EU [integration] process is on hold and that is entirely because the government decided to write this law the way they did, and that's a shame," said US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia James O'Brien.
With this, he assessed the fact that the law on transparency of foreign influence is moving to a new stage of implementation. As James O'Brien explains, there are ways in which European states protect their electoral systems, but this law does not.
"We want Georgian people to be able to vote in free and fair elections. For this to happen, we need to see that the whole process is working well. This includes community associations, civic organizations, volunteers. In the next few months, all these organizations should be able to work effectively without fear of harassment or violence. This is an important thing. As for this law, as we have repeated many times, it is fundamentally flawed. There are ways in which European states protect their electoral systems. This law does not do that. As you mentioned, one of the issues is what we've been saying from the beginning is about coercion: having a government agency that essentially forces [an organization] to register, and access all the data in that organization, is not consistent with modern European practice. Georgia chose to implement the law in this way, which greatly harmed its EU and NATO membership prospects. The EU has already said that the EU [integration] process is on hold and that is entirely because the government decided to write this law the way they did, and that's a shame,” says James O'Brien.
In addition, he spoke about the possible impact of the law on the transparency of foreign influence on the elections and explained that this law tries to remove one leg of this three-legged stool.
"Elections should be free and fair. It is good that the OSCE will have the opportunity to carry out an observation mission in some parts, but this organization also relies on local groups, ordinary Georgians, to ensure that citizens are registered, have the necessary knowledge to vote, show up in the right places and that their votes are counted. It's all part of one big system. This law tries to remove one leg from this three-legged stool. This doesn't work. Therefore, I am concerned that this means the elections will not be free and fair. It will certainly not be perceived as free and fair. "Georgia cannot take the next step forward without this," says James O'Brien.
In addition, he also spoke about the fact that the Russian security services accuse the United States of trying to change the government in Georgia, and the American organizations - NDI and IRI are also accused in Tbilisi of supporting opposition parties.
As James O'Brien explains, anyone who believes in Russian security services is fooling themselves. American organizations are very transparent.
"We know who we work with. We work to support Georgians so that they can self-organize within the government, or outside of it. That's the whole goal. We don't pick winners and losers. It is strange that "Georgian Dream" wins elections again and again while claiming that we are somehow conspiring against them. This is a funny comment. We are here for the Georgian people, most of whom, almost 90%, want to go to Europe. It is the government and its very poor law enforcement that has caused this problem. We want them to fix it so that people can self-organize and have free and fair elections," says James O'Brien.
When asked if he is concerned about possible Russian interference or harmful influence in Georgia in the near future, James O'Brien explains that what the government is doing [now] makes it much easier for Russia to dominate the Georgian information space.
"I want us to focus on the fact that this is the government's decision, the government is doing something that makes it difficult for its citizens to self-organize, and for Georgia's long-time friends - Europe and the United States - to help the citizens of Georgia. In this environment, if the government succeeds in completely denying all of these groups access to resources, only Russian sources of information will survive. So, what should have happened before, what the government is doing [now], it makes it much easier for Russia to dominate the information space of Georgia," says James O'Brien.
