We know many non-governmental organizations that directly fight the state, the interests of the state. We know a lot of organizations that, with funding received from abroad, held anti-government rallies, a lot of provocative events that do not serve the national interests of our country, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, told reporters in Berlin.
According to the head of the Government, over the years they received tens of millions of dollars in grants, and there was no information or accountability to the public.
According to Irakli Gharibashvili, any speculations heard from the side of the opposition are baseless.
"I would like to make the following statement to our society and express my opinion on this draft law. You know that two versions have been submitted to the Parliament. One is the so-called Georgian version prepared by People's Power and the other is the so-called American version, that is, as it was explained to me and we know that it is so, in fact, a translation of American law which was brought to our reality.
In America this law was passed in 1939, if I'm not mistaken, and since then this law has been in place, and I don't think anyone has tried to judge why such a law has been in place in America. Such a law also applies in other countries.
It is the sovereign decision of every country what kind of law the country needs at a given time, at a given moment. In general, I would like to say the following - we, our government, are doing everything to strengthen the sovereignty of our country. This is our main task. Independence of our country. We, our country, have been on the path of European integration for the last ten years, we all know very well that the Georgian Dream obtained the Association Agreement, free trade, visa-free regime, now the European perspective, which finally proved that we will indeed be a full-fledged member of the European family. And now we are waiting for the status. Our government is doing everything to get this status very soon. Any speculations we have heard from the opposition are baseless. It is clear that this may be an unacceptable issue for many, but we are the government because we have to do what our people and country need. For example, we know many non-governmental organizations that directly fight the state, the interests of the state. We know a lot of organizations that, with funding received from abroad, held anti-government rallies, a lot of provocative events that do not serve the national interests of our country. Their financing is not transparent. On the other hand, they urge us that the activities of the Government and Parliament should be fully transparent, and this is true. We are at the forefront of transparency around the world. For example, we are number one in terms of budget transparency. We are in first place in the world. So I think the campaign that is going on now is baseless.
I understand that it is painful for them, because for years they received tens of millions of dollars in grants, and there was no transparency, no information, no accountability to the public, to our people. The minimum standard of accountability and transparency is a necessary requirement that is fully in line with European and world standards. It was very clearly explained by our legislators, the Parliament, that it is planned to support both of these draft laws in the first reading. After that, as explained by our MPs, these bills will be sent to the Venice Commission. We will wait for the recommendations of the Venice Commission, their assessment, and the Parliament will continue to discuss this issue," said the Prime Minister.
