There where incredible scenes in front of Georgia’s parliament, yesterday, as OSCE Chairman and Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg held meetings with government officials and NGOs. The OSCE Chairman also met with Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili who intends to veto the recently passed Foreign Agents Bills (“Russian law”), although her veto may not be effective to cancel it. Tbilisi has been engulfed by protests ever since parliament approved the “Russian law” which will restrict foreign financing to local NGOs.
Ian Borg condemned violence against protesters in his speech after meeting NGOs who told him that the bill will classify them as foreign agents. NGOs in Georgia already publish their accounts in full, effectively contradicting the false claims of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze who said to Borg that 80% of NGOs don’t publish their accounts. The Georgian Prime Minister, however, has also told Borg that he would consider changing the law if provided with legal advice from the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
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