{"id":376607,"date":"2024-07-09T15:18:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T13:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2024\/07\/09\/ue-taglio-finanziamenti-governo-georgia\/"},"modified":"2024-07-12T15:47:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T13:47:17","slug":"eu-suspension-georgia-government-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2024\/07\/09\/eu-suspension-georgia-government-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"EU begins suspending direct funding to Georgia’s government: ‘Just the first step’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – It is no longer just “de facto,” now the suspension of Georgia’s EU accession process is a reality with the first funds to the government in Tbilisi frozen. “EU has frozen its support for Georgia from the European Peace Facility – EURO 30 million for 2024<\/strong>,” said<\/a> the EU ambassador to Georgia, Pawe\u0142 Herczy\u0144ski<\/strong>, speaking to the press today (July 9) in the Caucasian country’s capital, anticipating that “this is just the first step, there will be others<\/strong>” and in Brussels, “other measures are being considered if the situation further deteriorates.”<\/p>\n

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\"Ambasciatore<\/a>
EU Ambassador to Georgia, Pawe\u0142 Herczy\u0144ski (July 9,\u00a02024)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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What led to the cut in funding for the Georgian armed forces was the mid-May adoption of the pro-Russian law on ‘transparency of foreign influence’<\/a> that – as the European Council said<\/a>\u00a0in its conclusions on\u00a0June 27 – “has effectively brought the accession process<\/strong> to a halt,” despite the candidate country status<\/a> received on December 14, 2023, from the European Council. “We are taking short-term measures, and we are reviewing our financial assistance<\/strong>,” European External Action Service (EEAS) spokesman Peter Stano<\/strong>\u00a0told\u00a0Eunews<\/em>, referring to the June 24\u00a0talks<\/a> of the External Affairs Council on the “different options to address the situation in Georgia.”<\/p>\n

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\"Georgia<\/a>
Georgian demonstrators in Tbilisi against the ‘foreign influence transparency’ law, April 17, 2024 (credits: Giorgi Arjevanidze \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n

In any case, “we will reduce our direct aid to the Georgian government, and we will try to shift it to civil society and the media,” <\/strong>Ambassador Herczy\u0144ski wanted to clear the field of doubts, keeping clear the distinction for the EU\u00a0between the pro-Russian Georgian Dream ruling party and the strongly pro-European civil society. It is a clear distinction ahead of the legislative elections scheduled for October 26. <\/strong>“It’s up to the people to elect the next government, and it’s up to the next government to decide its policy towards the European Union,” the EU ambassador\u00a0said, putting the options on the table: “They have to decide if they want to be part of the next big EU enlargement or if they have other plans for their future.”\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With\u00a0elections just over\u00a0three months away, the opposition parties<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0Georgian Dream are organizing a common platform that takes its lead from the\u00a0‘Georgian Charter’ that the President of the Republic, Salom\u00e9 Zourabichvili,\u00a0<\/strong>presented in late May<\/a>. Several political formations have already confirmed that they are running under the same political umbrella (with common or different, but still allied candidates) with the explicit\u00a0goal of “restoring the EU accession process and opening accession negotiations as soon as possible<\/strong>.” According to Ambassador Herczy\u0144ski’s warning, “Everything can still change, and we are more than willing to help in any way we can, but time is running out,” and it is “sad to see relations between the EU and Georgia at such a low point when they could have reached an all-time high<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

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The Foreign Agents Law in Georgia<\/h3>\n
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\"Georgia<\/a>
Pro-EU protests of Georgians in\u00a0 Tbilisi, May 14,\u00a02024 (credits: Giorgi Arjevanidze \/ Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Georgian Dream party submitted the law on ‘transparency of foreign influence’ last year, but it stalled after mass\u00a0protests in March 2023. . With a slight amendment to the text in early April,\u00a0the government resubmitted the law<\/a>: All organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad would have to register as an ‘organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power’<\/strong> (similar to ‘agent of foreign influence’ in effect in Russia since December 1, 2022). After weeks<\/a> of extremely high tension inside and outside the Tbilisi Parliament, with tens of thousands of citizens triggering\u00a0the largest wave of protests<\/a> since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 – every day continuously for two months – the ruling party decided to proceed\u00a0with its legislative initiative before returning to the polls on October 26,<\/strong> showing a willingness to increase the scale of violence deployed by riot police and balaclava-wearing officers against tens of thousands of peaceful pro-EU protesters, who never stopped taking to\u00a0the streets every day.<\/p>\n

After the first passing of the law<\/a> (according to the ordinary legislative process) on\u00a0May 14, a new very rapid legislative process began to overcome the decision of the head of state<\/strong>, who always strongly opposed a law that disturbingly repeats many elements of the same regulation\u00a0in force in Russia. President Zourabichvili’s move was purely symbolic<\/a>\u00a0since\u00a0the government knew at the outset that it could use its overwhelming majority in Parliament to override the veto and make ‘foreign influence transparency’ become law,\u00a0as confirmed<\/a> on May 28 at\u00a0the plenary session of Parliament.<\/p>\n