Statement regarding the re-initiation of bill on Transparency of Foreign Influence by the ruling power

11 April, 2024

Tbilisi, Georgia

Civic Platform for Peace

***

The Civil Platform for Peace, which unites more than 60 civil society organizations and experts working in the field of peacebuilding, condemn the reinitiation of so-called Russian Law by the "Georgian Dream", thus breaching its numerous promises given to the Georgian People.

Strategic international partners of Georgia, including the European Union and its member states, the USA, the Council of Europe and other international organizations, as well as ambassadors accredited to the country, have repeatedly stated that the bill is incompatible with democratic values and the declared course of integration with Europe.

We believe that this draft law undermines the European integration process and democracy chosen by the People. Also, the adoption of the law will create a significant threat to civil peace, divide the society and limit freedom of speech in the country.

In addition, the draft law will cause significant damage to the peace building process, the success of which is largely related to the European integration of Georgia.

The Civil Platform for Peace, its member organizations and experts make a significant contribution to reconciliation and restoration of trust between societies divided by conflicts, as well as to the socio-economic assistance of the conflict-affected and displaced population living along the administrative boundary lines (ABL), which is not a foreign power, but primarily serves the interests of the Georgian People and peace policy. All actions that civil society organizations carry out openly and transparently, often in active cooperation with government representatives, are possible with the strong support of international partners, especially the European Union. It should be noted that the peace fund established by the Georgian government, within the framework of the peace initiative "Step towards a better future", allocates grants to support economic projects along the ABL, is also financed by international partners.

To restore trust, it is necessary to maintain and further develop people-to-people contacts, which is possible through the public diplomacy. In this context, the adoption of the draft law will create a significant threat to the existing communication channels with the Abkhazian and Ossetian communities, which is especially alarming in the light of lacking of alternative sustainable dialogue formats.

A large part of the member organizations and experts of the Platform actively cooperates with the Parliament of Georgia and other relevant state agencies in the frame of the peace process. In particular, we are members of the "Expert Advisory Council" and "Women's Advisory Platform", created by the Office of the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, we cooperate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in developing the process of conflict resolution by peaceful means, we regularly participate in different civil society meetings related to the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), we also participate in the sittings of the Interim Commission on Restoration of Territorial Integrity and De-occupation of the Parliament of Georgia.

If the draft law initiated in the Parliament is approved, unfortunately, the participation of our Platform members in the aforementioned formats will become complicated, which, in our deep belief, will significantly harm the process of conflict resolution by peaceful means and have a negative impact on the situation of the population affected by the conflict.

Civil Platform for Peace firmly supports Georgia's European integration and the principle of conflict resolution by peaceful means. Based on all of the above, we demand the withdrawal of the initiated draft law, the clear fulfillment of the obligations imposed on the path of European integration, and the implementation of the declared peace policy.

***

The Civil Platform for Peace - find more here.

Directions: