The Public Defender of Georgia echoes the process of adoption of the Law of Georgia on Transparency of Foreign Influence in the Parliament of Georgia in the third reading today and once again explains that if the goal is to increase the transparency of foreign aid flows intended for Georgia and the accountability of receiving organizations, the said goal can be achieved by making changes to the proposed draft law or legislation. The Public Defender presented his opinion regarding the above in detail on April 11.

The Public Defender emphasizes that all the laws adopted by the Parliament of Georgia should be in line with our European aspirations, should not harm relations with partners or the European integration of our country.

Both the title of the draft law and a number of entries in it are problematic, which can become insulting to the addressees of the law. In addition, the draft law carries a risk of collecting and disclosing a large amount of personal data about citizens, which creates the basis for the violation of the right to privacy.

It should be noted that the consideration of the draft law is taking place against the background of almost a month-long protests of our citizens.

Based on all of the above, the Public Defender of Georgia once again calls on the Parliament of Georgia to achieve the goal of transparency by making changes to the proposed draft law or legislation and to refuse to adopt the Law of Georgia on Transparency of Foreign Influence in the given form.