We, Georgian society, can be proud of the non-governmental sector that broke this “Russian law”. There is no register of agents of foreign influence, no matter how hard they try, only 1.5% of organizations have been registered, – said one of the leaders of the “Coalition for Changes”, Elene Khoshtaria, noting that the struggle of the Georgian people made Georgia a source of inspiration.
“The Georgian Dream failed to achieve its goal, including by introducing the ‘Russian law’ to close Georgia, to build a wall between the European Union, America and the Georgian people. They wanted our partners and friends to lose their desire to come here and talk about Georgia’s perspective, however, we got exactly the opposite result.
“Today, Georgia is a source of inspiration, based on the unanimity and struggle that started at the spring rallies and that we will see echoed in the October 26 elections. The struggle of the Georgian people has made Georgia a source of inspiration that people cannot be forced to follow the Russian agenda.
“Close cooperation with the United States and the European Union is the most important source of Georgia’s sovereignty, development and strength of the country. The President said very well that the ruling party has declared war on them. However, it received the absolutely opposite picture – a unified, motivated, European, free, self-organized Georgian society and opposition spectrum, which is ready for the elections,” said Khoshtaria.
Since September 3, the Ministry of Justice has the right to forcefully register organizations in the register provided for by the transparency law, to fine them, or start “monitoring” said companies.
On September 2, the Deputy Minister of Justice, Tamar Tkeshelashvili, announced that 469 organizations had registered in the register, not even 2% of the total number. In addition, it is not a fact that all organizations that applied to the Ministry for registration receive funding from international donors.
The vast majority of Georgian non-governmental and media organizations are refusing to register. Some of those who have registered say that this is a temporary decision to avoid fines that they might receive before liquidating their organizations.
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