Georgia receives invitation to NATO summit despite 'foreign agent' law
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Georgia has received an invitation to participate in partnership activities at the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, according to the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, James O'Brien.
During a press conference, O'Brien condemned the bill proposed by the ruling party Georgian Dream, which some opponents refer to as the Russian law.
"The violence against opposition figures, the violence against civil society, the Moscow-based foreign agent law, [and] the apparent decision to award a new port to a Chinese company are incompatible with wanting to join the U.S. and EU-based international organizations," O'Brien said.
At the same time, O'Brien said that the people of Georgia aspire to integrate into the EU and NATO.
"We want them to understand that the path they are on and the rhetoric that they are using about the West is incompatible with what 80 percent of Georgia’s citizens say that they want. We’re trying to be as clear as we can that there’s a way to step back from the path that they have chosen," O'Brien added.
O'Brien said that all NATO partner countries have been invited to the Alliance summit in Washington on July 9-11 and added that the summit's key priorities are "the health of the alliance, partnerships in the Indo-Pacific, and Ukraine’s success.."
Georgia's 'foreign agent' law
On May 28, the Georgian Parliament overrode President Salome Zourabichvili's veto on the law On Transparency of Foreign Influence, effectively enacting it. This sparked outrage among Western partners and mass protests among the Georgian population, as the law is similar to the one in effect in Russia.
Recently, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said that Georgia's European prospects would be revoked if the country's authorities continued their current policies.
