EU calls on Georgia to scrap ‘Russian law’, US and NATO warn

European foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell speaks at the Georgian parliament on Wednesday was invited Repeal the controversial ‘Russian law’. Parliament passed the law on Tuesday, which means companies with more than 20 percent of their budget from abroad are branded as ‘foreign agents’. According to Borrell, this “has negative consequences for Georgia on its way to the EU.”

Georgia became a candidate for EU membership last December. However, Borrell already announced at the end of April that he found the law “incompatible” with the EU’s values. He said on Wednesday that he believes the law undermines the work of civil society and a free press. He also said he condemned the police’s “intimidation, threats and physical attacks” on protesters.

German MP Michael Roth, who visited the Georgian capital Tbilisi in April, said that if the law is passed, negotiations to annex Georgia will be ruled out. Georgian demonstrators, who have taken to the streets of Tbilisi by the tens of thousands in recent weeks, have long feared that adopting the law would block their path to the EU.

US and NATO warnings

And the US has warned Georgia not to introduce this law. The US State Department threatened to cut off funding to Georgia on Tuesday, writes Guardian. The United States spent billions of dollars over the years to rebuild Georgia after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Georgia and the NATO it wants to join were high on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Organization for Military Cooperation spoke to Reuters news agency about “a step in the wrong direction”. According to NATO, this law will further distance Georgia from European and Euro-Atlantic integration. “We urge Georgia to change course and respect the right to peaceful protest,” the spokesman said.

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In just 67 seconds, the Georgian ruling party jeopardized the European dream of countless Georgians.

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