Kelly Degnan Speaks About Negative Impacts of 'On Transparency of Foreign Influence' Bill
By Liza Mchedlidze
Monday, February 27, 2023
US Ambassador to Georgia Kelly Degnan stated that the "On transparency of Foreign Influence" bill is Russian and aims to silence dissenting views.
According to her, the initiated bill differs from the American one, which is aimed at lobbyists and law firms that represent the interests of foreign governments.
US Ambassador Degnan said that there is no problem of transparency of foreign funds and donors' finances in Georgia.
"On the example of USAID, a detailed report is submitted to the Parliament every three months, then the partners also submit a detailed report, financial or otherwise, to the tax service, and therefore, there is really no problem in terms of transparency. This information is available through various sources on various websites if anyone is interested.
This law is also inconsistent with US law. The US law targets lobbyists and law firms hired by foreign governments to represent the interests of those foreign governments. That is not what this bill is about.
This bill is a Russian law. This bill aims to silence civil society and silence dissenting views.
This law will stop Georgians from helping Georgians improve their community. This law, for example, would stop legal aid for Georgians in need. This law would stop independent living centers that work with local governments to help people with disabilities who cannot be helped by the state.
This law will stop medical research co-financed by donors and Georgian universities. This law will stop tourism agencies, business associations, farmers' associations, climate change and environmental NGOs.
And my question is - is this law needed in Georgia when there is already enough transparency and there is already deep cooperation and communication between donors and those who work for the improvement of Georgian society", said the ambassador.
