BRUSSELS. April 4 (Interfax) - The Georgian government's plans to reintroduce a bill on the transparency of foreign funding will hinder the strengthening of democratic institutions in Georgia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Thursday.
"I oppose any attempt by Georgian government to reintroduce the draft legislation on foreign agents or foreign influence because this will actually contradict the whole effort of strengthening the democratic institutions in Georgia," Stoltenberg said at a press conference following a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
"Georgia should work on reforms to move closer to NATO and the European Union. The European Union also has been very clear on this [draft bill]," he said.
The EU earlier criticized Tbilisi's decision to reintroduce the draft bill on foreign agents.
EU spokesman Peter Stano told reporters that Brussels was concerned about the new hearing of the bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence in the Georgian parliament despite strong public and international reactions in March 2023.
In turn, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili told reporters it was promised last year, when the bill was recalled, that foreign funding in Georgia would be transparent but that did not happen.
"Particular donors refuse to make their financing public. That's a stone wall. Such organizations are not going to tell Georgian society what they are spending money on in Georgia," Papuashvili said.
The bill on Transparency of Foreign Influence has been submitted to and registered by the Georgian parliament. The discussion will begin next week.
Opposition parties and non-governmental organizations are planning mass protests over the bill, which they view as a copy of Russia's foreign agent law.
A number of non-governmental organizations called for gathering near the Georgian parliament building in Tbilisi for a protest on Thursday evening.