Eduardo González
The Socialist Parliamentary Group has urged the Spanish Government to express its disagreement and concern about the content of the foreign agents law of the Government of Georgia, to condemn any form of violence by the security forces against people who demonstrate against it and to ask the European institutions to review Georgia’s accession negotiations taking into account compliance with the rule of law and civil rights.
In a non-legislative motion presented on 27 September for debate in the Joint Committee of the European Union, the Socialist Group recalls that Georgian citizens have been the protagonists of a wave of protests for several months against the so-called foreign agents law promoted by the Government, “inspired by Russian legislation from 2012 that has been imitated by different governments around the world and which represents a significant setback for democratic principles and values.”
The law was approved by Parliament on May 1, 2024 at the proposal of the ruling Georgian Dream party, despite “widespread protests and criticism, both from the opposition and Georgian civil society, as well as from the international community.” The law, which contradicts the Constitution of the Republic of Georgia in its Article 22, has even been vetoed by the country’s Presidency. Even so, the Government, led by Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced its intention to lift the veto of the president, Salome Zurabishvili, and approve the law anyway.
“The final entry into force of this law would mean a clear departure of the Republic of Georgia from the democratic framework and the path to accession to the European Union. At the same time, it would mean a rapprochement with the postulates of the Vladimir Putin regime in Russia,” warned the PSOE.
The motion also denounces that the authorities’ response to some of the protests against the law, especially those that took place on 30 April and 1 May, was “disproportionate”, to the point that the Ombudsman demanded that the Ministry of Home Affairs not interfere with the right to demonstrate and requested an investigation into alleged criminal conduct by law enforcement officers.
The motion also includes opinions contrary to the law and violence against protesters by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty; the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell; the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi; the UN High Representative for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and the Venice Commission.
The motion also recalls that the European institutions have urged the Georgian authorities to withdraw the law and maintain their commitment to the European Union path, moving forward with the necessary reforms, if they continue to aspire to enter the European Union.
For all these reasons, the Non-Law Proposal urges the Government to condemn any form of violence by the Georgian security forces against all citizens who demonstrate peacefully, to express their disagreement and concern about the content of the approved law on foreign agents and to demand an end to any act of intimidation, threats and physical attacks against representatives of civil society, political leaders, civil activists and journalists.
The motion also urges Pedro Sánchez’s Executive to ask the European institutions to review the situation of the rule of law and civil rights in Georgia, as well as the state of negotiations for accession to the EU, and, finally, to express “the wish of the people of Spain that the Republic of Georgia can become a member of the European Union, once it meets the accession criteria.”
