EU halted Georgia talks over Transparency Law despite lack of legal concerns, ruling party official

Nikoloz Samkharadze, chair of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee, has said the European Union's decision to suspend engagement with Georgia in 2024 was unjustified and driven by controversy surrounding the country's foreign influence transparency legislation.

Speaking on Rustavi 2's programme Debate on Tuesday, Samkharadze argued that the suspension of discussions with Georgia, including the process related to opening EU accession negotiations, was linked to what he described as an "innocuous" transparency law.

"The European Union suspended all negotiations with Georgia, including the process of opening accession talks, in June 2024," Samkharadze said.

He added the legislation became the subject of intense political controversy after opponents labelled it a "Russian law" and organised protests against its adoption.

Samkharadze said the criticism of the law was unfounded and pointed to a recent discussion in parliament during which a representative of the High Council of Justice referred to the position of the European Court of Human Rights.

He noted that the Strasbourg-based court had not suspended the law and had stated that it did not see an immediate risk requiring urgent intervention, while considering the case through its normal procedures.

"Today nobody talks about this law anymore, even though it was presented as a major threat at the time," Samkharadze said.