Georgian ambassador to France resigns over controversial law

The Georgian ambassador to France says he submitted his resignation on Thursday, May 9, due to “tensions” linked to a bill on“foreign influence”. This text, which is an initiative of the ruling party, the “Georgian Dream”, has provoked the anger of part of the local population, who consider it contrary to the European aspirations of this Caucasian country. Also criticized by Westerners, it is inspired by a law used for years by the Kremlin to repress dissident voices in Russia. The diplomat believes that the tensions arising from the text hamper his country’s relations with its foreign partners

>> Protests in Georgia: four questions on the controversial bill on “foreign influence” examined by Parliament

The ambassador, Gotcha Javakhishvili, explained on the social network “submitted a request to the Georgian authority to terminate my duties in this position before the deadline”. In this message written in French, he adds that “the current tensions and climate generated by the bill (…) in our relations with our foreign friends and partners make my mission (…) extremely difficult”.

The text was presented last year and then abandoned after large-scale street protests, but the Georgian government chose to reintroduce a very slightly modified version. It plans to require any NGO or media organization receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as an“organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.

Demonstrations sometimes mobilizing tens of thousands of people against this text have shaken Georgia since the beginning of April. Citizens and political figures in the country mobilized against the bill are the targets of violence and threats, two international NGOs have also denounced. Citizens receive “threat” while the politicians and activists involved are targeted by “organized attacks and reprisals”denounced the anti-corruption NGO Transparency International.