EU regrets Georgia’s decision to override President’s foreign agents law veto

The European Union “deeply regrets” the decision of the Georgian Parliament to override President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto on the foreign agents law, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said

"The EU has stressed repeatedly that the law adopted by the Georgian Parliament goes against EU core principles and values. Its enactment leads to a backsliding on at least three out of the nine steps set out in the Commission's recommendation for candidate status endorsed by EU leaders and will negatively impact Georgia's EU path”, Borrell said.

According to him, the EU regrets that the Georgian Parliament decided to override the President's veto on the law on transparency of foreign influence, and to disregard the Venice Commission's legal arguments leading to a clear recommendation to repeal this law.

In his statement, the EU High Representative claimed “there has been so far insufficient political attention mobilised” to progress “substantially” on the nine steps and urged the Georgian authorities to “reverse this trend and to return firmly on the EU path”.

Borrell noted out that the EU and its member states were “considering all options” to react to the development in Georgia. According to him, the EU response wil be discussed at the Foreign Affairs Council in June.