Georgian Government begins establishing registry for foreign agents

Georgia’s Ministry of Justice has issued a bylaw establishing a department responsible for registering and monitoring organisations labelled foreign agents ahead of the law’s implementation in the coming months.

The Justice Ministry published the bylaw on Monday. It stipulates that the newly created Financial Reporting Department was added to the National Agency of Public Registry. The department will be responsible for registering organisations labelled as ‘carrying out the interests of a foreign power’ and monitoring their tax declarations.

The bylaw also stipulates that the agency will offer support to ministry employees monitoring those organisations.

Georgia’s foreign agent law would label any civil society or media organisation that receives at least 20% of its funding from abroad ‘organisations carrying out the interests of a foreign power’. The organisations would be subject to monitoring every six months, which lawyers have warned could include forcing them to hand over internal communications and confidential sources. Organisations that do not comply would be subject to large fines.

On Tuesday, Justice Minister Rati Bregadze told journalists that organisations that match the criteria of the foreign agent law can already register as ‘organisations carrying out the interests of a foreign power’.

‘If the organisation does not comply with the requirements stipulated by the law, it does not obey the legislation of Georgia. The corresponding responsibility is written in the law, which means a fine of ₾25,000 ($9,200)’, he said.

The law is scheduled to come into force in August, after which organisations that fall under its scope must register as foreign agents within 30 days.

Organisations that refuse to comply with the law will be fined and subsequently registered by the agency.

The foreign agent law was met with fierce opposition domestically and internationally, with waves of street protests in Georgia after its reintroduction, and the West warning that it could derail Georgia’s EU aspirations.

Following its adoption, the EU suspended financial aid to Georgia and the US postponed annual military drills it conducted in the country.

EU officials have also stated that Georgia’s EU accession talks have been put on hold due to the foreign agent law and the government’s anti-Western rhetoric.

In early June, Washington confirmed that it had sanctioned dozens of Georgian nationals for their role in adopting the controversial foreign agent law and cracking down on protests against the legislation.

Despite growing alienation between Tbilisi and the West, local media reported on Monday that Georgia’s Foreign Ministry invited representatives of several EU embassies to present progress made on the nine recommendations Georgia was expected to fulfil as part of the accession process.