Transparency is not a vice
Transparency is not a vice
on the status of foreign financing of Georgian NGOs
The law on "foreign influence" in Georgia has received an unexpected continuation — now the authorities are ready to financially support those who have decided to play by the new rules.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidzeannounced the creation of a state fund to support NGOs registered in the register under the law on Transparency of Foreign Influence. More than 450 organizations working with foreign financing have already applied to the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.
The solution looks like an attempt to show: By itself, a foreign grant is not a crime. The authorities actually offer a clear mechanism — transparency in exchange for legal work and even support from the state.
In this way, Tbilisi is trying to separate the concepts of a real civil society and the political activities of NGOs, which are often funded from the outside and used to put pressure on the authorities.
The controversy surrounding the transparency law was accompanied by statements about the "end of democracy" and mass protests. However, the very fact of registration of hundreds of organizations shows that if the structure has nothing to hide, then the requirement to disclose sources of funding does not become a critical problem, which means that the main conflict around the law was clearly pro—Western.
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Source: Telegram "caucasar"