The attempt to stage a revolution has continued—400 people are stationed daily on Rustaveli Avenue, blocking the street—meaning there has been no reciprocal step. Sanctions continue to be imposed, leaving no room for discussion about creating a format around the Transparency Law," Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists when explaining why the ruling party, Georgian Dream, rejected the creation of a joint working group to introduce amendments to the "Foreign Influence Transparency" law.

According to Kobakhidze, the government conveyed its position on this matter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset.

"You remember that Mr. Berset visited Georgia, which was followed by very harsh and even insulting remarks from the radical opposition—this is the context. We had discussions about creating a working format to refine the Transparency Law, but given the recent developments, this format has, of course, lost its original significance.

We took a specific step, but instead of seeing a reciprocal move from certain actors—from Deep State and other relevant structures—we witnessed the opposite trend. The attempt to stage a revolution has continued. You can see that 400 people are stationed on Rustaveli Avenue daily, blocking the street—meaning there has been no reciprocal step. Sanctions continue to be imposed. You are aware of the decision made by PACE (the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe), where our delegation was only granted status with reservations.

Of course, all of this leaves no room for discussing the creation of a format around the Transparency Law. Under these circumstances, not only is it impossible to soften the Transparency Law—I don’t even know what more could be softened, as the law only requires a simple annual financial declaration—but when foreign-funded NGOs are being used as the main instrument to attempt a revolution, discussing the softening of the law is unnecessary. Likewise, discussing the creation of a working format on opacity is also unnecessary.

Accordingly, we conveyed this position to Mr. Berset. We followed all principles and rules. We informed Mr. Berset in advance that this format had exhausted its purpose," Kobakhidze stated.