The funding that came from abroad did not only help non-governmental organizations, it also largely helped the state in its programs and budget. The results of this are not yet felt and we will see them very soon in all sectors of the economy, because there is no sector where European and American partners were not very actively involved, - the fifth President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili stated at today's briefing.

Zurabishvili also spoke to the media about the legislative amendments that the Georgian Dream has been working on recently. She touched upon various regulations, including the issue of dismissal of civil servants.

“First of all, I would like to touch on the current situation, the new decisions, new legislation or regulations that the de facto government adopts practically every day, which in total amount to a declared war against society. This is how we can assess everything that is happening and that concerns practically all directions.

The seizure of funds may be even more new and alarming, because this is practically a war on solidarity. That is, what has begun and which represents an expression of society’s solidarity towards those people who are either imprisoned or dismissed from their jobs, or who are completely innocent and paying fines that exceed ten times their salaries. It is unthinkable in any normal country that this attempt by the public to show solidarity is perceived and presented as a hostile activity, but I think we can no longer assess what is happening in this country like that. I want to say that we need to look at this issue, find different ways in which we can help these people.

The second direction is the new regulation that concerns the media, which is once again aimed at further restricting freedom of speech and expression in the media and further reducing the space that is a free space.

I really like that they are allegedly copying either European or American laws, such as the FARA, but the FARA is used here in a completely different way - to further tighten all kinds of restrictions on NGOs, LLCs, etc., so that no external funding can enter the country, which, of course, will be very difficult for many, because this funding helped in many ways.

The funding that came from abroad did not only help NGOs, it also helped the state in its programs and budget to a large extent. The results of this are not yet felt and we will see it very soon in all sectors of the economy, because there is no sector where a European and American partners were not very actively involved, be it agriculture or various projects or programs that served our development in healthcare.

The fact that all this is artificially limited today means that the country is not only isolated from its partners, but is also heading towards closure.

Also, the decision that was made regarding the High Council of Justice, which means that the court is increasingly turning into a phony, and I think this step was not necessary to convince us of this, but this is another step. It seems that no step is too much for the Georgian Dream to prove that absolutely everything is in one hand and that it does whatever it wants. This is not a display of great power, that is, a display of self-confidence - when you do this, nothing is ever enough to convince yourself that you are strong. But they continue to do this, and this is a sign of their weakness.

Another direction where the situation is very difficult is the direction of public servants, because people continue to be dismissed from their jobs without motive, or rather, with such motives as expressing their free opinion on social networks, which is another violation of human rights.

I am even more saddened by the fact that 150 civil servants were dismissed from the Ministry of Defense in this way, and it is clear that this weakens all our state institutions. This means that professionals are leaving these ministries because the choice here is not made according to professionalism. They leave those who are not competent at all, but are ready for slavery.

We must not forget the prisoners of conscience who are in difficult conditions and towards whom we must express solidarity in a new way.

These are all very difficult topics, around which the new coordination that we are currently working on together with political parties should be stronger, because these are the topics that unite us all,” Salome Zurabishvili said.