Most NGOs in Georgia are engaged in anti-state activities - Matikashvili

The majority of non-governmental organizations in Georgia funded from abroad are actually engaged in anti-state activities, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Procedures and Regulations David Matikashvili said on the air of Imedi TV channel.

The ruling Georgian Dream party has long claimed that a significant part of the funds allocated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the “National Endowment for Democracy” (NED) and the “European Endowment for Democracy” (EED) go to the accounts of fictitious NGOs run by political parties.

“The problems in the NGO sector were particularly exposed and publicized after the USAID scandal. We have been saying for years in our country that the vast majority of foreign-funded NGOs are actually engaged in anti-state activities,” Matikashvili said.

Donald Trump's administration in early February, following USAID, suspended funding to NED, which is considered the organizer of “color revolutions” around the world. Earlier, the head of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, Ilon Musk, said that the programs funded by USAID, including NED, had no right to exist and did not deserve the funds of American taxpayers.

At the same time, Matikashvili said, this does not mean that the civil sector is not positively involved in the development of the country. He cited the law “On Grants” as an example.

“The state itself has decided to finance those non-governmental organizations whose activities directly concern the national interests of the state and the people,” Matikashvili added.

The Georgian Parliament expeditiously considered and on February 20 approved amendments to the law “On Grants” that provide for the possibility for non-governmental organizations to receive state grants.

Georgian authorities and NGOs

Relations between the Georgian authorities and NGOs have deteriorated over the past two years. The authorities have accused a number of major NGOs of pursuing the interests of foreign states and financing political processes in the country.

Among other things, to stop this, the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” was adopted, which presupposes registration in a special register and filling out a financial declaration of NGOs and media outlets whose source of more than 20% of annual income is “foreign power”. At the moment, 385 organizations have already been registered in the register.

In addition, the Anti-Corruption Bureau received the right to recognize NGOs as entities with electoral purposes and to equate their reporting to that of political parties.

Against the background of protests in Georgia demanding early parliamentary elections, release of detainees and continuation of Georgia's active EU integration process, the Georgian authorities announced additional decisions related to the non-governmental sector.

The decisions include removing records from Georgia's legislation on mandatory participation of civil organizations in government decision-making and approving the U.S. version of the “foreign agents” law, FARA, which calls for registration of individuals and criminal terms and restrictions on activities if the terms of the law are not met.

Reprinted from https://sputnik-georgia.ru