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Day: May 21, 2024
Venice Commission to Georgian Dream
The Venice Commission published its opinion on Georgia’s “foreign agents” bill, adopted on May 14, and strongly recommended that the authorities “repeal the law in its current form.”
Key points from the commission’s report:
- The fundamental flaws in the current version of the law will have significant negative consequences for freedom of association and expression, privacy, and participation in public affairs.
- Ultimately, this will impact open, informed public debates, pluralism, and democracy.
- Existing Georgian legislation already requires organizations to register and report their funding sources, and no convincing explanation has been provided as to why this is insufficient for ensuring transparency.
- The law, purportedly aimed at ensuring transparency, objectively poses a risk of stigmatization, silencing, and ultimately eliminating organizations and media that receive even a small portion of their funds from abroad.
- There is a serious risk that organizations and media critical of the government will be affected, and their removal would negatively impact open, informed public debates, pluralism, and democracy.
- The Venice Commission recommends that Georgian authorities abandon the special registration regime, reporting requirements, and public disclosure mandates for civil society organizations, online media, and broadcasting companies receiving foreign support, including administrative sanctions.
- Designating organizations as pursuing the interests of a foreign power under the law has serious consequences, undermining their financial stability, credibility, and activities.
“If the existing provisions prove insufficient, Georgian authorities should consider amending current laws in line with European and international standards. Specifically, genuine representational (lobbying) activities on behalf of foreign countries could be regulated according to European standards if the current legislation proves inadequate,” the Commission’s opinion states.
The Venice Commission concludes that the legal restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and privacy are incompatible with Articles 8(2), 10(2), and 11(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as Articles 17(2), 19(2), and 22(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, because the law does not meet the requirements of legality, legitimacy, necessity, and proportionality in a democratic society, nor the non-discrimination principle outlined in Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
PM Pashinyan and CIA Deputy Director Discuss International, Regional Issues Armenian News by MassisPost
Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency David Cohen visited Yerevan where he met with Armenian officials on Tuesday.
Cohen and his delegation met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, according to the Armenian leader’s press office.
In a short press statement, Pashinyan’s office said “Armenia-US bilateral, as well as international agenda matters were discussed,” without elaborating.
Cohen and his delegation also met with Armenia’s National Security chief Armen Grigoryan.
“Armenian-US bilateral cooperation as well as regional security issues were discussed at the meeting,” a brief press statement from Grigoryan’s office said.
This is the second high-level CIA visits to Armenia in two years.
CIA Director William Burns paid a surprise visit to Armenia in July 2022 and talks with Pashinyan and Armen Grigoryan. Two months later, Grigoryan visited the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia during a trip to the United States. No details of those talks were made public.
Grigoryan also met with Britain’s foreign intelligence agency chief Richard Moore in London in December 2022. A few days later, Moore flew to Yerevan for talks with Pashinyan. The two men met again in February this year on the sidelines of Munich Security Conference.
The Kremlin had tepid reaction to the earlier meetings with the to Western intelligence agencies.
However, as tensions between Yerevan and Moscow have escalated, Moscow has accused the West — the U.S. and the European Union — of using Armenia to advance its agenda in the South Caucasus. Similarly, Moscow has blamed Pashinyan and his government of “destroying” Russia-Armenian relations by advancing its ties with Western States.
It is unclear whether Burns’ visit to Yerevan was scheduled. It comes a day after it was announced that Iran’s president and foreign minister were killed in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border.
Armenian Ambassador sees potential for expansion of trade with Brazil – Public Radio of Armenia Public Radio of Armenia – Official Web site
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