As I have mentioned, if transparency was the main idea, as Georgian Dream has tried to say.... Nobody in this sector is actually against transparency. We are already very transparent. Every NGO, on its official website.... We publish every grant we receive from our western partners.
To be honest, if there is any fraud, money or potential questions, this is not really the area that needs to be investigated. There is really none.
Unfortunately, what we can already see, from past years.... Since last March, when this law was first introduced, there has been a huge protest, and Georgian Dream has withdrawn its support for this law. Since then, a very intensive, anti-western, anti-NGO propaganda, disinformation and misinformation campaign has been carried out.
Even today, to be honest, there's already a huge danger. For example, today, my colleague was beaten in the streets, along with media representatives.
There's already quite high tension and polarization. They're saying the NGOs are agents and the NGOs are here to—I don't know—destabilize and have a colourful revolution. They're saying everybody who has studied abroad is a potential agent.
All this ongoing disinformation and misinformation is already harming the sector so much that we can see what the potential threat is here.
As I have mentioned, bringing this Russian-style law.... This is not an EU, western-style, transparent approach law. This law has a number of issues in it, including, one, fining, destabilizing and literally closing down the NGOs and media organizations, as well as potentially sending us into exile.
As we have seen with similar legislation in Russia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, this is not a positive potential development.
If the true side of this is a backsliding of democracy, it's going to be a true slide. The true outcome of this legislation will be silencing the independent voices that are so vital in democratic societies. That's how the very vibrant and strong civil society of Georgia, which we have been so proud of, might just disappear.
This is actually quite a dangerous zone that Georgian Dream is entering.