Here's EU High Rep for Foreign Affairs&Security Policy Josep Borrell: "incompatible with EU values and standards"
All while his colleagues are drafting a #foreignagent law on their own. Their obliviousness and double standards are really something... 2/? eeas.europa.eu/eeas/georgia-s…
I've been saying forever that any self-respecting country will want to make sure they know and can control which foreign actors are paying for which activities within its jurisdiction. Let's just say it didn't win me friends, in my line of work. 3/? discomfortzone.substack.com/p/activism-nat…
Guess who's sharing the news about the EU's #foreignagent law most? Georgians. Some are alienated by the EU's hypocrisy, others (like this one), bizarrely, worry that the EU's draft law might turn Georgia away from the EU towards Russia. 4/?
Not that I feel vindicated. It's always been evident that wealthy Western countries would never permit the capture of their civil society and policy-making that EU aspirants are told makes them "modern democracies, worthy future members of the club. They're being gaslit. 5/?
Only one thing in this is genuinely interesting: why now? I'd guess because foreign influence has encroached uncomfortably upon EU policy-making, or at least has caused embarrassment. Legal theorists would say regulation happens when a subject requiring regulation emerges. 6/6
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Today brought news on another fascinating chapter in the story of Georgia's EU integration (and also Ukraine and Moldova) and what it implies for the rule of law and human rights. It's about oligarchs and de-oligarchization. It's a headscratcher. 1/10 venice.coe.int/webforms/docum…
Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova were all told by the EU that if they want to be EU candidates, they have to "de-oligarchize" - rid their politics and economies of the influence of oligarchs. Who is an oligarch and how to get rid of them was not specified. 2/10
Ukraine was the first of them to pass such a law, which in summer 2022 earned EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen's praise for being "bold" and the only such law in the region. So Georgia copied and pasted Ukraine's law in fall of 2022 - but then did something else: 3/10
Planning meeting with Ukrainian grassroots activists, all women: "We're not being part of discussions about the impact of war, overcoming the legacy of war, building peace, rebuilding our country. No one asks us, no one even listens if we try to get through to them." 1/4
"We have a massive problem of men missing in action or going underground, leaving behind their families with unresolved issues. Their (ex-) wives are hostages of this situation. They can't get alimony, custody of children, signatures for paperwork etc. Nobody is addressing." 2/4
"If we're talking about rebuilding our country post-war, we need to have laws and policies that address these women's problems. We need to integrate the needs of all people affected by war in planning for post-war recovery. It isn't just about rebuilding infrastructure." 3/4
Today, the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine @nsju_org urged the government not to pass a media law that would threaten freedom of speech, in an open letter listing critical analyses by the @coe and @OSCE as well as Western journalism NGOs. 1/7 nsju.org/novini/nszhu-z…
Also today, Ukraine's parliament passed said law by a wide margin - and boasted that the law's adoption brings Ukraine one step closer to full EU candidacy status. Indeed, the EU required Ukraine to pass A media regulation law. But not THIS law! 2/7
It reminded me of the recent adoption of a law removing labor protections from 75% of Ukrainian workers. Although this law represents a serious violation of the EU acquis, Ukrainian politicians presented it, absurdly, as a step towards the EU. 3/7 opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukraine…
EU Enlargement Commissioner @OliverVarhelyi says he doesn't know that much about Georgian politics. Whether that's sincere or not, it is appropriate for him to keep his distance, avoid the perception of meddling and keep it strictly technical. 1/3 1tv.ge/news/oliver-va…
It's a healthy contrast to a gaggle of MEPs, self-appointed "friends of Georgia" w/o formal EU powers, who have been meddling, lecturing and treating Georgian elected leaders like misbehaving children if they fail to show proper adulation and docility. 2/3 jam-news.net/im-not-sure-ge…
But wait, it gets worse. More MEPs, plus some US (!!!) former officials and a Ukrainian MP (no clue about the EU) at a partisan lobbying gig warned the Georgian government to show more support for Ukraine's war effort or else it won't get EU candidacy. 3/3 jam-news.net/conference-in-…
My take on the counter-disinformation obsession: it started invading and poisoning the human rights/civil society/free press fields in the post-Soviet space about a decade ago. Invade how? Via money. Much of that sector depends on Western grants, often from governments. 1/6
Governments need contractors for their foreign (aid) policies which became increasingly geopolitical (another buzzword) during this era. So grant calls for youth work, free speech, civil society development, human rights started prescribing 'disinformation' work. 2/6
To pay the bills, many NGOs stretched themselves in this new direction. Initially, some earnestly felt this was meaningful work, like good-faith media literacy. But it soon became clear that it was really the old propaganda/counter-propaganda model. Nothing to do with facts. 3/6