Georgia has no chance of becoming a member of the European Union until its "foreign agents" law is abolished and all recommendations of the European Commission are implemented, a delegation of German politicians visiting Tbilisi said on September 6.
Four German legislators representing the three parties in the government coalition and the main opposition party traveled to Georgia to call for free and fair parliamentary elections on October 26, while at the same time slamming the controversial "foreign agents" law enacted in June.
Juergen Hardt of the Christian Democrats (CDU), Nils Schmid of the Social Democrats (SPD), Ulrich Lechte of the Free Democrats (FDP), and Deborah Duering of the Green Party spoke about recent developments in Georgia and the country's European future during the news conference.
They stressed that last time representatives of the four main German parties held a joint visit to Tbilisi was after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Emphasizing the importance and rarity of such a visit, Schmid said: "Why? Because we are very sorry for the events that have developed in Georgia and for Georgia's European future."
Schmid told a press conference at the German Embassy in Tbilisi that with the policy of the current government, Georgia had "no chance to become a member of the European Union."
He added that if nothing changes, his party will not support the opening of EU membership negotiations for Georgia.
The four politicians also agreed that with the "foreign agents" law in place, Georgia would not have enough support in the Bundestag to back the start of talks on EU membership.
The start of negotiations for joining the European Union requires the consent of the parliament, Schmid said, noting that the three government coalition parties and the main opposition party represent the vast majority of the Bundestag.
"I can tell you that with the current policy, Georgia will not be able to obtain the consent of the German Bundestag to open negotiations for joining the European Union," said Schmid, whose party is the largest faction in the Bundestag and the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Duering said Georgia had been a leader among the candidate countries seeking EU membership, "but, unfortunately, now it is lagging behind. To be clear, Georgia will not be able to join the European Union under the Law on Foreign Agents. It's just not up for discussion."
The law, which has been widely criticized as being modeled on a similar Russian law used by the Kremlin to repress dissent and stifle democratic opposition, requires civil-society and media organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from foreign sources to submit to oversight that could encompass sanctions for potential criminal offenses.
Tens of thousands of Georgians braved a brutal crackdown and violent retaliation to demonstrate against the bill prior to its passage by the Georgian parliament in May.