James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Ireland stands with the Georgian people in their pursuit of democracy and membership of the European Union. We will continue to urge the Georgian Government to withdraw the law and implement the necessary reforms to ensure Georgia's place in the EU. The EU has made it abundantly clear to Georgia that it is willing to work with the country to advance its European perspective but the Georgian Government must respond to this by abiding by European Union values, rules and norms. We are not seeing this. I urge Senators to use whatever contacts they have with the Georgian parliamentarians to encourage them to move in a different direction. Ireland will continue to engage with its partners in the EU on an appropriate response to the adoption of the transparency of foreign influence law and our wider concerns on the Georgian Government.

Following on from discussions at the Foreign Affairs Council on Monday, in which the Tánaiste participated, the EU's response will be further discussed at the June Foreign Affairs Council and European Council. The European Commission will report on Georgia's progress as part of that annual autumn package of enlargement reports. This will be another important juncture.