EU envoy to Georgia says foreign agent bill 'incompatible' with bloc's values

The European Union's ambassador to Georgia said on Thursday that a bill on foreign agents reintroduced to parliament by the country's ruling party this week is "incompatible" with the values of the bloc, which Georgia aspires to join, Report informs, citing Reuters.

The Georgian Public Broadcaster channel quoted EU ambassador Pawel Herczynski as saying at a press conference in Tbilisi that the draft law is "incompatible with EU norms and EU values", and may stall Georgia's EU membership application.

According to the public broadcaster, Herczynski said: "In our view, concerns about transparency should not be used as an excuse to limit the space for civil society organizations, to limit the freedom of speech and the freedom of media".