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Gocha Javakhishvili left the post of Georgian ambassador to France, which he had held since 2022, due to the adoption of the draft “Putin law” in his country. A fervent defender of his country’s integration into the European Union, he fears seeing this law destroy his efforts.
Stupefaction. On April 17, 2024, Gocha Javakhishvili grabbed his pen and began to write a letter. The Parliament of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, has just adopted in first reading the law on “foreign influence”. The text plans to require any media or NGO receiving more than 20% of its funding from abroad to register as an“organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power”. Its detractors compare it to a repressive Russian law on “foreign agents”. Hence his nickname, “Putin law”. Ambassador of Georgia to France and Monaco since November 2022, Gocha Javakhishvili signs his letter of resignation.
Less than a month later, on May 9, the 57-year-old diplomat modified the biography of his X account (ex-Twitter). Before its title “Ambassador of Georgia to France and Monaco”he adds two letters: “ex”. To detail his decision, this fervent defender of Georgian integration into the European Union published two tweets and gives an interview the next day to World. “It is a question of principle and honor, launches the first Georgian diplomat to resign. I call for the withdrawal of this bill.”
A certain Europhilia
The European Union still seems