German foundations in Georgia: Greetings from Moscow

Congratulations! The Georgian ruling party Georgian Dream (KO) has recorded another victory in the fight against the “brazen interference of Western organizations” in the South Caucasus republic. The CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation KAS and its liberal counterpart, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, have pulled the ripcord: They are closing their offices in Tblisi.

This latest development under the authoritarian KO regime was an announcement. The lever for the forced withdrawal is a 2025 law that was tightened this April. It sets out special requirements for financial donations from abroad. This was preceded by a law on “foreign agents” in 2024: civil society organizations and media that receive at least 20 percent of their income from abroad must register and undertake to represent “the interests of a foreign power”. Greetings from the Kremlin!

KO Parliament Speaker Schalwa Papuashvili - who, incidentally, was on the payroll of the German Society for Technical Cooperation GTZ and the later Society for International Cooperation GIZ for years - went one step further in his most recent statement: The government had offered both foundations to carry out academic, educational or other activities. You can't be more cynical. This primarily affects students who are supported by a KAS scholarship at the Ilia State University. The Ilia University is now one of the most internationally renowned universities in the country. Now it is about to be liquidated – for political reasons.

The taz is an independent, left-wing and opinionated daily newspaper. We have been arguing in our comments, essays and debate texts since the taz was founded in 1979. We often cannot and do not want to agree on an opinion. That's why you'll find some completely opposing positions here - all part of the very broad left-wing spectrum of opinions.

Now it's the EU's turn again. This is difficult, especially since accession negotiations with Tbilisi are on hold. Many Georgians, especially young EU-oriented people, fear that visa freedom will be abolished. That would be fatal, bordering on treason and the worst of all answers.