The Parliament of Georgia adopted in the first reading the draft law "on foreign agents", against which mass protests were held twice, "Echo Kavkaza" reports.
Not a single deputy voted against the adoption, 83 voted for it.
The day before, people protested against the draft law near the parliament, they were dispersed by the police.
The draft law obliges non-governmental organizations and mass media, which receive more than 20% of funding from abroad, to register as an organization pursuing the interests of a foreign power. A fine is proposed for evasion of registration.
The Georgian authorities say that this law is a softened version of the American law on the registration of foreign agents and that its adoption will "significantly increase the quality of public awareness".
At the same time, opponents of the law, supported by the West, claim that it was copied from Russian and is aimed at discrediting the opposition.
