The Georgian Parliament passed in the first reading the law "On transparency of foreign influence", which, according to the opposition, repeats Russian legislation on "foreign agents". The discussion of the document is accompanied by mass protests and clashes with the police.
President Salome Zurabishvili said she would veto this law. Earlier this week she supported protesters.
The project of "inagents" or "foreign forces" was proposed for the second time the ruling party "Georgian Dream". Last year, this political force was forced to withdraw it after large -scale protests.
The new bill almost completely repeats the previous one. However, the formulation of a "foreign influence agent" in it is replaced by the term "organization that conducts interests of foreign force".
Therefore, the bill obliges non-governmental companies and the media that receive more than 20% of funding from abroad to register as an organization conducting interests of foreign force.
Photo author, AFP signature to photo, adoption of the law accompanied protests
Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated that such legislation was necessary for the financial transparency of grants.
However, opposition parties and independent journalists call it "Russian Law" for similarity to the legislation on "foreign agents" adopted in Russia in 2012. In Russia, this law is used to persecute independent media and opposition politicians.
The adoption of such legislation in Georgia, according to the critics of the project, will not only hit independent media and activists, but will also become a serious obstacle to Tbilisi to the EU.
Photo author, AFP signature to photo, adoption of the law can damage Georgia's promotion to the EU
Western countries have also warned that the adoption of such legislation could interfere with European integration.
The law among others was opposed by Salome Zurabishvili. "Georgia will not give up to the company!" - she wrote on the social network X (former Twitter).
Georgia's authorities assured that there was nothing to do with the Russian law in the project, and it is a mitigated version of the US Fara foreign agents adopted in 1938. However, the same arguments were used in 2012 by the Russian authorities.
Photo author, Reuters Signature to Photo, during the discussion of the law in Parliament of Georgia was a fight
During the discussion in the Georgian Parliament on Monday and Tuesday there were mass protests, which were attended by thousands of people.
On Monday, during the demonstration in the center of Tbilisi, 14 people were accused of administrative offenses. The Georgian police claim that one police officer was injured as a result of the action of the participants of the action, he needed medical care.
The fight also occurred in the parliamentary meeting room: a deputy from the opposition party "Citizens" Alexander Alisashvili attacked the secretary of the "Georgian Dream" Mamuk Mdinaradze and struck him on his head when he answered from the tribuna the deputies' questions.
After that, other deputies joined the fight. As a result of the live broadcast on the Parliament's website, Elisashvili was taken out of the hall.
The protests near the Georgia Parliament continued on Tuesday, when special forces used pepper spray against protesters and detained 11 people.
