Georgia withdraws ‘foreign agents’ bill after days of protests

An EU delegation welcomed the decision to withdraw the controversial law and encouraged Georgia to resume pro-EU reforms.

Georgia’s ruling party has announced that it is withdrawing a bill from parliament criticized for stifling media freedom and civil society after days of protests against it in the capital.

The Georgian Dream party said in a statement Thursday that it would “unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservation.” It cited the need to reduce “confrontation” in society.

The bill would require Georgian organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines. Georgian Dream previously said the law was needed to expose critics of the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the country’s most powerful institutions.

Opponents of the bill, including Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who said she would veto it if it made it to her desk, have likened it to a 2012 Russian law that has been used to stamp out dissent. to press.

The Georgian government says the legislation is based on US foreign agent laws, which have been in effect since the 1930s.

The bill had angered supporters of Georgia’s membership of the European Union after EU officials condemned the draft bill, saying it would complicate Georgia’s path to joining the bloc. Last year, the EU refused to grant Georgia candidate status alongside Moldova and Ukraine, citing stalled political and judicial reforms.

Kakhaber Kemoklidze, of the opposition For Georgia Party, said the reversal was a victory for the Georgian people.

“Eighty-five percent of Georgian society is very European and the European perspective is in the Georgian constitution. This law, drafted by the ruling party, directly undermined Georgia’s constitution,” he told Al Jazeera.

“This withdrawal is, in particular, a result of society’s extreme anger at what we’ve been dealing with over the past 48 hours.”

An EU delegation in Georgia said on Thursday it welcomed the ruling party’s decision to withdraw controversial legislation.

“We welcome the ruling party’s announcement to withdraw the bill on ‘foreign influence’. We encourage all political leaders in Georgia to resume pro-EU reforms … so that Georgia can achieve candidate country status,” it said in a statement.

Parliament gave its initial approval on Tuesday, but tens of thousands of protesters then gathered outside parliament, and again on Wednesday. Some protesters threw petrol bombs, stones and plastic bottles at police. At least one window in the parliament building was smashed and a police car overturned.

Police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to disperse the crowd after several hours of protest. Georgia’s interior ministry said 77 people were arrested during Tuesday’s protest.