Georgia’s parliament drops controversial ‘foreign agents’ bill

Meanwhile, the Kremlin accuses Washington of fomenting anti-Russian sentiment among the thousands who protested the bill.

Georgia’s parliament has dropped plans for a “foreign agents” bill, which sparked a major domestic political crisis and threatened to derail the country’s push for closer ties with Europe.

On Friday, the bill was voted down at second reading after only one lawmaker — out of 36 who voted — backed legislation critics had likened to laws in Russia that authorities have used to silence Moscow’s opponents. The majority of the 112-member parliament abstained from voting.

Hundreds of anti-government protesters gathered outside the legislature during the vote.

Tens of thousands of Georgians had taken to the streets in the capital Tbilisi to protest against the initiative for three consecutive nights, saying the government was trying to lead the country towards autocracy.

Police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannons to disperse the protesters, who had gathered outside parliament in central Tbilisi, arresting dozens.

The bill would require non-governmental organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as a foreign agent with Georgia’s Ministry of Justice.

The ruling Georgian Dream party on Thursday withdrew its support for the bill, a move welcomed by the European Union and the United States

Criticism

Opponents said the bill is reminiscent of a 2012 Russian law that the Kremlin has used extensively to crack down on civil society and independent media.

The plans, pushed by the ruling party, amplified domestic criticism of the government as being too close to Moscow, in contrast to Georgian public opinion, which is vehemently anti-Russian.

The government had defended the law as necessary to make funding for non-governmental organizations more transparent and expose critics of the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. It rejected comparisons with Russian law.

The Kremlin has said it was not involved in any way with the Georgian bill and rejected suggestions that it was Russian-inspired. On Friday, it accused the US of stirring up anti-Russian sentiment among thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets in Georgia this week.

“We see where the president of Georgia addresses her people. She is not speaking an address from Georgia, but an address from America,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, accusing “someone’s visible hand” of fueling “anti-Russian” sentiment.

The proposals were widely criticized abroad, with EU officials calling them incompatible with Georgia’s ambition to join the bloc.

The governing party has insisted on continuing its commitment to Georgia’s membership of the EU and NATO, which is enshrined in the constitution and supported by 80 percent of the population, according to opinion polls.

Georgia, along with Ukraine and Moldova, applied for EU membership just days after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Georgian Dream lawmakers said the bill was based on the US Foreign Agents Registration Act, which mainly deals with lobbyists who work directly for foreign governments.

Washington has rejected the equation.