Georgian parliament holds 3rd and final reading of divisive bill on foreign influence

A demonstrator wears a national flag as she argues with the police that blocked the road towards the Parliament building during an opposition protest against"the Russian law" in the center of Tbilisi, Georgia, on Monday, May 13, 2024. Daily protests are continuing against a proposed bill that critics say would stifle media freedom and obstruct the country's bid to join the European Union.

The bill would require media and nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.A large crowd of demonstrators gathered on Tuesday morning in front of the parliament, amid a heavy presence of riot police, to protest the bill once again, as lawmakers were discussing it in the lead-up to a vote.

The opposition denounces the bill as “the Russian law,” because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin.The government says the bill is necessary to stem what it deems as harmful foreign influence over the country’s politics and to prevent unspecified foreign actors from trying to destabilize it.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, has vowed to veto the law, but Georgian Dream has a majority sufficient to override a presidential veto.European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday spoke of Georgia in Copenhagen at a conference on democracy, and said that “if they want to join the EU, they have to respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law and the democratic principles.

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