Georgian parliament determined to pass controversial ‘foreign agents bill’
Georgian parliament committee Monday rejected the president’s veto of the “foreign agents” law that has sparked massive protests in the country for weeks.
The move by the parliament’s judiciary committee sets up the possibility of a vote of the full legislature on Tuesday to override President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of the measure, which she and other critics say will restrict media freedom and obstruct Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union.
The law would require news media and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) with over 20% of their budget from abroad to register as “carrying out the interests of foreign power.”
Opponents denounce it as “the Russian law” because it resembles measures pushed through by the Kremlin.
Zourabichvili vetoed the law on May 18 after it was passed in parliament by deputies from the governing Georgian Dream party and its allies. That bloc has sufficient votes in parliament to override the veto.
Large protests have repeatedly gripped the capital, Tbilisi, as the measure passed through parliament.
On Sunday, Zourabichvili and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze decried each other in speeches at a Georgia Independence Day ceremony.
“As the specter of Russia looms over us, partnership and rapprochement with Europe are the true path to preserving and strengthening our independence and peace. Those who sabotage and undermine this path trample upon and damage the peaceful and secure future of our country, hindering the path towards becoming a full member of the free and democratic world,” Zourabichvili said.
But Kobakhidze sharply criticized Zourabichvili.
“It was the unity and reasonable steps of the people and their elected government that allowed us to maintain peace in the country for the past two years despite existential threats and multiple betrayals, including the betrayal of the president of Georgia,” he said.
The European Union’s foreign policy arm has said the law’s adoption “negatively impacts Georgia’s progress on the EU path.” According to critics, Russia may have driven it to thwart Georgia’s chances of further integrating with the West.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday announced travel sanctions would be imposed on Georgian officials “who are responsible for or complicit in undermining democracy in Georgia.”
“It remains our hope that Georgia’s leaders will reconsider the draft law and take steps to move forward with their countries’ democratic and Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” he added.
