Opposition calls for rally at parliament amid tension over foreign agents bill

The United National Movement and other opposition parties on Thursday called on the country’s citizens to come to the parliament building in central Tbilisi at 6 p.m. to protest the foreign agents bill proposed by former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party who still remain in the parliamentary majority. 

 

“It is about Georgia’s [European] future”, Levan Khabeishvili, the UNM chair said. 

 

The legislative body launched discussions around the bill, which envisages the registration of “non-commercial legal entities and media outlets as agents of foreign influence if they receive more than 20 percent of their income from abroad”, earlier today amid protests. 

 

The opposition members and the representatives of media and civil organizations protesting the bill have been forced out from the legislative body. 

 

They say the bill is similar to the “Russian law” with the goal to “stigmatize and restrict their activities”.

 

The EU, US and the UN representations in Georgia have also condemned the initiative that is backed by the ruling party, with the latter claiming it was “only about transparency”. 

 

The People’s Power movement, the author of two bills on foreign influence, has been criticizing the west and the US since being created last year, claiming the two were taking actions to “drag Georgia into Russia-Ukraine conflict”. 

 

The bills come ahead of the EU decision later this year whether to grant Georgia its membership candidate status, with the opposition claiming by approving the bill the current Georgian government aims at hampering the country’s integration into the bloc.