UNM opposition announces “registry of Russian agents” in Georgia

Levan Bezhashvili, a member of the United National Movement opposition party – the largest opposition group in the country – on Thursday announced the creation of a “registry of Russian agents” in Georgia, amid controversies related to the recently proposed bill on foreign influence by former members of the ruling party, sharply criticized by domestic and international organizations and embassies. 

 

Bezhashvili pledged the registry would include those politicians who are “being funded by the Kremlin with the goal to increase the Russian influence on Georgia”. 

 

The opposition MP also called on international structures like the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Democracy and Economic Development, NATO Parliamentary Assembly, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly not to allow the Georgian MPs at their events, who would vote for the bill proposed by former members of the ruling Georgian Dream party. 

 

The People’s Power movement, whose members still remain in the parliamentary majority despite leaving the ruling party last year, said last month the bill envisaged 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”.

 

The movement frequently criticizes the US and the west and accuses them of taking actions to “drag Georgia into Russia-Ukraine conflict”.