The bill requires organizations that receive at least 20% of their funding from abroad to register as foreign agents.
Georgian politicians sparred in parliament before a bill on “foreign agents” was passed.
Punches were thrown on Tuesday, before the third and final reading of the controversial legislation. The ruling party’s push for the law has plunged the South Caucasus country into a prolonged political crisis and caused mass protests.
Georgian television broadcast fights between deputies from the ruling Georgian Dream party and opposition lawmakers during the debate.
The bill requires media outlets and NGOs to register as “defending the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. It is seen by many as influenced by similar legislation in Russia, which has been used to crack down on the Kremlin’s political opponents.
Critics insist it poses a threat to democratic freedoms and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.
The Georgian Dream party was forced by mass protests to withdraw the bill last year. The revised effort to pass the legislation provoked huge demonstrations.
President Salome Zourabichvili said she will veto the bill, but parliament can override it.
The government claims the bill is necessary to promote transparency, combat “pseudo-liberal values” promoted by foreigners and preserve Georgia’s sovereignty. Critics say the ruling party is trying to move the country away from its European aspirations and return it to Moscow.
About 1,000 protesters picketed the fortress-like parliament building as the debate began on Tuesday. A large police presence, with idling water cannons, was positioned nearby.
Demonstrations have been ongoing for weeks, peaking at night, when crowds of tens of thousands of people staged some of the largest protests seen in Georgia since it regained independence from Moscow in 1991.
The European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in December, has repeatedly said the bill would constitute an obstacle to Tbilisi’s further integration into the bloc.
European Council President Charles Michel said on Tuesday that “if they want to join the EU, they must respect the fundamental principles of the rule of law and democratic principles”.
Georgian Dream insists it still has ambitions to join the EU and NATO, despite adopting harsh anti-Western rhetoric in recent months.
Polls show that Georgian public opinion strongly supports EU integration, while many Georgians are hostile to Russia due to Moscow’s support for the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The United States, Britain, Germany, Italy and France urged Georgia to withdraw the bill.
The Kremlin, which denies any role in inspiring the Georgian bill, said on Tuesday that the crisis was an internal matter for Tbilisi and accused external powers of meddling.
“We see an intervention revealed in Georgia’s internal affairs from outside,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“This is an internal Georgia matter, we do not want to interfere in any way.”
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
