The law was first adopted by parliament two weeks ago
Tbilisi, Georgia:
Thousands of Georgians demonstrated outside parliament Tuesday after ruling party MPs adopted a divisive “foreign influence” law, overcoming a presidential veto on the bill, despite Western warnings that the measure could compromising the country’s path to the European Union.
The law, which critics have compared to repressive Russian legislation used to silence dissent, requires groups that receive at least 20% foreign funding to register as “organizations defending the interests of a foreign power.”
The proposal drew strong opposition from Western governments, including the United States, which said the move risked “stifling” freedom of expression in the Black Sea nation in the Caucasus.
Brussels warned that the measure was “incompatible” with the former Soviet republic’s long-standing bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in the country’s constitution and supported – according to opinion polls – by more than 80 percent of the population .
Lawmakers voted 84 to 4 to approve the bill on Tuesday, after overriding pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili’s veto.
The majority of opposition MPs left the 150-seat chamber before the vote.
The EU said it deeply regretted the adoption of the law, and foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was “considering all options to respond to these developments.”
‘Angry, frustrated’
Waving Georgian and EU flags, thousands of protesters gathered outside parliament on Tuesday night, with crowds growing after the chamber voted to approve the law.
Georgia’s national anthem and the EU’s Ode to Joy were performed at the rally.
Zurabishvili addressed the crowd via video conference.
“You are angry today, aren’t you? Be angry, but let’s work. The work is that we have to prepare, first of all, for a real referendum,” she said, referring to the October elections.
“Do we want a European future or Russian slavery? Eighty-four men can’t decide that, we can – us, all together.”
Georgia has been hit by an unprecedented wave of daily rallies over the past seven weeks since the ruling Georgian Dream party revived plans, which are similar to measures it abandoned last year after public protests.
“I feel so angry, so frustrated. The most important thing at this moment is not to lose hope,” protester Lizi Kenchoshvili, 23, told AFP outside Parliament, minutes after the vote, promising to continue protesting.
Opposition lawmaker Khatia Dekanoidze told AFP the result was expected.
“It’s not about the law, it’s about the geopolitical choice in Russia’s favor. We are currently waiting for sanctions from the United States and also the European Union,” she said.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the idea of sanctions was “not serious”.
“Nobody can punish the Georgian people and nobody can punish the officials elected by the Georgian people,” he said at a press conference after the vote.
His party, Georgian Dream, says the law will ensure “transparency” and argues that Western-funded groups undermine Georgia’s sovereignty.
But rights groups and Western governments warn the law will further inflame tensions in the deeply polarized Caucasus country ahead of parliamentary elections in October, seen as a key democratic test.
Non-governmental organizations including anti-corruption group Transparency International told AFP the law could see their assets frozen and their work limited.
Tensions were high in the parliamentary chamber ahead of the vote, with opposition lawmaker Giorgi Vashadze doused with water while giving a speech.
Fights and scuffles have broken out between government and opposition lawmakers on at least two occasions in the past month.
‘Derailment’
Previously, Borrell warned that Georgia’s government was “derailing from the European path”.
President Zurabishvili, a fierce critic of the ruling party, called on the opposition to form a united front ahead of parliamentary elections in October.
The law was first adopted by parliament two weeks ago, but vetoed by Zurabishvili days later, on May 18.
The United States announced last week that it would impose visa restrictions on Georgian officials if the bill was signed into law and was reviewing its relations with Tbilisi.
Activists, independent journalists and opposition politicians have faced weeks of violence and threats since the government announced the bill, in what rights groups called a targeted campaign.
Opposition politicians have accused the government of diverting Georgia from its western trajectory and returning the country to the Kremlin’s orbit – an accusation it denies.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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