Georgia's parliament drops 'foreign agents' bill

[March 10, 2023]  By Jake Cordell

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's parliament on Friday dropped plans for a "foreign agents" bill that had triggered a political crisis and threatened to derail the country's bid for closer ties with Europe.

Lawmakers voted against the legislation in the second reading on Friday after the ruling Georgian Dream party pulled its support for the bill.

Tens of thousands of Georgians had taken to the streets in the capital Tbilisi for three consecutive nights of protest against the initiative, saying the government was taking the country in an increasingly authoritarian direction.

Police used tear gas, stun grenades and water cannon to disperse the protesters, detaining dozens in the process.

The bill would have required non-government organisations (NGOs) that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register with Georgia's Justice Ministry as a Foreign Agent.

Opponents said the bill was reminiscent of a 2012 Russian law that Moscow has used extensively to crack down on civil society and independent media. The plans bolstered domestic criticism of the government as being too close to Moscow, in contrast to Georgian public opinion, which is fiercely anti-Russian.

Critics say the "foreign agent" tag is designed to discredit independent NGOs in the eyes of the public.

Human Rights Watch said the law would have had "a serious chilling effect on groups and individuals working to protect human rights, democracy, and the rule of law".

The government had defended the measures as necessary to increase transparency in funding of NGOs and unmask critics of the powerful Georgian Orthodox Church. It rejected comparisons with Russian legislation.

RUSSIAN CONNECTION

In Friday's vote, 35 lawmakers voted against the plans, one was in favour while a majority of the 112 parliamentarians present - including all but one from the ruling party - abstained.

The bill had cleared its first reading earlier this week after lawmakers brawled in the chamber during a debate on the initiative.

Lawmakers attend a plenary session of parliament where they vote on controversial 'foreign agents' bill that sparked mass protests in recent days, in Tbilisi, Georgia March 10, 2023, in this still image taken from video. Parliament of Georgia/Handout via REUTERS

The proposals were widely criticised abroad, with European Union officials calling it incompatible with Georgia's ambition to join the bloc. Both the EU and the United States welcomed the decision to drop the bill.

The Kremlin said it had no involvement in the Georgian bill and rejected suggestions that it was Russian-inspired.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday that Russia was concerned about possible "provocations" in the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia amid the unrest. He also blamed the United States, without evidence, for whipping up anti-Russia sentiment in Georgia.

Russia and Georgia fought a short war in 2008 over control of the two regions - internationally recognised as part of Georgia but controlled by Moscow-backed local authorities. Moscow and Tbilisi have no formal diplomatic relations.

Georgian Dream lawmakers had said the bill was based on the United States' own Foreign Agents Registration Act, which primarily covers lobbyists working directly for foreign governments. Washington has rejected the comparison.

Following Friday's vote, Georgian Dream chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said the bill had at least raised awareness of the issues of foreign funding of groups in Georgia, according to the iMedi news outlet.

He also said the proposals would "expose" those responsible for "branding fair elections as fraudulent, for insulting the church and (pushing) LGBT propaganda".

Georgian Dream said it would pull the bill unconditionally but indicated in a statement it still favours plans to "ensure transparency of foreign influence in our country" in the future.

(Reporting by Jake Cordell, Felix Light, David Chkhikvishvili and Ben Tavener in Tbilisi; editing by Guy Faulconbridge, Gareth Jones and Angus MacSwan)

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