"We are deeply alarmed about democratic backsliding in Georgia,"
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan wrote on X.
"Georgian Parliamentarians face a critical choice - whether to
support the Georgian people’s EuroAtlantic aspirations or pass a
Kremlin-style foreign agents' law that runs counter to
democratic values," he said. "We stand with the Georgian
people."
The bill, which would require organizations receiving more than
20% of their funding from abroad to register as "agents of
foreign influence", has touched off a rolling political crisis
in Georgia, where thousands have taken to the streets to demand
the bill be withdrawn.
Parliament, which is controlled by the ruling Georgian Dream
party and its allies, will begin committee hearings on the
bill's third and final reading on Monday. Opposition groups have
called for a fresh wave of protests from Saturday.
The crisis has pitted the Georgian Dream ruling party against a
coalition of opposition parties, civil society, celebrities and
the country's figurehead president, with mass demonstrations
shutting down much of central Tbilisi almost nightly for more
than a month.
Georgian opponents of the bill have dubbed it "the Russian law",
comparing it to legislation used to target critics of Vladimir
Putin's Kremlin.
The European Union, which granted Georgia candidate status in
December, has said that the bill will pose a serious obstacle to
further integration if passed.
Georgian Dream says the bill will promote transparency and
Georgian national sovereignty.
Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream, has said the
law is necessary to stop the West trying to use Georgians as
"cannon fodder" in a confrontation with Russia.
Jake Sullivan said that Georgian Dream appeared to be
deliberately trying to break with the West, even as both the
ruling party and Georgian public opinion has traditionally been
in favor of the country's joining the EU and the U.S.-led NATO
military alliance.
Sullivan wrote: "Georgian Dream’s recent rhetoric, proposed
legislative changes, and actions go against the aspirations of
the Georgian people and are designed to isolate Georgians from
the United States and Europe."
(Reporting by Felix Light; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](column_spacer.png)
|
|