Georgia, a small former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, has ambitions to join the European Union and NATO, but several government actions have recently cast a shadow over these ambitions.
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Thousands of people protested against a controversial bill in Georgia on Tuesday, March 7. “Foreign Agents”Critics of the authority have condemned it as a tool of intimidation against the media and NGOs.
Images from independent television Pireli TV showed police firing tear gas and water cannons at protesters gathered outside parliament after lawmakers passed the bill on first reading. During the largely peaceful rally, at least one protester threw a Molotov cocktail at riot police, according to the same source.
A similar text was adopted in Russia
The bill requires companies that receive more than 20% of their funding from overseas to register“Foreign Agents”, subject to penalty. The text recalls a similar law adopted in Russia in 2012 and widely used by the Kremlin to suppress media and opposition organizations or simple critical voices.
Georgian President Salome Jurapishvili spoke on television from New York “Near” Some protesters. “Today you represent independent Georgia, which sees its future in Europe and will not allow anyone to steal this future from it”She asked that there should be a law “cancelled” and promised to veto it. The veto could be overridden by the ruling party Georgian Dream, which controls more than half of the seats in parliament.
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