Georgia's Parliament approves foreign agents bill: Unveiling next steps

It took lawmakers only 1 minute and 7 seconds to do so.

"There were no questions or comments from those present at all. The session ended. Meanwhile, one minute and 7 seconds later, clashes between the police and protesters began in front of the parliament," the statement said.

Tomorrow, May 14, the draft law will be put to a vote at the plenary session.

Earlier today, it was reported that in Tbilisi, Interior Ministry special forces began a violent dispersal of a protest against the adoption of the law on foreign agents.

Currently, clashes between demonstrators and police representatives are ongoing, with about 20 activists already being detained.

Background

In April, the Parliament of Georgia approved the first reading of the draft law on the "transparency of foreign influence," which aimed to control and restrain the activities of foreign non-governmental organizations dealing with civil rights in Georgia.

The ruling party attempted to approve the document last year, but after massive protests, it was withdrawn. However, this did not yield the expected results, as the text of the current draft law is almost identical to last year's. The main difference is that the term foreign agent has been replaced with "organization acting in the interests of a foreign state."

Thus, the document is essentially similar to the law that has been in force in Russia for many years.

On April 30, on the eve of the second reading of the draft law, thousands of Georgians took to the streets of central Tbilisi in protest, during which there were violent clashes with the police.

However, despite this, on May 1, parliamentarians approved the document in the second reading.

On May 11, the European March took place in Tbilisi, which became the largest rally in the country's modern history.

At that time, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili made an emergency address against mass protests.