In Georgia, the draft law on “foreign agents” will be brought up for consideration again. Last year, it caused major protests

Georgiaʼs ruling party "Georgian Dream" will once again submit a draft law on foreign agents to the parliament. Last year, this draft law caused a wave of protests in the country.

This was stated by the leader of the parliamentary faction Mamuka Mdinaradze.

In March 2023, the Georgian parliament rejected the draft law on foreign agents. According to Mdinaradze, the text of the current draft law will be the same, but the term "agent of foreign influence" will be replaced by "organization carrying out the interests of a foreign state."

According to him, the only requirement of the draft law is the publication of an annual financial report by organizations that receive foreign funding. Violation of this requirement is subject to only a fine. The ruling party of Georgia believes that the adoption of the law will ensure the transparency of non-governmental organizations that finance "extremism and revolutionary processes".

"Last year, our only fault was communication problems. It could be my personal shortcomings. Many may have just heard from me that I am talking only about the obligation to declare," said Mdinaradze.

According to him, the draft law will be adopted in all three readings by the end of the parliamentary session. Mdinaradze noted that laws on foreign agents exist in the USA, Israel and Australia, and are being discussed in other countries. Moreover, during the enumeration, Mdinaradze did not mention Russia. Specifically, the Georgian draft law was compared with the Russian law on "foreign agents".

What preceded

Last year, "Georgian Dream" already introduced the draft law "On transparency of foreign influence". The document provided for the emergence of a register of so-called foreign agents — non-profit legal organizations and media that are financed from abroad by more than 20%. Already on March 7, 2023, the Parliament of Georgia approved the draft law in the first reading, which led to mass protests. According to local media estimates, up to forty thousand people gathered near the parliament building that day.

The protests ended in clashes with security forces. President Salome Zurabishvili supported the demonstrators, she promised to veto the law. Already on March 9, the parties that previously supported the adoption of the document "revoked" it. The police released 133 detainees under public pressure, but the protesters demanded the resignation of the government and early elections.

On March 10, 2023, the Parliament of Georgia stopped consideration of the draft law on "foreign agents". Only one deputy supported the project in the second reading, 35 spoke against it.