20,000 Georgians ‘March for Europe’, protest against ‘foreign influence’ bill
- Proposed law would require organisations that accept funds from abroad to register as foreign agents
- Georgia’s opposition and Western countries have said the bill is authoritarian and Russian-inspired
Some 20,000 Georgians staged a “March for Europe” on Sunday, calling on the government to scrap a controversial “foreign influence” bill which the European Union has warned would undermine Tbilisi’s European aspirations.
There have been mass anti-government protests since mid-April, when the ruling Georgian Dream party reintroduced plans to pass a law critics say resembles Russian legislation used to silence dissent.
Waves of similar street protests - during which police used tear gas and water cannon against demonstrators - forced the party to drop a similar measure in 2023.
Police have again clashed with protesters during the latest rallies.
On Sunday evening - before staging what organisers called a “March for Europe” - at least 20,000 people turned out at Tbilisi’s central Republic Square, according to an Agence France-Presse estimate.