bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

Georgia’s parliament moved a step closer on Wednesday to passing a law that critics fear will stifle media freedom and endanger the country’s European Union membership bid, as police used water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray against the tens of thousands of protesters who thronged surrounding streets.
Dozens of people were arrested the night before, and mass rallies have continued daily in the capital, Tbilisi.
Protesters denounce the bill as “the Russian law” because neighbouring Russia uses similar legislation to stigmatise independent news media and organisations critical of the Kremlin.
The law would require media and noncommercial organisations to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”, if they receive more than 20 per cent of funding from abroad.

The ruling Georgian Dream party withdrew a similar proposal last year after large crowds protested.
Eighty-three of Georgia’s 150 lawmakers approved the bill in its second reading, while 23 voted against it. A third and final vote in parliament is needed before it can be signed into law.
Thousands protest, lawmakers brawl as Georgia debates ‘foreign agents’ bill
Georgian lawmaker Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters on Wednesday that he expected that final vote to happen in mid-May.
Russia-Georgia relations have been complicated and turbulent since the Soviet Union’s collapse in the early 1990s. The two countries fought a short war in 2008 that ended with Georgia losing control of two Russia-friendly separatist regions.
In the aftermath, Tbilisi severed diplomatic ties with Moscow, and the issue of the regions’ status remains a key irritant, even as relations have somewhat improved.
Georgia joined international resolutions condemning Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but it also became a main destination for Russians fleeing military mobilisation and political crackdowns. Even Georgia’s ruling party has seen internal tensions over its neighbour.
The Interior Ministry said that 63 people were detained following Tuesday’s protest.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, increasingly at odds with the governing party, has criticised the bill and vowed to veto it if it is passed by parliament.

But the governing party can overrule the veto and ask the parliamentary speaker to sign the bill into law.
At a media briefing Wednesday, Kobakhidze spoke openly of Georgian Dream’s intention to do so, and defended Tbilisi’s forceful response to the protests.
“There will be demonstrations today, during the third reading, during the overriding of the veto. (When the law passes), there will be a few days of discomfort. However, in the long term, we will insure the country against polarisation and radicalism for years,” Kobakhidze told reporters.
The United States said the legislation would put Georgia on a “precarious trajectory”.
“The statements and actions of the Georgian government are incompatible with the democratic values that underpin membership in the EU and Nato and thus jeopardise Georgia’s path to Euro-Atlantic integration,” US State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
EU chief Charles Michel has said the bill “is not consistent with Georgia’s bid for EU membership” and that it “will bring Georgia further away from the EU and not closer”.
In December, the EU granted Georgia official candidate status but said Tbilisi would have to reform its judicial and electoral systems, reduce political polarisation, improve press freedom and curtail the power of oligarchs before membership talks are formally launched.
Georgia’s bid for membership of the EU and Nato is enshrined in its constitution and – according to opinion polls – supported by more than 80 per cent of the population.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse


North American ports must automate or risk losing out to Asia and Europe

Cop29: developing nations seek trillions, get billions in cash deal for climate change

Iran says no charges against student who stripped to her underwear

Tens of thousands of Maori, supporters march on New Zealand’s parliament

Protests around the world

Mass protests in Georgia as parliament moves closer to passing ‘Russian law’ targeting media

Protestors clash with riot police in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Protesters barricade the entrance of parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: Reuters

A protester affected by police tear gas receives assistance. Photo: AFP

20,000 Georgians ‘March for Europe’, protest against ‘foreign influence’ bill

People protest in Tbilisi, Georgia on Sunday. Photo: Reuters

Scenes in Tbilisi on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Georgian riot police block a street in Tbilisi on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Georgian opposition party supporters clash with police in Tbilisi. Photo: EPA-EFE

Thousands protest, lawmakers brawl as Georgia debates Russian-inspired ‘foreign agents’ bill

People protest against the draft bill in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: Reuters

Protesters outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: AP

Mamuka Mdinaradze, leader of Georgian Dream’s parliamentary faction, being punched in the face. Photo: Georgian Parliament via AP

Health fears for Georgia’s jailed ex-leader Mikheil Saakashvili after TV footage shows emaciated appearance

Georgia’s imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili attends a court hearing from hospital via video link in Tbilisi on Monday. Photo: AP

Georgia’s jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili appears on a screen via a video link from a clinic during a court hearing in Tbilisi, Georgia on Monday. Photo: Reuters

Mikheil Saakashvili in 2018. File photo: AFP

Georgia withdraws proposed ‘foreign agents’ law after days of protests

Police take cover during a protest in Tbilisi, Georgia. Photo: Reuters

News

World

Europe

Tens of thousands rally in Georgia as parliament advances ‘foreign influence’ bill
Critics say bill mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent, independent media


Tens of thousands of people rallied in Georgia against a controversial ‘foreign influence’ bill after parliament advanced the measure.


Georgia (country)

Mass protests in Georgia as parliament moves closer to passing ‘Russian law’ targeting media

Tens of thousands rally in Georgia as parliament advances ‘foreign influence’ bill Critics say bill mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent, independent media

Tens of thousands rally in Georgia as parliament advances ‘foreign influence’ bill

Critics say bill mirrors Russian legislation used to silence dissent, independent media