Georgien

The European Union and NATO on Wednesday called for Georgia to rethink its course after its parliament passed the controversial "foreign agent" law on Tuesday.

As protests continue in Georgia over a proposed draft law on curbing foreign influence, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk on Thursday urged the authorities to shelve the controversial bill and engage in dialogue. 

Georgia's parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of a bill on "foreign agents" that has been criticized as Kremlin-inspired, as police fired tear gas and stun grenades to clear a large crowd of protesters opposed to the draft law.

The fate of the bill is widely seen as a test of whether Georgia, 33 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, intends to pursue a path of integration with the West or move closer toward Russia. Critics compare the bill to a law that Russia has used extensively to crack down on dissent.

People took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest government plans to introduce a law to monitor foreign funding of NGOs. Critics have dubbed it the "Russian law" and pointed to Georgia's aspiration to join the EU.

Georgia's ruling party, Georgian Dream, says it will reintroduce a controversial "foreign agent" bill that was pulled last year amid massive protests over fears the legislation, which mirrored a similar law in Russia, would severely restrict dissent and the activity of civil society groups in the country and push it toward authoritarianism.

On February 27, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili expressed concerns about Russian interference in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia through cyberattacks and propaganda.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili has announced his resignation to give his party time to prepare for general elections that are to be held in the Caucasus nation by October.

The head of a de facto security body in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has been quoted by Russian state media as saying Moscow is preparing to build a naval base in the Black Sea coastal enclave.

Georgia has long sought a rapprochement with Europe since its war with Russia in 2008. But behind the scenes, powerful actors are sabotaging the plans, spurred by increasing vigilantism.