Georgia

The European Union will downgrade political contacts with Georgia and consider freezing financial aid to the Tbilisi government after it pushed through a controversial "foreign agent" law, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on June 24.

The United States has imposed visa restrictions against dozens of Georgian officials over the adoption of a "foreign agent law," which sparked weeks of mass protests and criticism that it mirrors similar repressive legislation used by the Kremlin to stifle dissent and derails Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path. 

The legislature, controlled by the governing Georgian Dream party, dismissed on Tuesday President Salome Zourabichvili’s veto of the legislation that she and other critics have said will restrict media freedom and obstruct Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union. 

The US has said it is reviewing its bilateral co-operation with Georgia over its controversial "foreign agent" law that triggered weeks of mass protests in the capital Tbilisi.Artikeltext

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.