Georgia advances ‘foreign agents’ bill as 20,000 rally against it

The ruling party suddenly reintroduced the bill earlier this month, after mass protests forced its withdrawal last year.

The Georgian parliament has advanced a controversial “foreign influence” bill through its first reading, as thousands joined a third day of anti-government protests.

The bill, first presented early in 2023 and withdrawn amid fierce public opposition, requires media and civil society groups to register as being under “foreign influence” if they get more than 20 percent of their funding from overseas.

Critics say the bill mirrors a repressive Russian law on “foreign agents” that has been used against independent news media and groups seen as being at odds with the Kremlin and will undermine Tbilisi’s aspirations for closer European Union ties and, ultimately, membership.

In a vote boycotted by the opposition in the 150-seat parliament, 83 politicians from the ruling Georgian Dream party backed the bill.

Some 20,000 people blocked traffic in front of the parliament building in the capital, Tbilisi, to show their opposition to the measure.