European Parliament warns that Georgia will not be accepted into the EU as long as the law on "foreign agents" remains in force
President Salome Zurabishvili promised to veto the law if it is adopted
The European Parliament has adopted a resolution on the situation in Georgia in connection with the initiation of the draft law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence".
According to the resolution, negotiations on Georgia's accession to the European Union should not begin until the law is in force.
Source. This was reported by Echo of the Caucasus.
The European Parliament also called for sanctions against the honorary chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, and the release of former President Mikheil Saakashvili from prison.
In addition, the Georgian Dream is recommended to withdraw the draft amendments to the Constitution that would define marriage as "the union of one genetic man and one genetic woman" as they violate the rights of LGBT people.
The draft law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence" envisages the creation of a register of "foreign agents" in Georgia similar to the Russian one. The register will include non-profit organisations and media outlets with more than 20% of their annual income coming from foreign funding. Such non-profit organisations and media outlets will have to submit annual financial declarations. For violations, they face a fine of about 25,000 GEL (about $9,500).
The Georgian Dream and Power of the People parties tried to get the bill passed in 2023, but eventually it was withdrawn amid mass protests.
On 17 April 2024, it was finally passed in the first reading. President Salome Zurabishvili promised to veto the law if it was passed in three readings.
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