Georgian parliament holds final reading of divisive 'Russian law' proposal on foreign influence in media

Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday began the third and final reading of a divisive bill that sparked weeks of mass protests, with critics seeing it as a threat to democratic freedoms and the country’s aspirations to join the European Union. The bill would require media and nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofits to register as 'pursuing the interests of a foreign power' if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

The opposition denounces the bill as 'the Russian law,' because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin. The bill is nearly identical to one that the governing Georgian Dream party was pressured to withdraw last year after street protests. Renewed demonstrations have rocked Georgia for weeks, with demonstrators scuffling with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is increasingly at odds with the governing party, has vowed to veto the law, but Georgian Dream has a majority sufficient to override a presidential veto. The legislature approved a second reading of the bill earlier this month, after protests that drew tens of thousands of people.

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