Georgian President vetoes ‘foreign agents’ bill, TASS reports
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has announced that she has vetoed a draft law on foreign agents, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported on Saturday. Zourabichvili had said previously that she would veto the bill, which has sparked street protests, but her decision can be overridden by another vote in parliament, controlled by […]
Thousands mark Family Purity in Georgia as anti-government protests simmer
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Thousands of Georgians led by Orthodox Christian clerics marked “Family Purity Day” on Friday, marching down the same central avenue in Tbilisi that has been the scene of some of the fiercest anti-government protests in the country’s history. The contrasting groups staging the marches – pro-Orthodox and conservative on one side and […]
Georgian parliament passes ‘foreign agent’ bill, prompting US anger, new protests
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgia’s parliament on Tuesday passed the third and final reading of a “foreign agents” bill, prompting a warning from the United States that if the legislation failed to meet European Union standards, Washington could review relations. Thousands of protesters, who along with Western nations denounce the bill as authoritarian and Russian-inspired, massed […]
Georgian PM vows to pass ‘foreign agent’ bill next week after thousands protest
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed on Sunday to push ahead with a law on “foreign agents” that has sparked a political crisis, after opponents of the bill rallied in one of the largest protests seen since independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Kobakhidze told a televised briefing that the ruling […]
US “alarmed”, 50,000 protest Georgia’s foreign agent bill
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters About 50,000 opponents of a “foreign agents” bill marched peacefully in heavy rain through the Georgian capital on Saturday, after the United States said the country had to choose between the “Kremlin-style” law and the people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. “We are deeply alarmed about democratic backsliding in Georgia,” White House national security adviser […]
Georgian PM rejects US, EU criticism of draft ‘foreign agents’ law
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze rejected on Friday criticism from the United States and European Union of a draft “foreign agents” law, saying opponents of the bill were unwilling to engage in a meaningful discussion. The draft legislation, which is winding its way through the Georgian parliament, would require organisations receiving more […]
EU, US urge Georgia to halt ‘foreign agents’ bill as protests continue
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters The European Union and US on Thursday condemned legislation making its way through Georgia’s parliament on “foreign agents” and thousands of protesters snarled traffic in the capital with a peaceful protest against the bill. The bill would require organisations receiving more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad to register […]
Georgian police disperse protesters as parliament approves ‘foreign bill’ second reading
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgia’s parliament on Wednesday approved the second reading of a bill on “foreign agents” that has been criticised as Kremlin-inspired, as police fired tear gas and stun grenades to clear a large crowd of protesters opposed to the draft law. The bill, which would require organisations receiving more than 20 per cent […]
Georgian police crack down on ‘foreign agent’ bill protesters with water cannon, tear gas
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Georgian security forces used water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades against protesters outside parliament late on Tuesday, sharply escalating a crackdown after lawmakers debated a “foreign agents” bill which is viewed by the opposition and Western nations as authoritarian and Russian-inspired. Reuters eyewitnesses saw some police officers physically attack protesters, who […]
Georgia’s Ivanishvili lashes out at West amid ‘foreign agent’ bill crisis
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters Bidzina Ivanishvili, the influential billionaire founder of Georgia’s ruling party, accused a Western “global party of war” of meddling in Georgia in a rare speech at a rally backing a bill on foreign agents that has sparked a political crisis in the South Caucasus country. Ivanishvili, who served as Georgia’s Prime Minister […]