EU warns Georgia against adopting controversial law

The elected representatives of Georgia decided by a large majority on Tuesday to go ahead with the controversial bill that requires media and organizations to register as “foreign agents” if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.

Riot police were deployed against thousands of demonstrators who protested against the law outside the National Assembly in the capital Tbilisi on Tuesday for the second day in a row.

The opposition in Georgia believes the law is an attempt to silence critical voices, which the government in the country rejects.

May have followers

The EU shares the opposition’s concern and says the new law could have consequences for the processing of Georgia’s application for membership.

– This is a very worrying development. If this law is finally adopted, it will have a negative effect on the process of bringing Georgia into the EU, says an announcement from Brussels.

– This law is not in line with the EU’s basic norms and values, it says further.

Retainer

However, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze is not swayed and maintains that the new law will be adopted, despite criticism from the outside world, reports the Tass news agency.

Georgia’s EU-friendly president Salome Zourabichvili, on the other hand, says she will veto the law.

– I am going to veto this law and all other laws that go against the EU’s recommendations, she says to the BBC.

However, Zourabishvili’s term as president is coming to an end, and changes to the constitution mean that from now on it is the elected people who will appoint the president. A veto can thus be short-lived.