The Kremlin-inspired foreign agent law being discussed in Georgia is designed to silence critical voices and destroy a vibrant civil society. This is stated in a statement by the US State Department.
“This law and the anti-Western rhetoric of Georgian Dream have put Georgia on a dangerous trajectory. The statements and actions of the Georgian government are inconsistent with the democratic values underlying membership in the EU and NATO and thereby jeopardize Georgia's path to Euro-Atlantic integration,” State Department officials said.
Mass protests against the law on foreign agents have been taking place in Georgia for almost a month now. Parliament adopted it in the second reading. At the same time, the country's President Salome Zurabishvili promised to veto if the bill is adopted in the third and final reading.
On April 29, a pro-government rally was held in Tbilisi in support of the law on foreign agents. The speeches of its organizers, including the founder of Georgian Dream, billionaire, former citizen of the Russian Federation Bidzina Ivanishvili, were considered openly anti-Western rhetoric with clichés characteristic of Russian propaganda. In particular, he accused Western countries of interfering in the country's internal affairs.
