On April 28 in Tbilisi, Georgia, an opposition rally opposing the foreign agents law occurred, starting from Republic Square and culminating at the Parliament. Participants chanted slogans denouncing the legislation and projecting messages onto the Parliament building, including “No to the Russian law.”
EU officials have previously strongly suggested that the law's passage would hurt Georgia's chances of becoming a member of the EU.
The legislation was approved by 83 lawmakers of Georgia's 150-member parliament, with opposition lawmakers boycotting the vote.
The Georgian parliament postponed the vote on the first reading of the controversial foreign agent bill to April 17 amid mass protests, local media reported.
"We are seriously concerned. These are legitimate concerns about transparency, which should not be used to justify the restriction of space and the stigmatization of civil society organizations," Pawel Herczynski, the EU's ambassador to Georgia.
The bill, popularly known in Georgia as the "Russian law" for its resemblance to similar legislation passed there, was introduced previously in early 2023 by the Georgian Dream party.
The proposal, which was put forth by Mamuka Mdinaradze, the leader of Georgian Dream's faction in parliament, is the latest in a series of government measures that aim to restrict the rights of LGBTQ+ people in Georgia.
The latest diplomatic spat arose after former Georgian Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili visited Berlin and Brussels as part of a Ukrainian delegation, which the Georgian government said was another incident that "blatantly contradict(s) the traditional friendship established between our two countries and peoples."
