Andrei Klimov, Deputy Chairman of Russia's Federation Council, stated that Russia is prepared to assist Georgia's ruling party, "Georgian Dream," in retaining power if requested.
According to the Caucasus Barometer survey, 69% of respondents consider Russia as Georgia's main enemy. This figure has increased compared to previous years.
Georgian President Salome Zourabishvili has filed a motion against the law on "foreign agents" to the Constitutional Court of Georgia. The bill requires organizations that receive foreign funding to be labeled as "foreign agents," mirroring repressive Russian legislation used to crack down on Kremlin critics.
The initial round of sanctions entailed travel bans on "dozens" of individuals, including members of the ruling Georgian Dream party, other members of parliament, law enforcement, and other private citizens, said U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.
The speaker of the Georgian parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, signed the controversial "foreign agents" bill into law, the local media reported on June 3.
A Tbilisi office of United National Movement (UNM), a Georgian opposition party, was attacked by up to 100 masked men overnight on June 1, the party said in a statement.
Speaking at the opening of a new bridge in Tbilisi on May 30, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said that Georgian Dream would not allow a "Maidan" to happen in Georgia.
The legislation will now be sent back to President Salome Zourabichvili, who will have five days to sign into law. In the likely situation that she refuses, Parliamentary Speaker Shalva Papuashvili will be able to sign it into law, after which it will be enacted.
As the West’s political leaders become increasingly preoccupied with the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, they risk losing their geopolitical influence in a small but strategically significant Black Sea country: Georgia. On April 29, in one of his rare public appearances, Bidzina Ivanishvili – the founder and de facto
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said he is launching a review of U.S.-Georgian relations and voiced hope that Georgia's leaders will reconsider the law.
Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is currently serving six years in prison in Georgia on charges of abuse of power and ordering an assault on an opposition lawmaker.
The proposed measures would offer Georgia increased access to U.S. markets, a military support package, and the liberalization of the visa regime for Georgian citizens.
Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia's pro-Western president and a political opponent of Georgian Dream, vetoed the law on May 18, but the government has a large enough majority in parliament to overrule it.
Georgia's pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said on May 18 that she vetoed the controversial "foreign agents" bill previously passed by the parliament despite large-scale protests.
The bill's introduction into the parliament has led to widespread protests across the country and criticism from the EU and the U.S.
London-listed shares in the two banks, TBC and Bank of Georgia, plummeted to their lowest single-day declines since the spring of 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Georgia's parliament on May 14 passed the controversial "foreign agents" bill in its third and final reading.
For the past few weeks, thousands of protesters have gathered every night in front of the Georgian parliament in opposition to the controversial foreign agents law that the ruling Georgian Dream party is attempting to pass. The final vote is set to take place on May 14. The law would
The ministry said that individuals arrested "ignored the legal request of the police" and "violated public order, resisted, and insulted law enforcement officers."
Around 50,000 protesters marched through Georgia's capital on May 11 in the latest of the series of demonstrations against the government's "foreign agents" bill, Deutsche Welle reported.
The letter said the "continued undemocratic behavior of the Georgian authorities, in particular their aggressiveness in pushing through a 'Russian-style' law on foreign agents, silencing and using force against peaceful demonstrators, has crossed the line."
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili was referring to the controversial foreign agents law, known popularly among its opponents in Georgia as the Russian law, which Georgian Dream is attempting to pass in parliament.
The injuries were severe enough to require the hospitalization of the eight individuals, one of whom has already been discharged.
Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze said that "participants of the rally continued to attack the policemen," in unsubstantiated claims that contradicted both the Kyiv Independent's reporting on the ground and widespread media coverage of the event.
Georgian police on April 30 attacked protesters with tear gas and water cannons outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, where demonstrators gathered to protest the government's controversial "foreign agents" law, Reuters reported.
TBILISI, Georgia – The ruling Georgian Dream party staged a massive rally in Tbilisi on April 29, with tens of thousands of people bussed in from around the country to support the country's democratic backsliding. Party leaders, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, and Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder
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.
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