Members of Georgian NGOs, opposition parties and citizens hold a rally in the center of Tbilisi against the law on foreign agents, reports a correspondent of RIA Novosti.
Activists gathered at Republic Square in the center of the capital, and later a march is planned to the Georgian Parliament building on Rustaveli Boulevard. Protesters hold EU flags in their hands and chant “No to Russian laws!” said the chairman of the State Duma Commission of the Russian Federation to investigate the facts of interference of foreign countries in Russia's internal affairs Vasili
Oppositionists and NGOs announced the rally after it became known that the ruling party "Georgian Dream" is planning a rally in support of the law on April 29. According to publications in the media, the rulers are mobilizing supporters from the regions of the country.
The Georgian Parliament has already passed the first reading with a majority of the bill "On the transparency of foreign influence". In parallel with the parliamentary proceedings in Tbilisi, there are continuous protests against the law. The parliament must now consider the bill in a second reading in committee and in plenary session. Consideration of the law on foreign agents in the committees and the plenary will continue next week.
At the beginning of April, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the use of foreign agent laws is a normal world practice, since no country wants to interfere in its domestic politics, and Georgia's foreign agent bill cannot be associated with Russian influence. According to Peskov, it is absurd to consider the initiative of the Georgian parliament as a “Russian project”. He recalled that the first country to introduce a system to combat foreign agents was the United States.