Following two nights of intense protests, the ruling Georgian Dream party in Georgia announced on Thursday that it would withdraw a controversial bill.
The bill would have required organisations in the country receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” or face fines.
The Georgian Dream party had claimed that the legislation was necessary to reveal critics of the Georgian Orthodox Church, one of the most powerful institutions in the country.
However, opponents, including Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, had compared it to a 2012 Russian law used to suppress dissent.
The Georgian Dream party cited the need to reduce “confrontation” in society as the reason for its unconditional withdrawal of the bill.
Despite claims from the Georgian government that the legislation was modelled on U.S. foreign agent laws, it had angered supporters of Georgian membership in the European Union.
EU officials had criticized the draft law, saying it would complicate Georgia’s path to joining the bloc.
The bill’s abandonment is a significant blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has continued to view Georgia as within the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.
Parliament had given initial approval to the bill on Tuesday, but tens of thousands of protesters then gathered outside parliament in the capital of Tbilisi.
During the protests, some demonstrators threw petrol bombs, stones, and plastic bottles at police. Authorities reported that at least one window in the parliament building was broken, and a police car was overturned.
Police used tear gas, stun grenades, and water cannons to disperse the crowds after several hours of protest.
The Georgian interior ministry stated that 77 people were arrested during Tuesday’s initial protests over the proposed bill.
»Georgia drops Putin-inspired bill«
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