Georgia’s ‘foreign agents’ bill: What’s the controversy about? What’s next?

The ‘Russia law’ will make it hard for Georgia to join European Union, argue protesters, the US and Baltic states.

Georgia’s Parliament passed its new “transparency of foreign influence” bill – also known as the “foreign agents” law – on Tuesday despite mass protests that have rocked the capital, Tbilisi, for the past few weeks. After the bill was passed, thousands of protesters clashed with the police outside the parliament building in the centre of Tbilisi.

The new law was initially proposed by the Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012, last year but was withdrawn following protests against it. The bill was reintroduced in March this year after a new prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, took office, leading to protests throughout April that were met with violent crackdowns and arrests by masked riot police.

Footage broadcast on national television on Monday showed lawmakers from the governing and opposition parties brawling in parliament. Opposition parliament member Aleko Elisashvili punched the governing Georgian Dream party leader, Mamuka Mdinaradze, in the face.

So, what’s in the bill and why is it so controversial?

The bill, which passed with 84 members of parliament out of 150 voting in favour, requires non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media outlets with more than 20 percent of their funding coming from outside Georgia to register as bodies “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.