The European Commission strongly criticised Georgia on Wednesday, calling on Tbilisi to change its direction after the country passed a “foreign influence” law that targets foreign-funded non-governmental organisations.
Georgia’s parliament passed the contentious measure on Tuesday, which the US calls a “Kremlin-style” piece of legislation aimed at designating non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as “foreign agents” in order to suppress opposition.
According to opinion polls, the move is contentious in the ex-Soviet republic, where the bulk of the population wants to join the European Union and NATO while remaining strongly anti-Kremlin.
Protests have erupted, with scuffles breaking out inside parliament between opposition legislators and members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.
The bill requires NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as bodies “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”.
The EU had originally aimed to issue its statement in the name of its 27 member states, but diplomats said that was scuppered by objections from Hungary and Slovakia.
Hungary’s right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the closest EU leader to the Kremlin, is a staunch ally of the Georgian authorities.
