Georgian opposition to introduce bill to guard against Russian influence

The opposition in Georgia intends to submit a bill to the country’s parliament to protect against Russian influence on the same day that the leading party, Georgian Dream, plans to introduce its controversial foreign agents law.

Source: European Pravda, citing Georgian media SOVA

The initiators of the alternative bill "On protection from influence from the occupying country – the Russian Federation" are opposition MPs Beqa Liluashvili, Ana Buchukuri, Mikheil Daushvili, Shalva Kereselidze, and Teona Akubardia.

Parliamentary regulations foresee that the draft law on protection from Russian influence will be considered at the sitting of the parliament’s Bureau on 8 April.

The bill defines the occupying country, the agent of influence of the occupying country, and prohibits activities aimed at harming Georgia's national interests, such as full integration into the European Union and NATO.

The draft law indicates that activities by agents of influence from the occupying country (Russia) shall be prohibited and punishable by imprisonment for 4 to 8 years. The same draft law stipulates that actions resulting in serious consequences for Georgia's interests are punishable by imprisonment for 6 to 12 years.

Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, intends to bring back a bill that has been compared to the Russian law on foreign agents. These plans have sparked sharp criticism from the Georgian opposition, NGOs, the media in Georgia, and representatives of Western countries.

At the same time, the party stated that they "do not understand" the criticism from Western partners and intend to proceed as planned.

Additionally, Georgian Dream has officially proposed amendments to the constitution to ban "LGBT propaganda".

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