Georgian pro-Europe demonstrators stage an anti-government rally outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on March 31, 2025. Photo by Vano SHLAMOV / AFP.
Tbilisi: Georgia's disputed parliament on Tuesday passed a direct copy of a US law on "foreign agents", replacing widely criticised legislation on "foreign influence" that has sparked mass protests.
The new bill, which President Mikheil Kavelashvili is expected to sign into law, replaces one adopted last year that forced NGOs and media to register as "organisations pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they received at least a fifth of their funding from abroad.
But opponents say the new measure is also prone to abuse, and see it as part a series of recent legal measures by the ruling Georgian Dream party restricting media freedom and the right to assembly.
The Caucasus country has been rocked by protests since Georgian Dream claimed victory in October parliamentary elections rejected as rigged by the pro-Western opposition, then shelved talks on joining the European Union.
The previous foreign influence law had sparked daily demonstrations and Western condemnation, with critics accusing the government of using Russian-inspired tactics to target its opponents.
Russia requires many activists, media organisations and individuals to register as "foreign agents", with violations punished by jail, massive fines and forced shutdowns.
Georgian Dream party lawmakers passed the new bill, a word-for-word copy of the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), with 86 votes.
FARA requires lobbyists and lawyers to declare if they are working on behalf of foreign interests -- and is not used to target media organisations.
"With the adoption of this law, any misleading allegations that Georgian laws do not meet international standards will come to an end," said parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili.
But Georgian analysts and rights groups have warned that the new law could be used to further tighten the noose as the ruling party moves to suppress civil society and political dissent.
"Democratic checks and balances, including an independent judiciary in the US, make it impossible to use such laws in an undemocratic way," said independent political analyst Gela Vasadze.
"But Georgia lacks those safeguards, and this law would give the authorities the power to shut down any NGO or media outlet," he told AFP.
The move came amid a constitutional crisis sparked by October's elections, which opposition parties refuse to accept.
That has left the newly elected legislature effectively a one-party body, whose legitimacy was rejected by the opposition and outgoing head of state Salome Zurabishvili.
Georgian Dream has also recently passed legislative amendments that tighten rules on public protests, public order offences and crimes against state officials.
The EU has called the measures a "serious setback for Georgia's democratic development".
Georgian Dream insists it is committed to joining the EU and said the original foreign influence law was aimed at ensuring "transparency" around Western-funded groups it accused of undermining the country's sovereignty.
