Georgia withdraws "foreign agents" bill after mass protests

This is stated in a joint statement of the Georgian Dream, the People's Power, and the parliamentary majority on the website of the Georgian ruling party.

It is stated that the political council and parliamentarians continued discussions on political processes related to the law "On Transparency of External Influence."

"We see that the adopted bill has caused discord in society. The machine of lies was able to present the bill in a negative light and mislead a certain part of the public. The bill was falsely labeled as "Russian law," and its adoption in the first reading was presented in the eyes of some of the public as a departure from the European course," the text reads.

Thus, the Georgian authorities accused "radical forces" of involving young people in "illegal activities" and thanked the "heroic law enforcement officers" who tried to disperse peaceful protests.

"Given all of the above, as a government responsible to every member of society, we have decided to unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without reservation. When the emotional background subsides, we will better explain to the public what the draft law was for and why it was important to ensure transparency of foreign influence in our country. To do this, we will start meetings with the public and inform the general public about every detail of the case," the statement summarized.

• On March 7, the Georgian parliament approved in the first reading the draft law "On Transparency of Foreign Influence," which largely imitates the Russian law on foreign agents. Consideration of the draft law on March 7 came as a surprise; it was originally planned to be introduced on March 9. After that, protests broke out in the country. Police fired tear gas at protesters. On the morning of March 8, 66 protesters were reportedly detained near the parliament building. The opposition announced new protests.

• The EU warned Georgia of "serious consequences" if the draft law on "foreign agents" is finally adopted.

• The Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it stood in solidarity with the Georgian people at the protests in Tbilisi and shared the EU's position on the draft law on "foreign agents."

• On March 8, Volodymyr Zelenskyy wished Georgia democratic success, commenting on the ongoing protests in the country.

• On March 8, the Georgian people continued to protest near the parliament building. The protesters continued to demand the repeal of the bill on so-called foreign agents. Around 11:00 p.m. Georgian time, special forces began to disperse the protesters, using water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray. After another violent dispersal, some of the protesters returned to Rustaveli Avenue and began to build barricades. In total, police detained at least 76 protesters on March 7-8.