Georgian parliament to launch process of overriding presidential veto on 'foreign agents' bill

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - The Georgian parliament on Friday said it will begin the process of overriding President Salome Zurabishvili's veto on the Transparency of Foreign Influence law next week.

The announcement was published on the parliament's website. A meeting of the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee is scheduled for 9 a.m. local time (GMT 0500) on May 27, with the first item on the agenda being the veto.

If the committee approves the veto override, the issue will be submitted to the parliament's plenary session the next day.

Last week, the Georgian parliament adopted by a majority vote in the third and final reading the "foreign agents" law, which has been opposed by the US and EU.

President Salome Zurabishvili, however, vetoed the law, which can be overturned by the same government majority which approved the law.

There have been protests against the legislation, which mandates that non-governmental organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad must register as entities pursuing foreign interests or face penalties.