Georgian president vetoes controversial foreign agents bill

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said on Saturday that she vetoed the Bill On Transparency of Foreign Influence passed by the parliament earlier this week.

"Today I vetoed the 'Russian' law. This law is essentially and spiritually Russian. It contradicts our constitution and all European standards, therefore it represents an obstacle to our European path," Zurabishvili said at a press briefing in Tbilisi.

She noted that the vetoed document will be transferred to the parliament today.

"This law is not subject to any changes or improvements, so the veto is very simple. This law has to be revoked," Zurabishvili stressed.

According to the Georgian legislation, the presidential veto can be overcome if the majority in the parliament votes for lifting it.

The Georgian parliament on Tuesday passed the bill in the third and final reading, introducing control over foreign financing of non-governmental organizations in the Caucasian state.

Despite escalated tensions that even led to a physical confrontation between supporters and opponents of the proposed legislation, the bill was passed with 84 votes for and 30 against.

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.