Georgia's parliament on Tuesday, May 14, adopted a controversial "foreign influence" law that has sparked weeks of mass protests against the measure, which Brussels has warned would undermine Tbilisi's European aspirations.
Lawmakers voted 84 to 30 to pass the law in its third and final reading, which has been widely denounced as mirroring repressive Russian legislation used to silence dissent. Critics say the bill is a symbol of the ex-Soviet republic's drift closer to Russia's orbit over recent years.
The vote came as street protests continued outside the building for more than a month. Around 2,000 mainly young protesters gathered outside parliament for another day of protests on Tuesday. "No to the Russian law," they chanted as news that the parliament had adopted the bill spread through the crowd.
Scuffles had broken out inside the chamber earlier as opposition MPs, who strongly oppose the measure, clashed with lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of the vote. And there were also clashes between riot police and protesters outside the building in the centre of Tbilisi.
Tbilisi has seen weeks of mass rallies over the bill that culminated on Saturday, when up to 100,000 people took to the streets in the largest anti-government rally in Georgia's recent history. Both protesters and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze have vowed not to back down. Fresh rallies have been called for Tuesday evening.
The EU has said the law is "incompatible" with Georgia's longstanding bid for joining the 27-nation bloc, while Washington has warned its adoption would signal Tbilisi's departure from the Western orbit.
The bill requires NGOs and media outlets that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as bodies "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." Russia has used a similar law to silence public figures and organizations that disagree with or deviate from the Kremlin's views.
The EU repeated on Tuesday its position that the bill undermines Tbilisi's desire to move closer to the bloc. "EU member countries are very clear that if this law is adopted it will be a serious obstacle for Georgia in its European perspective," said its spokesman, Peter Stano.
Last year, Georgia was granted official EU candidacy, and Brussels is set to decide in December on the formal launch of accession talks – an unlikely prospect after the law's adoption.
Young Georgians have voiced outrage over the possibility that a future closer to Europe is at risk. Georgian society is staunchly anti-Kremlin. Georgia's bid for membership of the EU and NATO is enshrined in its constitution and – according to opinion polls – supported by more than 80% of the population.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili – who is at loggerheads with the government – has vowed to veto the law, though Georgian Dream has enough MPs to override it. Georgian Dream had backed down from pushing through a similar "foreign agents" law a year ago in the face of massive street rallies.
Georgian Dream has depicted the protesters as violent mobs, has insisted it is committed to joining the EU, and has said the bill is aimed at increasing transparency of NGO funding. However, the party's main backer Bidzina Ivanishvili – a secretive figure who made his fortune in 1990s Russia – made an anti-Western speech last month and has accused NGOs of plotting a revolution with Western backing.
NGOs and critics of the government have reported months of intimidation and harassment in the run-up to the bill being reintroduced in a targeted campaign that has escalated amid the tensions.
The controversy surrounding the bill comes five months before a parliamentary election seen as a crucial democratic test for the Black Sea country.