Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili says a controversial media bill passed by parliament that critics call a threat to free speech is “unacceptable."
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zourabichvili harshly criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party for pushing the bill that also is widely seen setting back Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.
The bill, passed Tuesday, requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Huge crowds of protesters have blocked streets in the capital of Tbilisi and milled angrily outside the parliament building after lawmakers approved the measure 84-30 despite strong criticism from the U.S and the EU.
The opposition has denounced the bill as “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin.
Zourabichvili emphasized that after Georgia received the status of a candidate last fall to join the EU, the government should have focused on passing the necessary laws to qualify for the launch of accession talks at the end of the year.
Zourabichvili said it’s hard to say whether the bill was the ruling party’s initiative or if Moscow had played any role in its passage, but she emphasized that the Kremlin is unhappy with Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations.
The original article contains 764 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zourabichvili harshly criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party for pushing the bill that also is widely seen setting back Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union.
The bill, passed Tuesday, requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.
Huge crowds of protesters have blocked streets in the capital of Tbilisi and milled angrily outside the parliament building after lawmakers approved the measure 84-30 despite strong criticism from the U.S and the EU.
The opposition has denounced the bill as “the Russian law” because Moscow uses similar legislation to crack down on independent news media, nonprofits and activists critical of the Kremlin.
Zourabichvili emphasized that after Georgia received the status of a candidate last fall to join the EU, the government should have focused on passing the necessary laws to qualify for the launch of accession talks at the end of the year.
Zourabichvili said it’s hard to say whether the bill was the ruling party’s initiative or if Moscow had played any role in its passage, but she emphasized that the Kremlin is unhappy with Georgia’s pro-Western aspirations.
The original article contains 764 words, the summary contains 206 words. Saved 73%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!