The law on foreign agents initiated by the Georgian Dream will undermine Georgian-American relations. The bill itself has nothing in common with its American counterpart. This was stated by US State Department Speaker Matthew Miller.

“If you look at the US FARA Foreign Agent Registration Act, it applies to people who act on behalf of foreign governments, not those who operate legitimate NGOs, who are engaged in humanitarian work or civil society activities. These are completely different things!” Miller emphasized.

Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili responded to this statement. He recalled that Giuli Alasania and David Kezerashvili’s Formula TV company are included in the FARA register.

“I hope that at least it is not disputed that neither one nor the other, thank God, has been “persons acting on behalf of the government of Georgia” for 12 years now.” This kind of superficiality and unreliable information encourages radical groups in Georgia. We must remember that the Georgian law “On Transparency” cannot be even close to the American one in terms of the strictness of the rules - it does not apply to individuals, does not provide for criminal liability, etc.,” Papuashvili noted.

Thousands of residents of Tbilisi and other cities of Georgia have been protesting against the law on foreign agents for about a month. The protesters recently declared disobedience to the authorities until the bill was withdrawn. Their demands, in particular, include the release of all detainees and the punishment of security forces who used violence against protesters (rubber bullets, tear gas, beatings).