Georgian PM calls US criticism of draft ‘foreign agents’ law false

TBILISI: Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze rejected on Friday US criticism of a draft “foreign agents” law, saying Washington’s statements on the issue were false and reminiscent of earlier meddling which had fuelled violence.

The draft legislation, which is winding its way through the Georgian parliament, would require organisations receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, a requirement opponents attack as authoritarian and Kremlin-inspired.

Protesters have taken to the streets of Tbilisi for weeks to show their opposition. The European Union and the United States have urged Tbilisi to drop the legislation or risk harming its chances of European Union membership and a broader Euro-Atlantic future.

The standoff is seen as part of a wider struggle that could determine whether Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that has experienced war and revolution since the fall of the Soviet Union, moves closer to Europe or back under Moscow’s influence.

“I explained to (senior US diplomat Derek) Chollet that false statements made by the officials of the US State Department about the transparency bill and street rallies remind us of similar false statements made by the former U.S. Ambassador in 2020-2023,” Kobakhidze said in a statement on X.

He said the previous US statements had encouraged violence from what he called foreign-funded actors and had supported “revolutionary processes” which he said had been unsuccessful.