Georgian police fire tear gas to break up protest against so-called 'Russian law'

TBILISI, Georgia — Police in the capital of Georgia on Tuesday unleashed tear gas to break up a large demonstration outside the country's parliament to protest a proposed law that would require media and non-commercial organizations to register as being under foreign influence if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.

Opponents say the proposal would obstruct Georgia's long-sought prospects of joining the European Union and denounce it as “the Russian law” because of similar legislation used by Moscow to stigmatize independent news media and organizations seen as being at odds with the Kremlin.

The parliament debated the bill, but put off voting on its first reading until Wednesday.

News reports said some demonstrators were arrested in the clash with police, but no figures were immediately available.

The bill is nearly identical to a proposal that the governing party was pressured to withdraw last year after large street protests.

The law says non-commercial organizations and news media that receive 20% or more of their funding from overseas would have to register as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” — the only change in wording from the draft law withdrawn last year, which said that relevant groups must register as “agents of foreign influence.”

Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili would veto the law if it is passed by parliament, her parliamentary representative Girogi Mskhiladze has previously said.

But that veto might not be long-lasting as Zourabichvili’s term ends this year and under Georgia’s constitution changes, the next president will be named by an electoral college that includes all members of parliament.