Georgia withdraws 'foreign agent' bill, protests to continue | DW News

The ruling Georgian Dream party said Thursday that it was dropping a controversial bill on "foreign agents." The announcement came after two nights of violent protests and criticism that the draft law represented an authoritarian shift in the country.

Georgian Dream said in a statement it would "unconditionally withdraw the bill we supported without any reservations." It cited the need to reduce confrontation in society.

The proposed bill, similar to laws in Russia, would have classified non-governmental organizations and media outlets as "foreign agents" if they received 20% or more of their funding from abroad.

The proposal was officially to target the disclosure of money flows from abroad, but protesters feared it would be used to harass government critics and clamp down on the opposition.

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