The Speaker of the Georgian parliament has signed into law a controversial bill on foreign agent transparency, Ednews reports.
Shalva Papuashvili signed the bill on Monday after MPs voted last week to override a veto by President Salome Zourabichvili.
The speaker reiterated to journalists that the law’s aim is to “increase the resilience of political, economic, and social systems in Georgia to foreign influence.” The Justice Ministry now has 60 days to launch a registrar of organizations that get over 20% of their money from outside Georgia.
Recall that on May 14, the Parliament of Georgia adopted on its third reading the draft law known as the "Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence," which is also recognized as the "foreign agents" law. However, President Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the law on May 19. The Parliament overturned the President's veto on May 28. Although the Parliament sent the law to the President's administration for signing, President Zurabishvili refused to sign it. As a result, the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, signed the draft law.